April 16, 2013
-
Abe
I watched Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln” recently and it only reconfirmed what I have always believed: Abraham Lincoln is the greatest American who ever lived. I can go on about Lincoln’s greatness or about his impact but we all know that already. I would much rather get into what he means to me.
Although Lincoln was born in Kentucky, Illinois is where he came to prominence and the place where he is most associated, in particular Springfield. I’m from Illinois and it gives me a tremendous amount of pride to know that Illinois had such a large impact on his life. I live in a state that is well known for it’s corrupt politicians but Illinois is still known as the “Land of Lincoln.” Heck even our license plates feature the face of Abe. Whenever I’m out of state and I see an Illinois license plate I can look at the face of Lincoln with great pride in knowing that not only did he come from Illinois but also that he accomplished the greatest achievement in the history of the United States and quite possibly the world.
I’ve been to the Lincoln library in Springfield once and Lincoln’s tomb twice. I’ve never been known as being the most humble person around, but the moments I spent in Lincoln’s tomb were probably the most humbled moments of my life. I was simply in awe to be there; to stand there and reflect in a somber demeanor at how much he has meant to the symbol of equality of millions of people not only in America, but also around the world. How can one simple man leave such an imprint on the world that reverberates even today, nearly 150 years after he died?
Abraham Lincoln is inspiring. When I go through rough times, I sometimes think about how my problems paled in comparison to Lincoln’s, no matter how big mine are. As if the Civil War was not hard enough, he also had an 11 year old son die during the Civil War of typhoid fever. The grief nearly drove Mary Todd Lincoln insane. In addition, while a good portion of the country loved Lincoln, just as many people HATED him. You think people say awful things about Obama nowadays, it was nothing compared to what they said about Lincoln. And yet, he persevered and eventually triumphed and with grace as well. Any problem I could have does not even compare to what he had to put up with.
Lincoln has always been and always will be my favorite president. It’s easy to see why.
