Lincoln’s Legacy

More books have been written about our 16th president than almost any other. Not surprisingly, several noteworthy new tributes have been published this year in celebration of the 200th anniversary of his birth next February. As the country readies to elect its 44th president, a look at the life and times of this beloved American reveals the qualities a successful president must bring to the office. Lincoln is revered for his intelligence, honesty, compassion, and eloquence; this group of titles highlights these attributes, among others.

Abe Lincoln Crosses a Creek: A Tall, Thin Tale (Random, 2008), written by Deborah Hopkinson and illustrated by John Hendrix, hearkens back to Lincoln’s log cabin days to elaborate on an often-told incident from his childhood. Based on a firsthand account, this clever collaboration is a rip-roaring adventure with hilarious watercolors and pen-and-ink illustrations.

Seven-year-old Abe convinces Austin, three years his senior, to cross the creek despite the high rushing water. Austin slowly walks across a fallen log—but poor Abe falls in. “HOLD ON ONE MINUTE!…I mean, would Abe and Austin really have WALKED across a log over that whirlpool? They weren’t that foolish, were they? No, I’m almost sure those boys would have crawled!”

Either way, the future president would have drowned had Austin not fished him out. Not only does the book capture Lincoln’s humble beginnings, but it also cautions that we “Remember Austin Gollaher, because what we do matters, even if we don’t end up in history books.” Almost a half century later, President Lincoln is quoted as saying that he would rather see his old friend “than any other man in Kentucky.” Ask students to think about their friends and imagine which one will be their “Austin Gollaher.”

Skipping ahead a generation, Staton Rabin’s Mr. Lincoln’s Boys (Viking, 2008) portrays Abe as a loving, indulgent father, while again drawing on a favorite anecdote. Back in 1861, Colonel Elmer E. Ellsworth arrived in Washington, DC from New York with his regiment of volunteer fireman (the Fire Zouaves), prepared to fight for the Union.

Presidential sons Tad and Willie perched their toy cannon on the White House roof and played elaborate war games with Jack, a soldier doll dressed in Zouave colors, who was often sentenced to death for spying or desertion and buried in their mother’s rose garden. When told in no uncertain terms that the garden was off limits, they barged into their father’s office begging that he pardon Jack. In a grave tone, Mr. Lincoln questioned them about the soldier’s offense. Apparently, the wretched toy had run away from battle and fallen asleep on picket duty. Furthermore, he had no family or friends.

“I will be his friend,” pronounced the Commander-in-Chief and granted a pardon on a technicality. “You know…it makes me feel rested after a hard day’s work, to find some good excuse to save a man’s life.” Bagram Ibatoulline’s realistic paintings capture the tale’s humor, as well as the realities of the war as the weary Union soldiers—injured, maimed, exhausted—trudge home from battle. Youngsters can research other first children or share tales of their own mischievous games after reading about these rambunctious brothers.

Doreen Rappaport’s Abe’s Honest Words (Hyperion, 2008) skillfully pairs Lincoln’s powerful words with her own to reveal her subject’s character and demonstrate how he overcame obstacles with unyielding determination to unite our country and free the slaves. The text, which draws on the president’s letters, newspaper interviews, and speeches, is accompanied by Kadir Nelson’s handsome illustrations.

As a strapping young man, Abe ferried goods down the Mississippi River to New Orleans, where he first witnessed the horrors of slavery. There he saw “Twelve Negroes, chained six and six together. Strung together like so many fish upon a trotline, being separated forever from their childhood, their friends, their fathers and mothers, and brothers and sisters, from their wives and children, into perpetual slavery.”

In this and other quotes in the book, Lincoln’s compassion and humanity are evident. Excerpts from the 1858 “A House Divided Speech,” The Gettysburg Address, and the Emancipation Proclamation may inspire students to create an illustrated book of “honest words” that resonate with them.

Robert Burleigh offers insight into how the nation mourned the loss of its beloved and revered 16th president through the story of a young boy and his father who journey by horse-drawn buggy to get a glimpse of the funeral train as Abraham Lincoln Comes Home (Holt, 2008). Over 13 days and 1600 miles, the train traveled to reach the president’s burial site in Springfield, Illinois. Along the route, 30 million Americans paid tribute in “'the mightiest outpouring of national grief the world had yet seen.’”

In Wendell Minor’s vibrant gouache watercolor paintings, readers will observe the small bonfires amidst the growing crowds of mourners—both black and white—wishing to say a final farewell to their benevolent leader who had so recently ended the Civil War and reunited the country. As the train approaches, “Luke could see Abe Lincoln’s picture above the cowcatcher. He felt the ground shiver under his feet…In the eerie orange glow, tears were streaming down his father’s cheeks.”

In Lincoln Through the Lens (Walker, 2008), Martin W. Sandler shows older readers “How Photography Revealed and Shaped an Extraordinary Life.” Each page of text features a highlighted Lincoln quotation, which faces a full-page archival photograph or image. While the book presents a well-rounded portrait of the president and his times, it focuses on the role that photography, a relatively new media, played in his career.

The author notes that more photographs were taken of Lincoln during his lifetime than any other subject and that the president learned to use this innovation to his advantage. In fact, “…[Matthew] Brady took more than thirty-five photographs of the candidate, including one that Lincoln openly credited with winning him the election.”

Throughout the book, quotes by the president both underline Lincoln’s eloquence and define his character. Sandler points out that despite failing as a store owner and losing an election early in his career, Lincoln never gave up; he was ambitious and determined. He also remained true to his beliefs and inspired a nation with his words: “In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free…The way is plain, peaceful, generous. [it is] a way which, if followed, the world will forever applaud….”

During most of Lincoln’s time in the White House, the nation was torn apart by its bloodiest war. As Commander-in-Chief, when general after general disappointed him, he briefly entertained the idea of assuming the role himself, until Ulysses S. Grant turned the tide in the battlefield. When Grant was criticized for his drinking and brutal command, Lincoln stood firm: “I can’t spare this man. He fights.”

Candace Fleming’s The Lincolns: A Scrapbook Look at Abraham and Mary (Random, 2008) offers browsers a wealth of facts and stories about the Lincolns along with short articles, archival photos, letters, engravings, lithographs, obituaries, and even family recipes. Readers learn that young Abraham’s favorite book was Aesop’s Fables, which he read again and again—particularly the tale of the lion and four bulls; its moral? “A kingdom divided against itself cannot stand.”

Mary Todd Lincoln was quite a colorful character: tomboy, scholar, spiritualist, and compulsive shopper, as well as a grief-stricken mother—three of the four Lincoln boys did not live to adulthood. Students can research other First Ladies such as Dolley Madison, Eleanor Roosevelt, or Hillary Clinton.

With few exceptions, American presidents keep pets—there’s even a Presidential Pet Museum in Maryland. Lincoln’s White House was home to dogs, cats, rabbits, snakes, mice, even goats—and the pardoned turkey that started an annual White House tradition.

Perhaps most beloved was Fido: “…in the morning he trotted along behind Lincoln to the law office. If Fido was really lucky, they would stop at Corneau and Diller’s drugstore, where the dog might get a lick of his master’s fruit-flavored soda water.” Though the animal was left behind when the family moved to Washington, D C, he did accompany his master on his final journey home aboard the funeral train. Animals are a favorite topic among students; ask yours to create a bar graph of presidential pets or describe their own unusual critters.

Today’s candidates face immeasurably different challenges with campaign funding. After Lincoln won his congressional seat in 1847, he “returned $199.25 of the $200 received from his supporters… 'I made the canvass on my own horse; my entertainment, being at the houses of friends, cost me nothing; and my only outlay was 75 cents for a barrel of cider, which some farmhands insisted I should treat to.’”

What expenses do contemporary politicians face? Discuss the ethics of campaign funding and how current candidates raise money. Have students create their own scrapbooks of their favorite candidates during an election.

Or instead of a scrapbook, they might create a newspaper such as Barry Denenberg and Christopher Bing’s Lincoln Shot: A President’s Life Remembered (Feiwel & Friends, 2008). This oversize offering in newspaper format is written as a memorial edition released one year after the assassination. Curious readers learn about the conspiracy and assassins—their motivations, intentions, captures, and executions.

There are also articles about the president’s life and family as well as advertisements for hickory chairs and items such as “Dr. Sterling’s Ambrosia for the hair.” Students may be surprised to learn that, “By the summer of 1864, Lincoln was one of the most unpopular presidents in the nation’s 90-year history…Moderates thought he was too radical, and radicals too moderate.” Discuss how students think history will treat today’s presidents.

Last, but not least, a sense of humor helps a president cope with challenging times and challenging adversaries: In The Lincolns, Fleming notes that “Once, when accused by political foes of being two-faced, Lincoln replied, 'If I had two faces, would I be wearing this one?’” In fact, it’s a countenance and man that history will continue to celebrate in anniversaries to come.