Another Lincoln Bicentennial

August 27 was always an important date in my family. As I have observed elsewhere, today was my mother's birthday.

She was born and raised in Texas, where August 27 actually is a legal state holiday, although it wasn't one when she was a child and it probably comes and goes today without the knowledge of many state employees. You see, August 27 was Lyndon Johnson's birthday. After Johnson's death, the state legislature created a holiday on his birthday. It is optional, and state offices do not close for it. In fact, much of today's workforce probably would not recognize Johnson's name.

Elsewhere, I guess, August 27 isn't a very significant day. But, since we observed the 200th birthday of Abraham Lincoln earlier this year, it seems to me that someone needs to point out that today is the 200th birthday of Lincoln's first vice president — Hannibal Hamlin.

Hamlin is kind of a nondescript figure in American history. He and Lincoln didn't even meet each other until after they were elected. His is not a household name, but Hamlin was the charter member of a very exclusive club — a politician from the state of Maine who was on a major party national ticket. In fact, I guess you could say he belongs to an even more exclusive club — politicians from Maine who were elected to a national office.

In 1860, he was elected the first vice president from the Republican Party. Apparently, he was a skilled orator and a vocal opponent of slavery, and he would have become president following Lincoln's assassination if he had been renominated in 1864. But that year, Lincoln ran under the banner of the National Union Party, which was a coalition of Republicans loyal to Lincoln and Northern Democrats, plus a few Southern Democrats. The National Union Party chose Andrew Johnson, a War Democrat from Tennessee, to be Lincoln's running mate. Lincoln's attention was on postwar Reconstruction, and he believed a Southerner like Johnson could help him with that.

In hindsight, it might have been better if Hamlin had been allowed to run for re–election with Lincoln. A few years after Lincoln's assassination, Johnson, of course, was impeached by the House and then acquitted by a single vote in the Senate trial.

Presidential candidate Jame Blaine was the next Mainer to be nominated for national office. He lost to Grover Cleveland in a bitterly contested election in 1884. Blaine and many of his supporters believed their defeat was due to a narrow loss in New York, where, shortly before the election, a Protestant minister used the controversial phrase "rum, Romanism and rebellion" to summarize what Democrats stood for — rum being a reference to the liquor interests, Romanism being a reference to Catholics (then, as now, a sizable constituency in New York) and rebellion being a reference to the Confederacy.

That was also the campaign in which it was revealed that Cleveland had fathered an illegitimate child, leading to the famous Republican chant, "Ma, Ma, where's my Pa?" Even so, Cleveland became the only Democrat to win the presidency in the late 19th century. When he won the election, jubilant Democrats added the line "Gone to the White House, ha, ha, ha!"

A man named Arthur Sewall was the next Mainer to be nominated by his party for national office. He was a Democrat who never held office but was a member of the Democratic National Committee in the 1880s and 1890s. William Jennings Bryan picked him as his running mate in 1896. The Bryan—Sewall ticket was beaten by William McKinley, and Sewall's name was largely forgotten for more than a century — until he was mentioned by the St. Louis Post–Dispatch in its endorsement of Barack Obama last year.

The Post–Dispatch told its readers that John McCain was guilty of "selecting the least qualified running mate since the Swedenborgian shipbuilder Arthur Sewall ran as William Jennings Bryan's No. 2 in 1896." That probably sent more than a few history students — and their teachers — scurrying for their history books, wondering Who the heck was Arthur Sewall?

Bonus points are in order if you know (without looking it up) what Swedenborgian means.

The newspaper's endorsement seems to have been ignored by the voters. Missouri voted for McCain.

The most recent Mainer on a national ticket (unless I have overlooked someone) was Edmund Muskie, who was chosen to be Hubert Humphrey's running mate in 1968. The Humphrey–Muskie ticket lost a close election to Richard Nixon, with independent segregationist George Wallace carrying five states and threatening, at one point, to send the selection of the next president to the House of Representatives.

Anyway, Hamlin is the only politician from Maine who has ever been elected vice president. He died on Independence Day in 1891.

Bicentennial Memories

It's been one–third of a century since America's Bicentennial year of 1976.

In early July of that year, the eventual presidential nominees, former Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter and President Gerald Ford, were busy with their own activities.

Carter was initiating a new procedure for presumptive nominees. He was inviting prospective running mates to his home in Plains, Ga., and interviewing them. From this group, he would select his candidate for vice president.

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In early July 1976, it was Minnesota Sen. Walter Mondale's turn. When all was said and done, Mondale was the pick, and he turned out to be a break with the past in more ways than one. The selection process was new, and so was the role Mondale eventually played in the administration.

Previous presidents gave a lot of lip service to the idea that their vice presidents would be active participants in their administrations, but that inevitably proved to be a hollow promise. Until Carter's presidency, the vice presidency was mostly a ceremonial job. Presidential nominees, America was told, wanted to find a running mate who was most qualified to be president, but they were usually chosen for whatever electoral benefit it was believed they would bring to the ticket.

The selection seldom, if ever, reflected a genuine desire to have the best qualified person ready to step in if it became necessary.

Mondale was chosen over some big names in the Democratic Party — Frank Church, John Glenn, Ed Muskie — but he prepared for the interview by reading Carter's autobiography, "Why Not The Best?" which impressed Carter.

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President Ford chose someone other than the man who had been his vice president to be his running mate, but, on the eve of the Bicentennial, he was preoccupied with the past.

During a performance of the "Honor America" program at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, he introduced and embraced one of America's legendary entertainers, Bob Hope.

Hope died at the age of 100 in 2003. His widow, Dolores, just turned 100 in May. Ford also lived a long life, dying the day after Christmas in 2006 at the age of 93. His widow, Betty, turned 91 in April.

Elsewhere, things were happening in America and the world that had more lasting consequences.

After a lengthy and bloody conflict, North and South Vietnam, which had been divided for more than 20 years, reunited and formed the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The country has been committed to socialism ever since.

And, in the United States, the so–called "July 2 Cases" before the Supreme Court — Gregg v. Georgia, Proffitt v. Florida, Jurek v. Texas, Woodson v. North Carolina and Roberts v. Louisiana — ended the moratorium on the death penalty that went into effect following the court's 1972 ruling in the Furman v. Georgia case.

America continues to debate the pros and cons of capital punishment.

How Best to Honor Lincoln?

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"When a Lincoln-like man arises, let us recognize and fitly honor him. There could be no poorer way of honoring the memory of Lincoln than to assume, as we sometimes do, that the race of Lincolns has perished from the earth, and that we shall never look upon his like again. One way to ensure the passing of the Lincolns is to assume that another Lincoln can nevermore arise. Would we find Lincoln today, we must not seek him in the guise of a rail-splitter, nor as a wielder of the backwoodsman's axe, but as a mighty smiter of wrong in high places and low."

Stephen Wise
Founder/rabbi of the Free Synagogue of New York City
Founder, Zionist Organization of America
Address to Lincoln Centennial Association, Springfield, Ill., Feb. 12, 1914

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In less than two months, I presume Barack Obama, as the newly inaugurated president, will return to his home state of Illinois to participate in the ceremonies recognizing the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln's birth.

(Actually, although Lincoln is associated with Illinois, which is the state where he spent most of his adult life, he was born in Kentucky — so, while Illinois is, justifiably, honoring Lincoln on his 200th birthday, it should come as no surprise to anyone that Kentucky has celebratory plans of its own.

(Of course, that's something Obama and Lincoln have in common. They were born and raised elsewhere, then moved to Illinois as adults.)

Comparisons between Obama and Lincoln have been made by many — and, certainly, I would agree that there are several things the two men have in common, even though Lincoln's life ended nearly a century before Obama's began.

But is this the Second Coming? I don't know, but I'd like to see what Obama does once he's in office before anyone starts designing monuments or chiseling a fifth face on Mount Rushmore.

I would also caution those who are getting carried away with the historic implications of the inauguration — which is a month from today — that similar experiences do not produce similar results. Obama will have many pressing matters to resolve after he has taken the oath of office. How he responds to these crises will determine his place in the history books — not his resemblance (whether real or imagined) to any previous president.

Many historians, for example, have puzzled over the influence that a childhood of poverty had on two political adversaries, Hubert Humphrey and Richard Nixon.

In Humphrey, it has been observed, being raised in poverty bred a generosity of spirit that motivated him to fight against the root causes of poverty on behalf of his fellow man. In Nixon, a background of poverty merely encouraged a selfishness that motivated him to do whatever was necessary to avoid being poor again.

Of course, Obama may well be regarded as a great president when his administration is over. Or he may be considered a failure. Whichever it turns out to be, there's no doubt that Obama will enter the presidency with many things in common with Lincoln besides an Illinois address:

• Both, for example, were lawyers — although Obama's experience was quite different from Lincoln's. Lincoln was self-taught, while Obama was educated at Harvard Law School.


• Both served in the Illinois state legislature — although, again, their experiences were different. Obama was in the state Senate; Lincoln was in the state House.


• Both came up short in bids for seats in the U.S. Congress. Obama was beaten when he challenged Democratic Rep. Bobby Rush in Illinois' First District in 2000. Lincoln lost his bid for the U.S. Senate in 1858.


• Both opposed wars in which America invaded foreign countries. Obama, of course, opposed the Iraq War before he ran for the U.S. Senate. Lincoln opposed the Mexican-American War, which was justified by its supporters based on the claim that Mexico had attacked Americans on American soil. Lincoln, who was serving in the House, believed the attack occurred in Mexico and insisted that President Polk "show me the spot!" where American blood was spilled before he would be persuaded to support the war.


• It has been observed that, while candidates for the U.S. Senate, both men delivered famous speeches that propelled their eventual candidacies for the presidency. Obama gave the keynote address to the 2004 Democratic National Convention. Lincoln's "House Divided" speech is considered by historians to be one of his finest.


• Both won their parties' presidential nominations by overcoming the establishment's choice, in both cases a lawyer from New York who was widely expected to win the nomination.
  
  In yet another ironic twist, both Obama and Lincoln, after winning the presidency, selected their former rivals (Hillary Clinton in Obama's case, William Seward in Lincoln's) to be secretary of state.

Well, I've heard other "common traits" mentioned that really just strike me as coincidental — like, for example, the "fact" that March 4 was important to both men.

Why was March 4 so important? Well, in Lincoln's day, presidents were sworn in on March 4. And, as it turned out, March 4 this year was on a Tuesday, and it was a primary election day, one of several that were labeled "make or break" for Clinton.

It wasn't a huge primary day, a "Super Tuesday" or "Tsunami Tuesday" — but four states, including Texas and Ohio, held primaries that day. Presumably, March 4 was the date Clinton was going to step aside, clearing the way for Obama to glide to the nomination.

That is not the way it worked out. Clinton won three of the four state primaries and remained in the race for another three months. Consequently, the March 4 connection seems like a bit of a stretch to me.

If we want to honor Lincoln's memory, there's no shortage of existing monuments to our 16th president. Streets, schools, parks, bridges, office buildings, counties, a tunnel, even a state capital bear his name.

And, while it has no real buying power by itself anymore, the penny bears his picture. (For that matter, so does the $5 bill. The floor is open for arguments on whether that has lost its buying power as well.)

Nearly 150 years after his death, Lincoln is remembered as one of America's great presidents. He is one of only four men to have a likeness of his face carved into a mountainside.

Obama's contemporaries are in no position to assess him yet. History will judge his performance as president. Perhaps future generations, in the year 2161, will feel inclined to mark the 200th anniversary of Obama's birth. Whether that observance will be more than the bicentennial of the birth of America's first black president will depend on the decisions Obama makes now — and in the near future.

In that near future, the 200th anniversary of Lincoln's birth will be a significant day — but, in truth, it has no more importance in the context of current events than the nation's bicentennial had in the summer of 1976. It is merely a day. It is appropriate that we mark the occasion, if only to take note of how far we've come and how far we still must go, but it is still merely a day.

And we should remember Rabbi Wise's words, spoken on the 105th anniversary of Lincoln's birth.

"We dwell in times of great perplexity and are beset by far-reaching problems of social, industrial and political import," Wise said. "We shall not greatly err if upon every occasion we consult the genius of Abraham Lincoln."

Lincoln, he said, "remains the standard by which to measure men. His views are not binding upon us, but his point of view will always be our inspiration. ... Ours is not to claim his name for our standards but his aim as our standard."