The Stranger’s Jackknife Self-deprecating humor came naturally to Lincoln; once after being called "two-faced," he quipped, “If I had two faces, why would I be wearing this one?” He also told this story, which was relayed by portrait painter Francis B. Carpenter (1830-1900): [While riding a train,] I was once accosted … by a stranger, who said, "Excuse me, sir, but I have an article in my possession which rightfully belongs to you." "How is that?" I asked, considerably astonished. The stranger took a jackknife from his pocket. "This knife," said he, "was placed in my hands some years ago with the injunction that I was to keep it until I found a man uglier than myself. I have carried it from that time to this. Allow me now to say, sir, that I think you are fairly entitled to the property.”
Lincoln Summer White House C-SPAN documentary (26 minute video) Washington, D.C., is a hot and humid place in the summer, and when Abraham Lincoln was president, the summers were even worse: On top of the heat and humidity, there was the Civil War. So for his three summers in office, starting in 1862, Lincoln moved out of the White House to a cottage 45 minutes away, on the grounds of the Old Soldiers' Home. Every morning Lincoln rode to the White House by horse to carry out official business, returning to the Soldiers' Home every evening. The hospitals, cemeteries, and camps for former slaves, he passed on his route, served as constant reminders of the war. President Lincoln often walked among the graves of the first National Cemetery on the grounds, just steps from the cottage. This incident was published anonymously in the San Francisco Bulletin, just a month after Lincoln’s assassination, and is described in the free eBook, Six Months at the White House with Abraham Lincoln (by F.B. Carpenter) [The first two lines are from a poem, How Sleep The Brave, by William Collins; the last two, apparently by Lincoln, but I'm not certain.] How sleep the brave, who sink to rest By all their country’s wishes blest, And women o’er the graves shall weep Where nameless heroes calmly sleep.
Lincoln 20 Min. Featurette (2012) - Steven Spielberg Movie HD As the Civil War continues to rage, America's president struggles with continuing carnage on the battlefield and as he fights with many inside his own cabinet on the decision to emancipate the slaves.
Interesting. The C-SPAN documentary, two posts back, claims the Emancipation Proclamation was purely a war strategy. Is that the general consensus? Also interesting was Lincoln's apparent attempt to get opposition research from Fernando Wood, against Gen. McClellan, in the election of 1864. LOL I'm afraid I'm too old to read all of the books on Lincoln. Can anyone recommend a good one?
I haven't seen the documentary but I think that's right. Although he was opposed to slavery, as evidenced by things that he said before he was first elected, I don't think he believed that he had the right to. States were considered sovereign until the Civil War. "I do but quote from one of those speeches when I declare that "I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so." Lincoln's First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1861.
I think that Lincoln's first priority was to preserve the Union, and freeing the slaves was a means to carry out that end.
This timeline gives a quick lesson on the history of slavery in the United States. https://www.mtholyoke.edu/~kmporter/slaverytimeline.htm
Eric Foner Sets Us Straight on Lincoln and Slavery The author maps Lincoln's trajectory over his career on the slavery issue.