Historian David Donald said more has been written about Abraham Lincoln than anyone in American history. Studying and writing about Lincoln is something of a national industry. The New York Times recently put Richard Brookhiser's "Founders' Son: A Life of Abraham Lincoln" on the cover of the Sunday Book Review.
Yet Lincoln's birthday, Feb. 12, seems to have fallen on hard times, wrapped into Presidents Day with the birthday of George Washington. Presidents Day sales seem to have been the primary outcome of merging the birthdays. Lincoln's birthday also diminished in significance with the rise of Martin Luther King Day as a January holiday. This is not surprising. King was not only important in shaping American history -- for those over 60 like myself, he was part of the fabric of our lives, and we can remember where we were when he was shot.
For most of a century after Lincoln died, his birthday was celebrated with public memorial services and speeches. David Donald noted that in 1909, the centennial of Lincoln's birth, Illinois teachers were expected to allow at least half the day of Feb. 12 for honoring the martyred president.
"The schoolchildren," said Donald, "were to conclude the celebration by chanting in unison, with their faces turned toward Springfield ...
A homely hero, born of stars and sod;
A Peasant Prince; a masterpiece of God."
Lincoln died in 1865. Ten years before that, few Americans beyond the borders of Illinois had heard of him. When he arrived in New York City in February 1860 to give a speech at Cooper Union that would help propel him to the Republican nomination for president, most of his audience had never seen him before. They wanted to take his measure -- literally. It's probable that when he was elected in November 1860, most Americans had never seen a photograph of him -- and certainly had never heard his voice.
Nevertheless, by the time he was sworn in as president in March 1861, Abraham Lincoln was the most influential man in the country.
More than 50 years ago, historian Don Fehrenbacher put together a series of his essays in a book he called "Prelude to Greatness: Lincoln in the 1850s."
Fehrenbacher argued that not only were Lincoln's ideas developing in that decade but the state he lived in was too. Politically, the Whig Party virtually disappeared, and Lincoln became a Republican. The Illinois population doubled in 10 years, and the state became the fourth largest in the union. Fehrenbacher noted that Illinois had only 100 miles of railroad track in 1850 -- but 2,868 miles in 1860. The railroads, he added, not only expanded commercial opportunities, they reduced the isolation many people experienced and quickened the pace of daily life.
As president, Lincoln was an agent of change who had come to full political maturity with change routinely before his eyes. The men who led Southern secession routinely saw change as a menace -- to slavery.
After his death, Lincoln was so popular that his views on the major issues of his time, especially on slavery and restoration of the union, were trumpeted by politicians, newspapermen, ministers and businessmen. As years passed, his views -- what could have been his views, might have been his views -- were manufactured wholesale and attributed to him without shame.
As a young historian, a friend of mine attended a conference on Lincoln in Chicago years ago. Students and professors came from all over to hear distinguished historians talk about Illinois' most famous son. One of the speakers was Don Fehrenbacher.
After his presentation, during a question and answer session, an earnest student asked Fehrenbacher, "Sir, what would Lincoln say about busing?" Court-ordered busing to integrate schools was underway in several states at the time.
Fehrenbacher looked at his audience and said: "What would Lincoln say about busing? What would Lincoln say about busing? I will tell you what he would say about busing. Abraham Lincoln would say ... What's a bus?"
Honest Abe was a great man but a man of his times.
Michael Carey is an Alaska Dispatch columnist. He can be reached at mcarey@alaskadispatch.com.
The views expressed here are the writer's own and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, email commentary(at)alaskadispatch.com.