Abraham Lincoln Religion in Politics

[kerry]

One of Herndon's informants suggested that Lincoln, knowing that he had a reputation as an infidel, began to tell religious leaders he was seeking God, and they all competed to convert him in Springfield. He thus got support from a lot of different sects, and the implication was he had no intention of joining any of them. Whether or not that is true, I do think Lincoln realized he could get a lot of support simply by being respectful towards a wide variety of religious practices, and did quite a bit of that during the war. He at least allowed Pomeroy and various Quakers to feel like he was with them, along with a few preachers. He spoke of Sumner as though he was a religious figure (calling him a bishop and the lord almighty), and he wasn't a big fan of that attitude, but he seems to have worked well with him. I think that's true of Lincoln with radicals of any type - he worked well with them, even if people position them as enemies. He used talent where he found it. I think Lincoln's use of religion in the public sphere had less to do with his own and more to do with how he reacted to that of others. He also enjoyed using religious arguments against slavery and religious wording in his speeches, and did so effectively.