Last October at the National Book Fair on the Mall in Washington, DC, I helped pass out Illinois Heritage Maps at the Illinois State Library table in the huge Tent of the States. Thousands of children came by to get their maps of the U.S. stamped with the Illinois stamp. The goal of each was to visit every state table to win a prize. The Illinois stamp was just the outline of a stove pipe hat. That's it, just a hat. We asked every child who appreared to be under the age of ten, "Whose hat is that?" In the four hours that I was there, not one child even hesitated. Every single child said, "It's Lincoln's hat." And the way they said it was with great admiration and enthusiam. It was an incredibly heartwarming experience to know that Lincoln is still so universally loved and admired both in America and overseas. Thousands of books have been written about him. A new book is a terrific survey of the cabinet of Lincoln during the Civil War written by Doris Kearns Goodwin. It would be presumptious to try to cover the most famous Illinoisan of all time in a blog entry when so much has been written about his life. Every reader of Illinois Review already knows a great deal about him. So I am asking for your comments below as to why you think Lincoln was a great leader.
He was born in Hardin County, Kentucky on Feb. 12, 1809. Exactly one hundred years later, the Lincoln penny became the first U.S. coin to bear the image of a president when it replaced the Indian Head penny. The Lincoln page on The White House web site has a good short biography of his life and presidency. After childhood years in wilderness areas of Kentucky and Indiana and losing his mother, Lincoln split rails and worked and read for the law in New Salem, Illinois. He lived in Illinois for the next 31 years of his life from 1830 until he left Springfield for the last time to live in the White House in 1861.
Thousands of overseas tourists travel all the way to Springfield every year just to visit his tomb and his home. Why? There is a statue of The Standing Lincoln across the street from Westminster Abbey in London made from the same identical mold as the one designed by Augustus St. Gaudens in Lincoln Park in Chicago. Why does the life of Lincoln remain so appealing to people all over the world today? In your opinion, what qualities or accomplishments of Abraham Lincoln made him a great leader? Thank you in advance for your ideas.
