The Lincolns in Kentucky -Video

[mbgross]

Thank you, David for sharing this. This letter is another fine example of Lincoln's amazing political ability, and in this case, to not only understand the political situation, but to initiate a suburb strategy, that gives Lincoln the best possible chance to win the nomination and one, that that Davis essentially carried out in Chicago. I've included Galloway's letter that prompted Lincoln's letter (courtesy of the Library of Congress). It shows that Galloway was also gifted in the political arts and in his ability to read the 'political tea leaves'. Galloway, one of those valuable, even crucial, friends, outside the Sucker State, that gave Lincoln's nomination a real boost. https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/se...249300.pdf

[David Lockmiller]

(06-11-2024 10:12 PM)David Lockmiller Wrote:  I quote from Lincoln's April 14 letter to Delahay:

"I see by the despatches that since you wrote, Kansas has appointed Delegates and instructed them for Seward. Don't stir them up to anger, but come along to the convention, & I will do as I said about expenses."

Another way of expressing Lincoln's inspired strategy.

[David Lockmiller]

(06-10-2024 02:32 PM)David Lockmiller Wrote:  I thought one of the most interesting parts of this discussion was the role of money in presidential politics, then and now [ironic thanks to the Republican Supreme Court's role in Citizens United v. FEC], and was also an affirmation of Lincoln's personal integrity:

When one enterprising Illinois Republican suggested that [Lincoln] ought to have a campaign chest of $10,000, Lincoln replied that the proposal was an impossibility: "I could not raise ten thousand dollars if it would save me from the fate of John Brown. Nor have my friends, so far as I know, yet reached the point of staking any money on my chances of success." To a request for money from Mark W. Delahay, an old and somewhat disreputable Illinois friend who hoped to be a delegate to the Republican National Convention in order to promote his chance of being elected senator from Kansas, Lincoln responded: "I can not enter the ring on the money basis--first, because, in the main, it is wrong; and secondly, I have not, and can not get, the money." Yet, admitting that "in a political contest, the use of some [money], is both right, and indispensable," he offered to furnish Delahay $100 for his expenses in attending the convention. (As it turned out, Delahay was not chosen as a Kansas delegate but went to Chicago anyhow to root for Lincoln, who paid him the money he had promised.)

The role that money (and the sources of money) now play in national politics are the important points.

Trump has publicly stated:

Giving $1 billion would be a “deal,” Trump said, because of the taxation and regulation they would avoid thanks to him. Trump's remarkably blunt and transactional pitch reveals how the former president is targeting the oil industry to finance his reelection.

What Trump promised oil CEOs as he asked them to steer $1 billion to his campaign Headline of Washington Post - May 9, 2024

Isn't it remarkable how things have changed in this democracy in 164 years (the presidential election of 1860 and the presidential election of 2024)?

[Anita]

(04-22-2024 02:59 PM)Gene C Wrote:  I haven't watched all of it yet, what I've seen is good, and the comments are very favorable.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQnl5TY2eh8

Gene, thanks for posting this.
Kudos to writer and host Kent Masterson Brown who "Uses a wealth of original documents (most of which have never been published in any form.)" to tell this story of Lincoln's first 7 years in Kentucky.
This is documentary history at it's best. I found the unraveling of the complex legal issues that cost Thomas Lincoln the loss of his claims to the the Sinking Spring and Pigeon Creek lands especially well done.

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(04-22-2024 04:35 PM)RJNorton Wrote:  Excellent, Gene! For those folks interested in Lincoln's years in Kentucky I would recommend a little-known book entitled Lincoln's Mothers by Dorothy Clarke Wilson. The book is historical fiction but very well-researched IMO.

Roger, thanks to your recommendation some years ago I own a copy of Lincoln's Mothers. I don't read much historical fiction but I agree it's very well researched and enjoyable to read.

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(04-23-2024 04:51 AM)AussieMick Wrote:  The scenery around Lincoln's childhood home is fantastic.
This is high quality.

Yes! The scenery around the home with the explanation of the topography/ geology gives a sense of place words alone can't evoke.