Zelensky Draws Inspiration from Lincoln

[David Lockmiller]

Lincoln Group of the District of Columbia made the following news post in September, 2023 with the title: "Zelensky Draws Inspiration from Lincoln"

By Edward Epstein, Washington, D.C., Monday, September 25, 2023

Zelensky paid a whirlwind visit to Washington on Thursday in a bid to bolster support for his country in its protracted and bloody war with Russia. After meeting with President Joe Biden at the White House and with congressional leaders in the Capitol, he went to the National Archives to deliver a speech. Before speaking, he toured the National Archives museum, where he came face to face with a tough-worded telegram that President Abraham Lincoln sent to his commanding general Ulysses S. Grant on August 17, 1864, in the midst of a year of heavy fighting with Confederate forces, from the Wilderness to Cold Harbor to the Crater.

It was a gloomy summer for Union fortunes, leading many -- including Lincoln himself -- to fear that he would lose his re-election bid that November.

Addressed to Lt. Gen. Grant at his City Point, Va., headquarters, the telegram read: "I have seen your dispatch expressing your unwillingness to break your hold where you are. Neither am I willing. Hold on with a bulldog grip and chew & choke, as much as possible."

After his Archives speech, Zelensky posted on X, formerly known as Twitter: "Among the documents I saw today at the National Archives was Abraham Lincoln’s telegram to General Grant. An inspiring document. 'Hold on with a bulldog grip, and chew and choke as much as possible.' President Lincoln’s words reflect the courage and faith that helped America. President Lincoln’s words reflect exactly how Ukrainians fight."

And later he added, "Every day of this war, Ukrainian soldiers hold on with the grip of a bulldog. They chew and choke the Russian occupiers as much as possible."