Honest Abraham Lincoln; A 19th Century Hero for a 21st Century Country
Once again, major news stories have captured my attention. From the assassination attempt on a former President, to an unprecedented decision from a current president to drop out of a highly contested race after receiving millions of primary votes, to Congressional hearings interviewing today’s political leaders, July was a noteworthy month. About the politicians and leaders that advance perspective beyond facts, it appears to me that data and facts can be manipulated and distorted to reinforce the perspective being told. But what if that perspective isn’t TRUTH at all? What if the story is not an honest reflection of the information, but a twisted version of the truth where honesty and integrity are exchanged for the advancement of a political agenda? I believe this leaves listeners and consumers of news cynical and skeptical and to me it seems, that as long as listeners remain cynical and skeptical, all of what we want our politicians and leaders to be; honest, credible, trustworthy, will be lost to an agenda of party over principle, of fiction over fact, of individualism over the collective good.
Honesty has long been believed to be the “best policy”. My presidential hero Abraham Lincoln was called “honest Abe” a name that he embraced with pride. He believed his integrity, his reputation, his credibility was essential to be maintained and required for success on a national level. It is believed that Lincoln thought a lot. Lincoln scholar William Lee Miller, says Lincoln thought, “At home, in the office, on a horse, in the woods, in a buggy. Mr. Lincoln thought about life, politics, and morality.” And Miller adds, “Abraham Lincoln is the greatest interpreter of America’s moral meaning.”
In learning details from Mr. Miller about Lincoln, it appears that Lincoln was a particularly worthy interpreter of America’s moral meaning because he stated it with eloquence. And secondly, he was at his time in history the primary voice giving the American idea its necessary reinterpretation about the centrality of equality. Miller adds, “And in doing those things, he was able, to an unusual degree, to avoid the bane, scourge, curse, and disease that threaten all human statements of moral claims and national ideals – self-righteousness, invidiousness, moral pride, and condescension.”
Lincoln valued country over self, and it appears he valued ethics and principle over distortion and spin. Lincoln knew the importance of having a sense of moral principles and guiding ethics that led him to having a voice on a national stage in a critical time in our country’s development. It appears that his success came not in spinning the truth to achieve his Republican agenda but telling the truth for a cause bigger than himself or for his political party.
Today’s leaders have to think about this; when leading an organization, a country, or a platoon of soldiers fighting for a good and noble cause. Today’s leaders must forsake their ego and their pride in order to virtuously ask their followers for a commitment, a vote, or to carry a gun. Leaders must also consider whether they are more interested in the good of something bigger than themselves. Perhaps what is missing with today’s politicians and leaders, unlike my hero Abe Lincoln, is not the confusion between what is true and untrue, but the clarity with regard to their ethics and to their moral compass. And only when our leaders are clear about this, and can communicate without the “bane, scourge, curse, and disease that threaten them”, will they be believed and trusted by those of us willing to listen.