Why is Lincoln so popular today? Of all the books on the Library’s shelves,
the one person with the most titles has got to be Abraham Lincoln. Everyone knows the story of how Lincoln grew
up in a log cabin and went on to become perhaps the greatest president. The
appeal is universal. Thus anything new, written or recorded about him is guaranteed
to be popular.
Take Bill O’Reilly’s book,
Killing
Lincoln: the shocking assassination that changed America forever. This book
came out over a year ago. It’s still on the bestseller’s list and still has Library
holds on it. While it may not be the
best book on Lincoln, people still want to read the story. Steven Spielberg’s new movie,
Lincoln, which
came out last month, has been attracting large audiences too. I can say I too saw
that one. Even
President
Obama, a Lincoln fan himself, got in the act by hosting a pre-screening of Spielberg’s
movie at the White House. Again, the appeal factor is the man himself and his
steadfast ideas.
Abraham Lincoln was born February 12, 1809 in one room log
cabin in Kentucky. According to
Wikipedia, Lincoln’s
father Thomas enjoyed considerable status in Kentucky until he lost all of his
land, two 600 acre farms in Kentucky, because of faulty property titles. The family then moved north across the Ohio
River to Perry County which is now Spencer County, Indiana. Lincoln’s mother Nancy died of milk sickness when
he was just nine. Sarah, Lincoln’s
sister, took over the care of him.
Thomas Lincoln remarried a widow, Sarah Bush Johnston, who had three
children. Lincoln became very close to
his stepmother. Life in the frontier was
difficult. Lincoln had little education. He was mostly self educated and was quite an
avid reader.
Fearing a milk sickness outbreak in 1830, the family again
moved west where they settled on public land in Macon County, Illinois. Lincoln
was at the age when he longed for a better life for himself so he went off to
New Salem, IL. He was hired by a
businessman to take goods on a flatboat down to New Orleans. Here he experienced slavery first hand. In 1832 he and a partner bought a general
store in New Salem. After a struggle he
sold his share of the business. He began
his first political campaign for a seat in the Illinois General Assembly. He lost that election probably because of his
lack of education, powerful friends and money.
In 1834 he won election to the state legislature. He moved to
Springfield, IL and went on to study law and became a lawyer. Lincoln served four successive terms in the
Illinois House of Representatives. In
1846 Lincoln was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives for one two-year
term and then continued practicing law in Springfield.
In the 1850’s slavery was still legal in the southern states
and Lincoln returned to politics opposing the pro-slavery Kansas-Nebraska Act
of 1854. Lincoln ran as a Whig for the
U.S. Senate seat from Illinois. After leading in the opening rounds his support
dwindled. In 1858 he battled Stephen Douglas for a seat in the U.S. Senate, but
it turned out be a bitter loss for Lincoln. In 1860 Lincoln was nominated and
elected the 16th President of the United States and re-elected in
1864. Lincoln was married to Mary Todd
Lincoln and had four sons. Lincoln died on April 15, 1865.
Look for these new and
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Picture courtesy of Google images