Food for thought! Abraham Lincoln Today

[J. Beckert]

National security? That's a tough one, Matt.

I think Lincoln's thoughts regarding welfare, as were probably the thoughts of most folks at the time, could be summed up in the words he wrote to his half-brother, John Johnston. If you're able bodied - go find some means of gainful employment. Don't sit back and expect the Government, or anyone else, to provide for you. I don't think today's entitlements would sit well with a man who made his living off the sweat of his brow for many years of his life. When he was lying in the bed at the Petersen house, Sect. of the Navy Gideon Welles remarked later in his diary that Lincoln's sparse frame defied the real state of his physical stature. I believe he stated that he looked like a Greek God due to his muscular frame. That didn't come from demanding free health care or any other type of handout. He did it himself. As most folks of the time did.