(VOR News) – In four scores and seven years, Donald Trump compared himself to Abraham Lincoln, lauded him, and criticized him. Our descendants should study why the 45th president, who wants to be the 47th, keeps mentioning the 16th.
“This is Donald Trump, hopefully your favorite president of all time, better than Lincoln and better than Washington,” Donald Trump said in a December 2022 video presenting “Trump digital trading cards” after announcing his third presidential bid.
The Republican Party claims that the Great Emancipator has been treated worse than Lincoln and done more for Blacks than anybody else since Lincoln. Donald Trump calls it “the weave.” It appears in his odd mix of personal grievances, apocalyptic warnings about Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris’s victory, cultural references, and self-promotion.
Donald Trump criticized Harris in California using Lincoln on October 13.
Our nation—what’s wrong? The speaker said, “Look, Abraham Lincoln was the greatest.” Study this. Are you okay with our actions? “She is an absolute disaster.”
Later that week, a Tennessee 10-year-old asked “Fox and Friends” about Trump’s childhood hero. Donald Trump mentioned Reagan at Reagan’s 1981 inauguration despite being in his thirties. After praising Lincoln, he questioned the conflict six weeks after his inauguration.
“Lincoln was likely an exceptional president; however, why was that not resolved?” Trump insists he would have prevented the Ukraine and Israel wars. “I am a man who is illogical.” The Civil War occurred. Trump’s unusual background fascinated Lincoln Forum chairman Harold Holzer.
Holzer said “The issue with Donald Trump’s utilization of Lincoln is that it is a form of malice directed at a select few, followed by a larger number, and ultimately Lincoln.” Many politicians have exploited Lincoln’s legacy. Holzer noted that most people associate the Illinois rail splitter with its simplicity.
On Lincoln’s birthday weekend, Barack Obama’s 2007 presidential campaign launch at Springfield’s Old State Capitol, where Lincoln served for eight years in the House, was remarkable. At the Democratic National Convention this year, Obama invoked the “better angels of our nature,” as Lincoln did in his inaugural address, to unite the nation.
Gerald Ford, who reluctantly became vice president during Watergate, famously said, “I am a Ford, not a Lincoln.” Another Illinoisan, Adlai Stevenson, recalled Lincoln’s reaction to losing the presidency to Dwight Eisenhower in 1952: He was like a child who stubbed his toe—too elderly to cry, too painful to laugh.
“This is not a novel concept.” Presidents have historically referred to their predecessors, according to Coastal Carolina University presidential expert Justin Vaughn. Trump’s approach and persona are unique. It often lacks nuance. Trump’s passion isn’t total.
Biden’s poor performance aided Jimmy Carter’s reign, Donald Trump added.
Trump’s love-hate relationship with Lincoln stems from his desire to protect and improve his legacy, Vaughn says. During their June debate, Trump and Biden argued about the Presidential Greatness Project, a political historian’s poll co-authored by Vaughn and revised in December. Lincoln was the greatest US president, while Trump was the worst.
According to Vaughn, Donald Trump’s dealmaker implies that the Union might have been rebuilt without Civil War violence. Compromises have underpinned US slavery throughout history. Holzer predicted a War Between the States to eradicate slavery and unite the nation. He said “better negotiators than Donald Trump, such as Henry Clay, attempted to resolve the sectional crisis without success.”
Trump says he has done more for Black Americans than any president since Lincoln, noting his criminal justice reform and opportunity zone initiatives to bring investment to poor neighborhoods.
Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation freed slaves in rebellious states, shocking the South and the Union-loving North. Just weeks before his assassination, his hard and skilled work helped enact the 13th Amendment, which abolished involuntary servitude in the US.
“There is no comparison to be drawn between former Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Donald Trump” based merely on the Emancipation Proclamation, says slavery expert Daina Ramey Berry, dean of humanities and fine arts at UC-Santa Barbara. Berry said “People regarded Lincoln as the Great Emancipator and an advocate for unity and freedom after slavery was abolished.” The declaration had no immediate effect.
The self-effacing Lincoln may react differently to the altercation than a circuit-riding attorney. The court saw Bloomington, Illinois attorney Ward Hill Lamon, Lincoln’s bodyguard in Washington, tear his trousers. The lawyers snidely replaced Lamon’s pants.
Lincoln dropped a paper in the hat instead of a coin, writing, “I can contribute nothing to the end in view.”
SOURCE: AP
SEE ALSO:
A Tropical Storm Floods Philippine Towns And Kills 76 People.
