Would Lincoln have liked this? Do you like it?

[Rob Wick]

To say whether or not Lincoln "deserved" such honors is, I believe, to miss the point. That is a very subjective decision and both sides of the coin could make a strong argument in their favor. People today forget exactly what was at stake during this time. Had the union disintegrated, it would have proven that people were unable to govern themselves, a point often made by the older regimes in Europe. Lincoln was well aware of this, and I think it colored his perspective. When the Southern states finally decided to secede, Lincoln had no choice but to try and bring them back. After using his powers as commander in chief to issue the Emancipation Proclamation, it became a whole new ball game, which he noted as "a new birth of freedom." America, and the world, changed immeasurably after the war. It was very likely that in remembering all that, Lincoln would be deified. As we move further and further away from the time, we look at it differently then those who lived it. I can see that in Ida M. Tarbell's papers. Letters written to her about her series and her books, especially from people who knew Lincoln, are filled with emotion that came from their nearness to the events.

Would Lincoln have liked it? Probably not, but the sense of martyrdom with the assassination happening near Easter, and Lincoln's success in holding the union together and setting slaves on the road to freedom made it inevitable.

Best
Rob