Lessons from Lincoln

*Previously Recorded by Phyllis Schlafly*

Yesterday was Abraham Lincoln’s birthday, a legal holiday in Illinois called the Land of Lincoln, but not in every state. I just learned that my grandchildren, who are in public school in California, have a holiday this Friday, February 17, and are calling it Lincoln’s birthday. I don’t know if California’s calendars are different, or if the teachers just felt the need of another holiday. In any event, I’m glad they are remembering to honor one of our greatest presidents.

When my own children were growing up, one year I took them to Disneyworld in Orlando, Florida, where one of the highlights was the Hall of Presidents. Disney created life-sized models of many of our presidents and had them speaking some of their most memorable words. The show’s grand finale was Abraham Lincoln giving a portion of one of his great speeches. Years later, I took my grandchildren to Disneyworld to see what I thought would be the same inspiring program. Much to my dismay, the final speech was not given by Lincoln but by Bill Clinton. What a disappointment!
Abraham Lincoln, who was born poor and lacked formal education, was probably the greatest of truly self-made men. He believed, as he said, that “work, work, work, is the main thing.” His economic policy was designed not only “to clear the path for all,” but to spell out incentives to encourage entrepreneurs to create new jobs, new products, and new wealth. He believed in “the right to rise,” that equal opportunity leads to social mobility, and that government should foster growth. Lincoln said, “We proposed to give all a chance; and we expected the weak to grow stronger, the ignorant, wiser; and all better, and happier together.”

Most governments are based on a denial of the equal rights of men, but America, uniquely, began by affirming individual rights. Lincoln believed that only free labor can exercise equal rights. On his way to Washington to take office as President in 1861, he said “I have never had a feeling politically that did not spring from the sentiments embodied in the Declaration of Independence.”

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