On the third Monday in February, the U.S. celebrates Presidents Day, a somewhat vague holiday placed in 1968 near the date of George Washington’s birthday on February 22, 1732, but also traditionally including Abraham Lincoln, who was born on February 12, 1809. This year, that holiday falls on February 19.
Let us celebrate a Happy Presidents Day for those that truly loved their country, its rule of law and despite all differences, a country that can work for ALL
It comes through in another historian's great work -- Bruce Catton's trilogy (now in a Library of America three volume boxed set), "The Army of the Potomac."
Its main fact: that the soldiers of Lincoln's armies really, truly believed in the war for which so many of them died and were otherwise mangled on battlefields.
I think Americans feel as strongly now for the democracy currently beleaguered by bribed, corrupt, perjured far right ideologues on the Supreme Court, by a U.S. Congress full of white trash illiterates, and by mobs who got their working-class jobs offshored by essentially criminal corporate elites.
We have several dozen really fine Dems in office at varying levels across the land. They could quote our humanities -- novels, memoirs, films, and songs -- which testify to the goading ranges of hurt abroad the land, and to the resonating beliefs yet animating America's promise.
Lincoln stood for that belief, for the people whose husbands and sons then sacrificed so much.
Our Dems could speak to that, if only they'd learn to quote humanities in the schools they attended.
A gentle reminder from our "gentle" historian that things have been bad before, as they most certainly were in the months leading up to the 1864 election. As the saying goes, "the darkest hour is just before dawn", and looking at that year people in the spring and early summer probably were feeling pretty dire. However, things took some unexpected turns in the late summer going into the autumn and fortunes changed for the better. I pray to God above if we find ourselves in similar straits this year that somehow things will all turn out for the best as they did in 1864. We must all work toward that end.
I love the way you draw on lessons from history in your columns. This is so important and I wish that everyone would read them and appreciate their value for current political issues.
We must not let anyone re-write our history. We must look at people's weaknesses and strengths, at situations that seemed to be lost but that were won, and we must learn from our past that whatever the consequences, we must do what is right, we must be humble but determined in the face of adversity, and we must act in the best interest of our democracy.
Quite relevant today, this year, this article. In all the years this country has existed, we are near the cliff's edge as to whether we continue this experiment in democracy or fall into a dictatorship the way other countries have done so.
“We can not have free government without elections; and if the rebellion could force us to forego, or postpone a national election it might fairly claim to have already conquered and ruined us.”
Happy Presidents day Messrs Pierce, Buchanan, A. Johnson, Hoover, Reagan, Bush 1 and 2, and Trump. So far we have survived despite your civil wars, voodoo economics, lies, and sedition.
Thanks for another great history lesson. When Ezra Klein did a podcast the other day suggesting that Biden should bow out of seeking re-election for the good of the country because of public concerns over his fitness for the job, I immediately thought of Lincoln's standing in 1864, and how the punditry of that time was declaring him politically feeble and not up to the task before him, much as they are doing with Biden now (albeit for different reasons). Klein even used the 1860 Republican convention as a historical basis for why the Democrats should pursue an open convention in 2024 to similarly "organize victory." But the better comparison to Biden in 2024 may be Lincoln in 1864, as I suggested in my own post yesterday:
What a turnabout of events for Lincoln. He persisted with what he felt was right, he was vindicated, and the Union was saved. Let us hope that we can continue to keep it together in a democratic fashion.
As always, thank you so much for all that you give to our understanding of our history and system of government. I thought 2020 would make your work easier. I'm often wrong but sorry in this case to be so wrong.
When you have a winning team, you don’t switch coaches mid season, regardless of what your opponent says. In 1864, Weed was upset that Lincoln was trying to make life better for ordinary Americans and was unelectable. Today, there are those who are upset that Biden is trying to make life better for ordinary Americans by working to create good-paying jobs that the workers can do with pride instead of giving tax cuts to their well-heeled friends. We need to keep the winning team together for another season.
This is as timely as it is profound. Thank you Heather.
Let us celebrate a Happy Presidents Day for those that truly loved their country, its rule of law and despite all differences, a country that can work for ALL
Thank you, Professor. Simply thank you. The world is a mess right now and I have no words except thank you to you.
Time to turn to another fact of that war.
It comes through in another historian's great work -- Bruce Catton's trilogy (now in a Library of America three volume boxed set), "The Army of the Potomac."
Its main fact: that the soldiers of Lincoln's armies really, truly believed in the war for which so many of them died and were otherwise mangled on battlefields.
I think Americans feel as strongly now for the democracy currently beleaguered by bribed, corrupt, perjured far right ideologues on the Supreme Court, by a U.S. Congress full of white trash illiterates, and by mobs who got their working-class jobs offshored by essentially criminal corporate elites.
We have several dozen really fine Dems in office at varying levels across the land. They could quote our humanities -- novels, memoirs, films, and songs -- which testify to the goading ranges of hurt abroad the land, and to the resonating beliefs yet animating America's promise.
Lincoln stood for that belief, for the people whose husbands and sons then sacrificed so much.
Our Dems could speak to that, if only they'd learn to quote humanities in the schools they attended.
A gentle reminder from our "gentle" historian that things have been bad before, as they most certainly were in the months leading up to the 1864 election. As the saying goes, "the darkest hour is just before dawn", and looking at that year people in the spring and early summer probably were feeling pretty dire. However, things took some unexpected turns in the late summer going into the autumn and fortunes changed for the better. I pray to God above if we find ourselves in similar straits this year that somehow things will all turn out for the best as they did in 1864. We must all work toward that end.
I love the way you draw on lessons from history in your columns. This is so important and I wish that everyone would read them and appreciate their value for current political issues.
We must not let anyone re-write our history. We must look at people's weaknesses and strengths, at situations that seemed to be lost but that were won, and we must learn from our past that whatever the consequences, we must do what is right, we must be humble but determined in the face of adversity, and we must act in the best interest of our democracy.
Quite relevant today, this year, this article. In all the years this country has existed, we are near the cliff's edge as to whether we continue this experiment in democracy or fall into a dictatorship the way other countries have done so.
“We can not have free government without elections; and if the rebellion could force us to forego, or postpone a national election it might fairly claim to have already conquered and ruined us.”
Thank you Heather. I hope that, like Lincoln, Joe Biden wins re-election to keep our democracy.
"Lincoln won 78 percent of the soldiers’ vote.." The men who would be paying in blood backed Mr Lincoln. That is heroism.
Happy Presidents day Messrs Pierce, Buchanan, A. Johnson, Hoover, Reagan, Bush 1 and 2, and Trump. So far we have survived despite your civil wars, voodoo economics, lies, and sedition.
Thanks for another great history lesson. When Ezra Klein did a podcast the other day suggesting that Biden should bow out of seeking re-election for the good of the country because of public concerns over his fitness for the job, I immediately thought of Lincoln's standing in 1864, and how the punditry of that time was declaring him politically feeble and not up to the task before him, much as they are doing with Biden now (albeit for different reasons). Klein even used the 1860 Republican convention as a historical basis for why the Democrats should pursue an open convention in 2024 to similarly "organize victory." But the better comparison to Biden in 2024 may be Lincoln in 1864, as I suggested in my own post yesterday:
https://open.substack.com/pub/craiglazzeretti/p/what-the-pundits-dont-get-about-biden?r=tm6pf&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
What a turnabout of events for Lincoln. He persisted with what he felt was right, he was vindicated, and the Union was saved. Let us hope that we can continue to keep it together in a democratic fashion.
History is full of surprises. This is astoundingly relevant today.
As always, thank you so much for all that you give to our understanding of our history and system of government. I thought 2020 would make your work easier. I'm often wrong but sorry in this case to be so wrong.
When you have a winning team, you don’t switch coaches mid season, regardless of what your opponent says. In 1864, Weed was upset that Lincoln was trying to make life better for ordinary Americans and was unelectable. Today, there are those who are upset that Biden is trying to make life better for ordinary Americans by working to create good-paying jobs that the workers can do with pride instead of giving tax cuts to their well-heeled friends. We need to keep the winning team together for another season.