The Presidents' President

The people of Springfield, Illinois little realized what destiny held for Abraham Lincoln.

Most pitied him. Married to a virago who embar­rassed him with her envious, hostile outbursts, he with­stood twenty-two years of her verbal abuse. His ill-fit­ting clothes often had buttons missing and always need­ed pressing. Until the day he left for Washington, he milked his cow, groomed his horse, and cut his own fire­wood. Cash short, he borrowed money from friends for his Presidential inauguration trip.

His past failure bode poorly for future success. Beset by business insolvency twice, he spent 17 years paying off his debt; he suffered a nervous breakdown after the love of his life, Ann Rutledge, died; and lost eight elections-state legislature, speaker of the state legislature, elector, US Congress (twice defeated), land officer, US Senate (twice defeated), and a vice-presiden­tial nomination.

Most of the people opposed Lincoln most of the time. Even his relatives voted against him! When he ran for President, only one cousin on his mother's side, and none on his father's side, cast a ballot for him. Twenty of the twenty-three ministers in his hometown opposed him. Lincoln became President because the three candi­dates in the election split the vote allowing Lincoln to enter office backed by less than a majority of voters.

General McClellan, the commander of the Army of the Potomac, constantly insulted the President that appointed him. Once when Lincoln visited him, McClellan kept him waiting for half an hour. On anoth­er occasion, informed that Lincoln had been waiting for hours to see him, McClellan crept to his bedroom and sent word that he had gone to bed.

Almost every man in the Cabinet considered him­self superior to Lincoln. Salmon P. Chase, Secretary of the Treasury, shocked at Lincoln's country ways, criti­cized him ceaselessly. Edward M. Stanton called Lincoln "a painful imbecile" and "the original gorilla."

How could Lincoln withstand defeat after defeat, criticism heaped upon criticism? How could he rise above his social limitations to become one of the great­est leaders the world has known? Answer-Reading.

Lincoln read the proper books. He filled his mind and soul with wisdom from the ages. Except for God's spirit in his life, there can be no other explanation for Lincoln's strength of character. His father was a ne'er­do-well; his mother died when he was nine; his child­hood was marked by neglect and deprivation.

But Lincoln read. He read the Bible and Aesop's Fables so often that they affected his manner of talking and his method of thinking. He wore out a borrowed copy of the Life of Washington. Perhaps his richest find was Scott's Lessons containing speeches of Cicero, Demosthenes and Shakespeare's characters. He studied the book until he could recite long poems and speeches by heart.

Lincoln devoured books throughout his life. Biographies. Humor. History. Law. During the Civil War, Lincoln spent hours reading. Many times he would read passages from Shakespeare to his Cabinet, person­al secretary, and visiting dignitaries and friends. Yes, more than any other factor, the books Lincoln read molded his character and enabled him to withstand the agony of outrageous fortune.

During his debates with Douglas Lincoln said,

      "I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true.

      "I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live up to the light I have."

    Rather than founding his self-worth on the opinions of others, Lincoln lived by an internal light, an internal light implanted by enduring character traits formulated by reading.