Barack Obama has gotten the Library of Congress to release the Bible that Abraham Lincoln used for his inaugural in 1861 so that Obama can be sworn in on that historic Bible. This will be the first time that a president will have used the Lincoln Bible since Lincoln's first inaugural.
While I yield to no one in my admiration of our 16th president, I think that Obama is stretching those mystic chords of memory a bit too far here. He doesn't become Lincolnesque simply by encouraging others to draw those comparisons. He has to actually accomplish something. While the times we're facing are indeed grim, they're not on a scale with the Civil War. At this point, before he's actually accomplished anything except getting elected, straining to draw comparisons with Lincoln touches on the hubristic.
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7 comments:
Before he turns a hallowed and historical item into a prop, I hope Obama will reconsider this decision.
I would like to see him set the stage by eschewing these media manipulating "compare me with Lincoln" events and symbols such as the impending train arrival and now the Lincoln bible. If that isn't possible, maybe it will suffice to use a bible taken from a night stand in the Lincoln Bedroom (available for rent during the Clinton administration).
I'm not sure how "hallowed" this Bible is, after all it was bought for the occasion by the Clerk of the Supreme Court (William Carroll) because the Lincoln family Bible was still in transit. If President Elect Obama had used the Lincoln family Bible, which is also in the Library of Congress collection, that would be using a hallowed Bible.
The substitute Bible was never used again in an inauguration including Lincoln's second. While it has a connection to Lincoln, the connection is slim. About the same connection that President Elect Obama has to Lincoln - being a President from Illinois not born there.
There is no there there.
Amen, there.
I think this is splitting hairs. While no other President has been sworn in on Lincoln's Bible. others have used Washington's Bible and Jefferson's bible. While I agree that the comparisons between Obama and Lincoln are far overblown, my respect for the Office of the Presidency dictates that tradition should be followed, and tradition dictates that the President-Elect can use any bible that he sees fit.
Of course, during his time in office, Lincoln was reviled by many, including many in the North. Only after he was killed by John Wilkes Booth did he become a hallowed president. If he had not been assassinated, who knows how history would have remembered him.
Is Obama ready to go that route?
Depending on the legislation that Mr. Obama chooses to sign, such as the card check for unions, he may end up with a civil war on this hands. ;-/
Betsy's correct; it's symbolism that the Left would have gone berserk over had a conservative done anything remotely like it. One need not go back as far as Lincoln to prove that. During the last campaign when Obama compared himself to Reagan in some respects, opponents (especially Edwards)stomped him with both feet, and Matt Stoller (Open Left) and commmenters bashed all Reagan's actions. Imagine what they'd have done had Reagan taken the oath on Lincoln's Bible.
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