Episode 1: Abraham Lincoln - a podcast by SMU Center for Presidential History

Today’s episode is all about Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, a man whose story is at the center of the defining moment in American history. President during the Civil War, Lincoln saved the union and freed enslaved Americans, and thus casts a mighty long shadow over anyone who held office since.  Every President since, historians say, has had to “get right with Lincoln.”  But perhaps his story is more complex, as we will learn today. 

The war dominated Lincoln's presidency, and with it the question of slavery.  He issued the Emancipation Proclamation on September 22, 1862 and eventually promoted the 13th amendment to end slavery nationally. He overwhelming won reelection, thanks in large part to the soldiers’ vote, and his Second Inaugural stands alongside his Gettysburg Address as arguably the two greatest examples of American oratory, ever.  

“With malice toward none,” he proclaimed in early March of 1865, “with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just, and a lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.”

He died mere weeks later, only days after the guns of war fell silent, when felled by an assassin’s bullet. Abraham Lincoln thus became in many ways the Civil War’s last martyr, an American icon of moral strength, and also a global symbol for humanity’s inexhaustible quest for freedom.  

But….if that is his legacy….is it accurate?  History has a way of rounding out the rough edges of our icons, leaving a useful image for our own times, but at times an inaccurate portrait of the man or woman as they really were.  What then, should be Lincoln’s legacy? More accurately, how do historians remember him? To help answer that question and discuss Lincoln’s legacy more broadly, we spoke to two esteemed Lincoln scholars: Dr. Eric Foner and Dr. Edna Medford.   

Be sure to check out our show notes for more information on our guests, recommended readings, and more: www.pastpromisepresidency.com.

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