Obama, Lincoln, and Cooper Union

[TheDoorbellRang]

When I heard that Obama was giving a major speech in NY, I wondered why he chose to give it there. Then I heard it was to be at Cooper Union, and I got it.

Folks, there are some fascinating parallels here:

Both Obama and Lincoln from Illinois, with few years in a political office. Lincoln had only one two-year term in the U.S. House and wasn't even in office when he ran for president.

Lincoln's fame was based on speeches. The Lincoln-Douglas debates were widely disseminated throughout the country, and were the catalyst that launched Lincoln as his fledgling party's presidential nominee.

Media spin? They had it then, too. After one of the Lincoln-Douglas debates, Lincoln was carried off on the shoulders of a cheering crowd. Or so one paper reported it. Another paper that favored Douglas wrote that Lincoln was so exhausted and dispirited after facing Douglas that he collapsed and was carried off by his disheartened followers.

Race baiting? Lincoln and the Republican party were known as the Black Republican party. Moreover, they allegedly supported "terrorist" acts like those of John Brown at Harper's Ferry.

Both Obama and Lincoln show an extraordinary ability to runs circles around the political campaigns of their more experienced political opponents.

And Cooper Union? Lincoln's Cooper Union speech was Lincoln's defining speech -- tho little known today, it is considered by many to be the speech that gave Lincoln the presidency. There aren't too many who realize this, and of course Obama doesn't mention that little factoid in his speech there, but you can bet your bottom dollar that Obama the Lincoln history buff had this in his mind when he chose that particular venue.

I had merely skimmed thru Goodwin's "Team of Rivals" when it came out. Last night I decided to start reading it in earnest to see just how many more parallels there are between Lincoln's and Obama's run for the presidency.

Here's public opinion on Lincoln's candidacy on the first page of "Team of Rivals:"

"The conduct of the republican party in this nomination is a remarkable indication of small intellect, growing smaller. They pass over...statesmen and able men, and they take up a fourth rate lecturer, who cannot speak good grammar."

--The New York Herald (May 19,1860), commenting on Abraham Lincoln's nomination for president at the Republican National Convention.

Meanwhile, I plan to continue reading "Team of Rivals" and watching this amazing race unfold. :popcorn:

[babylonsister]

1. Thanks for the history; I keep meaning to read a bio of Lincoln

and his political run.

[MyNameGoesHere]

2. I am not sure where you learned your history.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Brown_(abolitionist)


President Abraham Lincoln said he was a "misguided fanatic" and Brown has been called "the most controversial of all 19th-century Americans."<1> His attempt in 1859 to start a liberation movement among enslaved African Americans in Harpers Ferry, Virginia, electrified the nation. He was tried for treason against the state of Virginia and was hanged, but his behavior at the trial seemed heroic to millions of Americans. Southerners alleged that his rebellion was the tip of the abolitionist iceberg and

[TheDoorbellRang]

5. At the time, John Brown's actions

were viewed as heroism by some and as wacky doodle terrorism by others. Douglas tried to tie Lincoln and the Republican party in with the abolitionists like Brown whose actions frightened many in America. Sort of like how the media now is trying to turn Obama into Jeremiah Wright. Both Brown and Wright are a little too radical for most Americans.

Attempts to tie Lincoln to John Brown were disavowed by Lincoln, as you note.

[MyNameGoesHere]

8. Well i like history and i live near Harpers Ferry

and trust me that link never came up in a positive way. The most ironic part is Lee's involvement.

[npincus]

3. Cooper Union- my alma mater. A tuition-free institution...

the place runs on an endowment left by Peter Cooper, the industrialist, inventor who founded it. I paid $300/year to attend (studen activity fee)... that was in the 80's.

[MyNameGoesHere]

4. I think misguided fanatic is hardley support.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Brown_%28abolitionist%29

[TheDoorbellRang]

6. To clarify a bit

Lincoln's opponents alleged he supported John Brown. It was a smear like calling them the Black Republican party.


edited for more clarification

[MyNameGoesHere]

10. Now that sounds about right n/t

[Jane Austin]

7. I'm halfway through listening to

Team of Rivals and it is wonderful!

Very personal and a really interesting read.

[TheDoorbellRang]

11. I've been meaning to read it since it came out

Now I've got my curiosity really piqued, I'll probably gobble it up pretty quickly. My husband's reading the "Lincoln Douglas Debates" right now -- he's the one who gave me the media spin story.

[Jane Austin]

21. You'll really enjoy it, I think. n/t

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

9. "Team of Rivals" is a great book

Did you get to see a re-reading of Lincoln's Cooper Union speech a couple years back? Sam Waterston read it, and it really made the speech come alive. I watched and was yelling and shouting by the end.

[TheDoorbellRang]

12. No, I missed that

Wish I had seen it. Sam Waterston has always impressed me, so I'm sure he did a great job.

You know, it's been so long since we had any great speeches I think many Americans have forgotten how pivotal they can be in defining and even reshaping our national psyche.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

13. And it's really amazing to hear the old speeches read

I think the speech, or portions of it, is available via youtube. Sam is a dear person, very sweet and generous with his time and talents.

[TheDoorbellRang]

14. I read his Cooper Union speech online

right after I had read something here about current speeches being geared more towards the level of someone with an eighth grade education. Lincoln's C.U. speech seemed geared more toward college freshman level, IMO. Very meaty content.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

16. I think people in the nineteenth century

were either very much educated or totally ignorant. It is wonderful to actually hear the speech read, and with the vigor Sam put into it. The only disconcerting thing was he was in modern dress, and his reading glasses nearly slipped off his nose a couple of times.

[FedoraLV]

15. Sam Waterston's Reading of Lincoln's

Cooper Union address (audio + text):
<http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/abrhamlincolncooperunionaddress.htm>

-FedoraLV

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

20. Thanks for the link!

I think Sam does a great job reading as Lincoln.

[Faygo Kid]

17. I recommend "Lincoln at Cooper Union" by Harold Holzer. Excellent book.

"Lincoln at Cooper Union: The Speech That Made Abraham Lincoln President" is one worth reading; I read it last fall and enjoyed it thoroughly.

And yes, the parallels are striking.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41SKFVAV9NL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_OU01_AA240_SH20_.jpg

[TheDoorbellRang]

19. I'll have to add this one to my reading list, too

Thanks, faygokid.:hi:

[David Zephyr]

18. I read still another Lincoln bio last Fall and the Cooper Union story always gets me.

Thanks for putting it up here, TheDoorbellRang.