Freaky Friday (updated November 15,2008)
It was on this day in 1860 that Abraham Lincoln was elected to his first term as president of the United States. Lincoln's only experience in national politics had been a single term as a congressional representative and two unsuccessful runs for senator. He had only one year of formal schooling and no administrative experience. Newspapers called him a "third-rate Western lawyer."
Once he got the nomination, Lincoln lay low until the election. He only attended one campaign rally, in Springfield, and he didn't even make a speech.
The Southern states took his election as a sign that slavery would be abolished, and before he even had a chance to take the oath of office, South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas all seceded from the Union.
Abraham Lincoln would spend all but the last few weeks of his life fighting to hold the country together.
Comments
Wow, that is Freaky.
Posted by: Danny | November 6, 2008 6:41 PM
Give it a rest already.......-e
Posted by: Ed | November 6, 2008 9:49 PM
Yeah, Charles-give it a rest! Pointing out really interesting facts in History (that most of us never knew about) makes Ed's brain hurt.
And he's over this "learning” thing...
Okay?
Okay.
Posted by: almond joy | November 7, 2008 7:17 AM
Charles,PLEASE tell me you are not compareing O'Bama to Lincoln.And comparing the world situation of the 1860's to the world situation of now is rediculas.The U.S. wasn't close to being the world power it is now so please don't get to excited about the new President yet!I know you're going to kiss Obama's feet if and when you meet him but please don't compare the 2 when there's no comparison.
Posted by: Bill Conway | November 7, 2008 12:04 PM
No, Bill Conway. I never compared Obama to Abe Lincoln. Didn't even try.
Only comparison one could make was that it may be that some people out there (like you?)had cited a problem with Obama's lack of experience and yet you get in a tissy fit when it is mentioned in an obscure “on this day in history” article that Lincoln had no experience either and that for anyone to even mention this fact according to your warped brain is someone trying to compare Obama to Abraham Lincoln.
You are angry beyond words and looking for a fight even though there is no boxing ring anywhere in the area. Go fish for the next four years. It will help you live longer.
Posted by: Charles Laquidara | November 7, 2008 2:10 PM
You know I can deal with his lack of experience, he has a top education, he is probably the most eloquent speaker I have ever heard. I dont like his tax policy, i am scared for small business and even more scared of our immigration policy moving forward,I can get over Bill ayers, tony rezco, acorn, rev. wright and his anti-semetics hate speach, but the thing that bothers me the most is the following ( and yes I need help with dealing with this so if someone here can put it in perspective for me) Kim jong il, hugo chavez, hamas, alquada and the russians,ahmadinajad
all applaud the election of Obama, isnt it a bad thing if our enemies are happy about this? I mean lets face it Jimmy carter got elected by saying "I'll never lie to you" and was a disaster of a President! iran had all those hostages all that time during the carter presidency and the day reagan took office, they were released, that was a strong symbol about the world opinions of both carter and reagan. obama is going to have to put up results immediately, he has the house, the senate and the presidency so what ever they pass better work! I think they can get away with blaming W. for one of Obama's terms but by the time he's on his second he'll actually have to do something. I wonder if he knows that when legislation actually gets to his desk he has to sign it or veto it, he wont be able to write "present" on the bill and walk away, he'll actually have to take a position. I predict Obama's administration will break the record for the most amount of polls taken during a presidency. that is a memory man guarentee!
Charles, I think i am officially back to the blog
hey Danny are you fightin in this foxhole alone? or are there any other sane constitutionalsits in da house?
Posted by: Memory man | November 7, 2008 4:27 PM
2009 marks the 200th year of Lincoln's
Birth. There are several new books about
him and his elevated legacy- I imagine we'll be hearing about Obama with Lincoln allusions a lot this year.
I once lived in a "shotgun" shack about 150 yards from Lincoln's gravesite in Springfield. Indeed he is buried WAY DEEP.
One thing Lincoln did was surround himself with a variety of viewpoints in order to make decisions. This is a "scholarly" tactic, and from what I hear, one way that Obama thinks through problems.
A radical change from our current "lame-duck" decider now. Last night I heard (on PBS of all places) that Obama's foreign policy is akin to GHWB's practice.
The news conference yesterday indicates an initial attempt at transparency - think of how W gave us little information about process- in other words: Wouldn't you want your CEO to be upfront with you-even if layoffs are apparent?
Posted by: squeak | November 8, 2008 2:13 AM
Memory man, do you seriously think Obama is so stupid as to think that the people who are happy about his being elected are going to be able to take advantage of him? I mean, the man does have a brain in his head and I seriously doubt he will let them run roughshod over the US. I'm not saying he'll reach for a gun first but I do think he'll show some teeth if provoked. I would love if diplomacy worked all the time but sometimes it doesn't. The man is educated and he knows that at times force needs to be shown. I hope we never have to use it but I do think he can put two and two together. He's not a dummy.
Posted by: Heidi | November 10, 2008 7:47 AM
Memory Man,
Welcome back brother, nice to know you've got my Six.
Heidi,
POTUS Elect is anything but a dummy. However he won't be reading form a prepared text on a teleprompter in the Oval Office and there in lies a problem. I pray I'm wrong and I don't believe in god.
Posted by: Danny | November 15, 2008 9:05 PM