Lincoln's Future

[Matt Macoubrie]

So here is your Monday dose of Lincoln forum responses!!!

Here is the question that I am provoking for every member on here . . .

Who do you think benefited in history more due to their assassination, Abraham Lincoln or John F. Kennedy? Why? Explain your answers.

In addition, do you think had there been as much media as there was when Kennedy was assassinated, there would have been a different outcome in our perspectives on Lincoln and the assassins?

Have fun

[Gene C]

This is a tough one Matt. Considering this is a Lincoln forum, I going to stick my neck out and say.....Lincoln.

Now after all the furor dies down, consider this...
..you use pennies and $5 dollar bills almost every day. Half dollar, not so much.
There's a luxury car called the "Lincoln". No Kennedy car yet.
There are "Lincoln Logs". No Kennedy erector sets.
You probably even know Lincoln's dog's name. What was Kennedy's?

I rest my case - Fido

On the other hand, would Kennedy be as popular today as LBJ is, if he had never been killed? Did his assassination vault him into public popularity that he never would have achieved otherwise? I'll have to take a nap on it. (just having a little fun here)

[KateH.]

I believe Lincoln and Kennedy both benefited history in their own way. However, Lincoln might have a slight edge over Kennedy since he was the first President to be assassinated.

The Kennedy assassination enthralls people because there are so many missing pieces, like the theory of a second shooter and Jack Ruby killing Oswald. Lincoln's assassination might have unknown factors too but, for the most part, many of the main facts are known.

Lincoln's assassination made the government stronger and tougher when it came to cracking down on rebellions. Before Lincoln's death, little action was taken to guard him against threats of death. Lincoln still met with civilians and often went out alone. That's practically insanity by today's standards of security. After Lincoln's death, ways changed considerably. Photographs were taken of the execution to use as subliminal messaging. It was a silent warning to all those who dared act against the government.

Furthermore, if Lincoln survived and went forward with African American rights and reconstruction, would there have been a need for Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights movement? Or would that already have been solved? Something to think about.

As far as media attention, I'm pretty sure both had all the media attention they could get in their time. Even though television hadn't been invented when Lincoln was assassination, news still traveled very fast and everyone read the newspaper. Even if you couldn't read, somewhere there were pictures you could look at. I believe many modern opinions are formed due to what was written in the newspapers when Lincoln was killed, the same way opinions were formed in 1865. Words are just as powerful as television. In addition, reporters in 1865 knew how to wield their words because there was no such thing as writing a little blurb and letting television fill in the rest.

[Rogerm]

I think that Lincoln's reputation as president has benefitted him more over the years from his assassination than has Kennedy's. Following both assassinations, there was an out-pouring of grief and sympathy from much of the country, which Lincoln's successor, Andrew Johnson, squandered; but which Kennedy's successor, Lyndon Johnson, was able to profit from early on with the passage through Congress of the Civil Rights Bill. Andrew Johnson fought with the Radical Republicans almost from the very beginning of his term as President and never recovered, whereas Lyndon Johnson, after a brilliant start to his presidency, ultimately fell in the mire of the Vietnam War. During his lifetime, Lincoln had been an unpopular and controversial president. However, holding to his beliefs and eventually winning the Civil War won him great respect. And, the assassination made him a martyr, which has increased his stature over the ages. Kennedy, on the contrary, was in office for less than one full term and seems to have lost some stature over the years, following the pinnacle of his popularity. Not nearly as many people today consider him as having been one of our greatest presidents as they did back in 1964 and 1965, shortly after his death. Also, back then, the American public didn't know anything about his sexual escapades.

If there had been as much media in Lincoln's day as in Kennedy's, he (Lincoln) probably would never have reached the level of a secular saint. Eventually, the media would have presented more warts in his life story; and some authors and reporters would have thought it their duty to cut his legend down to size.

[Hess1865]

Lincoln saved the country

JFK really accomplished nothing

[LincolnMan]

Like the others, I vote on the side of Lincoln for the reasons also stated. Two things about JFK stand out for me-his success during the missile crisis with the Soviets-and something that means more to me on a professional level-his legislation to fund community mental health.