President Barack Obama may not sport a beard like former President Abraham Lincoln did, but between the leaders’ eloquent speech, Illinois upbringings and influential positions in times of national turmoil, they may be two sides to the same coin, students learned Tuesday night at the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center.
‘They’re trying to put’ [Obama] on that pedestal because he’s so eloquent like Lincoln was,’ HGARC Assistant Director Alex Rankin told The Daily Free Press. ‘Obama is going to come up with something to solve the problems, much like how people thought that Lincoln was going to solve the problem with the Union.’
The Lincoln exhibition featured actual documents from Lincoln’s life, ranging from letters to his vice president, to a life-size plaster facemask. About 30 attendees wore cotton gloves to sift through documents dating from the Civil War all the way up to his assassination.
Rankin said Lincoln is significant today because he is the ‘ultimate American story.’ He noted the important contributions Lincoln made throughout his presidency, such as saving the Union, as well as his ability to teach himself and rise up ‘by his bootstraps’ despite numerous obstacles.
‘He saves the union, and he becomes the dream politician and everybody’s savior,’ Rankin said. ‘Then, his life is snuffed out by an assassin, so he makes every sacrifice and goes through every ordeal that people can go through. It can’t get more patriotic or beautiful.’
College of General Studies history professor Bill Tilchin said Lincoln was the president ‘who confronted our country’s gravest crisis.’
‘It was a crisis that had major moral dimensions as well as political dimensions,’ Tilchin said. ‘And he handled it so marvelously, and so few people could’ve done it that well.’
Rankin spoke about a particular letter written by Lincoln to Vice President Hannibal Hamlin after the Emancipation Proclamation was released. Rankin emphasized the significance of physically holding the documents.
‘When you’re holding that . . . and you see that he writes his vice president’s name wrong, you just have to realize how much stress he’s under, the turmoil he’s dealing with,’ Rankin said. ‘It’s almost like he’s pleading. When you hold a document like that, it’s very powerful.’
HGARC Archivist Diane Gallagher said she thinks the event had extra attention because of the current ‘political climate.’
‘I think there’s a new wind blowing,’ she said. ‘The young people are a part of history and its process.’
Gallagher said she also thinks that just as Lincoln was dedicated to bringing the Union together, Obama is trying to do the same thing.
‘My sense is that President Obama is making a valiant effort to bring all the factions of the United States together,’ Gallagher said. ‘He has learned to listen to history and is making our own history.’
College of Communication senior H’eacute;lo’iuml;se Borden said she hopes Obama takes a lesson from Lincoln to ‘not to be afraid to make controversial decisions.
‘Lincoln set a few milestones, and Obama already has and will continue to,’ she said. ‘I guess we have to wait and see what exactly he’s going to do, but I think a lot of people are hoping he’ll make some important decisions.’
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