Obama stumbles in Lincoln's footsteps

[n2doc]

Eric Foner
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 9 December 2010 12.30 GMT


President Obama's tax deal with congressional Republicans may well turn out to be a defining moment in his presidency. This is less because of its content than what it tells us about Obama himself and his politics.

During the 2008 campaign, many observers compared Obama with Abraham Lincoln. Obama encouraged this, announcing his candidacy in Springfield, Lincoln's home, and taking the oath of office on the bible Lincoln used in 1861. (He trumped his predecessor, however, by having two preachers speak at his inauguration. Lincoln managed to be sworn in twice without hearing from a single minister.)

Many comparisons between Lincoln and Obama have no historical merit. One that has validity is that both made their national reputations through oratory rather than long careers of public service. Lincoln held no public office between 1849 and his election. Obama served briefly in the Illinois legislature and US Senate, but had no significant legislative accomplishment. It was speeches – of considerable eloquence and moral power – that propelled both into the national spotlight.

Obama's rather petulant response to liberal critics of his tax deal, however, reveals a fundamental difference between the two men. Obama accuses liberals of being sanctimonious purists, more interested in staking out a principled position than getting things accomplished. Lincoln, too, faced critics on the left of his own party. Abolitionists, who agitated outside the political system, and Radical Republicans, who represented the abolitionist sensibility in politics, frequently criticised Lincoln for what they saw as his slowness in attacking slavery during the civil war. In 1864, one group of Radicals even sought to replace Lincoln with their own candidate, John C Frémont.

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/dec/08/barack-obama-abraham-lincoln

[CountAllVotes]

1. Obama is no Lincoln

Lincoln and FDR must be rolling in their graves right now! :grr:

:kick:

[MurrayDelph]

2. That's because he is trying to follow in

BLANCHE Lincoln's footsteps.

[JimGinPA]

3. Yeah, McCain Is A Lot More Like Lincoln I Suppose

Pure drivel.

[MurrayDelph]

4. Can we get past this canard?

There has never been a question that Mr. Obama is still better than John McCain would have been.

Most of us are disappointed that Mr. Obama has not lived up to the standards he set for himself when he ran for office.

(edited for grammar. she hates typos)

[frylock]

5. get some new material ffs

[Bluenorthwest]

7. I offer that the article in the OP is more complimentary by

comparing the President to perhaps our greatest, while you wish to compare him to a petty Senator known for losing runs for the Oval office. Myself, I'd rather be said to be not quite as good Lincoln than said to be twice as good as McCain.

[Uzybone]

6. only fools are caught up with comparing the President in 2010

to the president in 1865. Write about something more serious please.

A serious person doesn't compare the behavior of a president during tax cuts for the rich with the behavior of another president during slavery and civil war.