Lincoln for Us

Some might see the Lincoln of Spielberg on the big screen and believe he is a fictional character. This is a consequence of the confusion between the real and the virtual world; above all, it is the result of an educational system in which you can get to advanced academic stages without knowing who Pericles or Lincoln are, or without any knowledge of the government in the island of Barataria. It is for that reason that a first Lincoln for us was the autodidact. Despite the mistreatment of his father and with only a few months of formal schooling, Lincoln learned to write on his own. He sought the few books within his reach, read the classics and learned the rhythms of classical oratory. He would go on to write memorable pieces of the English language; his Gettysburg Address is simply perfect.

The effort of this autodidact represents a force of will that, in contrast to the equal opportunities of current schools, has an exemplary value. Lincoln taught himself law in his free time and passed the Illinois bar exam. The idea is not that everyone has to be self-taught, or that students have to walk five miles across the snow or cross through the jungle to go to school, but to emulate the powerful effort for knowledge that led to Lincoln having restless nights when he did not understand an idea that was new to him. That intensity allowed him to later be a politician with a convincing, sensible and exceptionally unambiguous clarity. He knew how to speak, listened to people and ceded the trivial to preserve the substance.

Honest Abe delved into the darkest areas of politics in order to obtain the greatest common good possible. This is how he achieved the laborious approval of the amendment that would definitively abolish slavery. This has always been the story of great policy-making which starts out from reality. His ingenuity was as honest as it could be. It is another crucial lesson of Lincoln, always topical. There was no other way than the one he used to preserve the Union and emancipate 5 million black slaves. He achieved it by strengthening freedom rather than weakening it. It is something that enlightens us in these times of new authoritarian and democratic life disruption. Aspiration and reality can be connected vessels; if they are not, harmful utopias appear or politics becomes a splash of partial interests. As he said in one of his most famous speeches, a house divided against itself cannot stand. Azorin wrote that with Lincoln, the U.S had mocked the calculations of politics. Profoundly eloquent from his seat or as a political columnist, Don Emilio Castelar wrote: “The name of Lincoln shines before my eyes among all those historical figures to which we turn into live aspiration, through virtue and work of a fervent cult.”

Schematically, anti-slavery personalities like Lincoln believed in the equality of all human beings, but his ideal was to follow a constitutional route and strengthen the Union while abolitionists put maximalist objectives above the law and the Union. Lincoln chose to integrate the best of every opportunity but could not prevent the Civil War. However, he ensured the permanence of the Union. It is a fact that the process of secession took place before Lincoln’s arrival to the White House. He knew it was impractical to abolish slavery without the existence of the Union. Pragmatism and integrity have never been incompatible by definition. Above all, Lincoln relied on the Constitution.

Magnanimity is another lesson of Lincoln for us. Magnanimity was reflected in victory, compassion and desire to reconcile the Union. If Lincoln had not died, the plundering of the South after the Civil War probably would not have taken place. He practiced forgiveness in abundance. He ignored the rebound. Magnanimity also took place in leadership by filling his presidential cabinet with his political enemies and by winning their honorable loyalty. After the Civil War ended, he supported a broad range of amnesties, even against the most drastic voices of his party. It serves today as he proclaimed in his second inaugural speech: “With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right.” In his own words, he intended to dress the nation’s wounds, to care for those who had tolerated the brunt of battle, as well as their widows and orphans. He wanted to avoid any retaliation from the North. These words incited more hatred in the handsome actor who, as the lead of the conspiracy to overthrow the government, killed Lincoln with a shot in the neck. The United States was going to recreate itself. It’s another lesson for us that Lincoln worked out every crisis as a major exponent of his greatness.