April 21
When
Lincoln received the Republican nomination for president in 1860 he ‘seemed to
have come from nowhere – a backwoods lawyer who had served one undistinguished
term in the House of Representatives and had lost two consecutive contests for
the U. S. Senate. Contemporaries and historians alike have attributed his
surprising nomination to chance – the fact that he came from the battleground
state of Illinois and stood in the center of his party. The comparative
perspective suggests a different interpretation. When viewed against the failed
efforts of his rivals, it is clear that Lincoln won the nomination because he
was shrewdest and canniest of them all. More accustomed to relying upon himself
to shape events, he took the greatest control of the process leading up to the
nomination, displaying a fierce ambition, an exceptional political acumen, and
a wide range of emotional strengths, forged in the crucible of personal
hardship, that took his unsuspecting rivals by surprise.’
-
Doris Kearns Goodwin
‘Be
ye wise as serpents and guileless as doves.’
-
Jesus Christ
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