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I saw the movie Lincoln a few nights ago. It was based on a book by Doris Kearns
Goodwin called Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln. The
actors were terrific and the writing impeccable. If you were looking for blood and guts of
Civil War battles or the intricacies of Lincoln's assassination, you would have been
disappointed. The blood and guts were auxiliary and Lincoln's murder was anticlimactic.
President Lincoln's death was mere reminder of why Lincoln thought it critical to end
slavery with as many legal legs as he could muster.
The movie focuses on the political dilemma of passing the 13th Amendment, abolishing
slavery forever, before the war's end. The urgency of this effort wasn't seen as necessary
by many. This made for heavy lifting from the President.
The Emancipation Proclamation, delivered in 1863, didn't free the slaves in the Border
States. It was an executive order issued by Lincoln and could have been considered a
temporary war measure. Lincoln, in his infinite wisdom, saw this dilemma and acted. He
knew he had to get the amendment passed by the House, before the end of the war, and
knowingly stalled peace negotiations at the risk of losing votes in his own party. If he
didn't, the Southern States may have legally gone right back to slavery and 600,000
Americans would have died for naught. Lincoln forced the vote January 31st, 1865,
before the war ended.
Having passed the Senate April 8, 1864, the real challenge was the House.
The movie was politics 101. Many would be surprised at who were fer and agin slavery.
The average Obama voter would identify with the Civil War Democrats as the heroes in
releasing the slaves. Most would be shocked that every Republican in the House voted
for the 13th Amendment and Lincoln, with some assistance, was responsible for
wrenching 20 "HELL NO! "--Dem votes and turning them into "yes" votes, most of
whom were lame ducks and offered jobs in Lincoln's second term. In the end all
Republicans voted for the 13th Amendment and only 23% of the House Dems
were yes votes.
What I found most intriguing-other than the superior acting of Daniel Day Lewis as
Lincoln, Sally Fields as Mary Todd Lincoln and Tommy Lee Jones as the radical
Republican House leader Thaddeus Stevens was the ascendency of Lincoln to be above
the fray, yet in control of it--and he did it in a manner that respected enemies and kept
friends in the most urgent of situations.
Here are a few examples of Honest Abe's expertise:
President Lincoln knew his Emancipation Proclamation had little chance of
being preserved after the war. Either the courts would have overturned it as a wartime
declaration or the Southern States would refuse to ratify it.
At the same time Lincoln was cajoling 20 Democratic Representatives no votes to
change their votes on the 13th Amendment, he had to herd the conservative wing of the
Republican Party, who valued peace with the South over abolition. In the end he kept
those as "yes" votes by not meeting with the Confederacy until the vote was cast.
The President, just beginning his second term after a terrible and costly and war-
torn first term, was determined to have a respectful and uniting reconstruction of the
South.
Lincoln reached over the aisle with a steely determination and soft touch to a group
of Democrats largely so racist, they wouldn't consider ending slavery even upon their
inevitable defeat and at the cost of saying no to their generous job offers in a second
Lincoln Administration.
Ironically, Doris Kearns Goodwin and famed director Steven Spielberg are both
Democrats and Obama supporters. They are united in praise of a man who had to cajole
20 house Democrats into changing their votes in order to end slavery once and for all.
Without Lincoln's amazing political ploys buoyed by steely effort and gentle touch,
slavery would have likely continued, possibly growing back to the human disaster it was
before the Civil War.
Lincoln and the Republicans saved the soul of the United States of America.
The true meaning of Lincoln was that he had the opportunity to become a king, but chose
to preserve the "…Republic for which we stand-one nation, under G0d,
indivisible-with liberty and justice for all."
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JWR contributor Dave Weinbaum hosts DaveWeinbaum.com. He is a businessman, writer and part-time stand-up comic and resides in a Midwest red state. Comment by clicking here.
