Strengthening Constitutional Self-Government

No Left Turns

Lincoln, Obama, and Bush

There is a great deal of nonsense out there suggesting that Barack Obama is the second coming of Abraham Lincoln. Tom Krannawitter slapped the comparison down not too long ago in the Washington Times. I add my own thoughts on the topic in The Daily Standard, wherein I suggest that when it comes to action, as opposed to rhetoric, the real comparison between Lincoln and a contemporary political leader is between the sixteenth president and George W. Bush.

"Lincoln’s rhetoric was important in drawing a line concerning the rightness or wrongness of slavery and in stressing the importance of preventing the extension of the institution into the Federal territories. It was also important during the war in linking the sacrifices of the soldiers to the survival of republican government. But his actions were important as well. Without the steps he took to win the war, Lincoln’s rhetoric would have been hollow."

BTW, the Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI) will be publishing my study of Lincoln as war president early next year, just in time for the Lincoln bicentennial.

Discussions - 3 Comments

It is both idiotic to compare Obama and Lincoln, and to match that idiocy by comparing Bush and Lincoln. But it is never too late for revisionism and legacy games using the lincoln-simulacrum.

Obama like Lincoln! Too much "I get a thrill up and down my leg" going on here. Stop it. Although I have huge issues with Lincoln and some of the things he did as President, there is no comparison between Lincoln and Obama. None. Just wait until Obama's is 18 months into his term. This obnoxious comparison will be history.

Your own comparison is a bit of a reach. Just how far do you want to stretch this logic?

Readers of this blog obviously weren't Obama supporters, but this is just silly.

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