You're No Lincoln, Mr. Trump

Abraham Lincoln (March 4, 1861 - April 15, 1865)

Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 - April 15, 1865) was the sixteenth President of the United States, serving from March 4, 1861 until his assassination. As an outspoken opponent of the expansion of slavery in the United States, Lincoln won the Republican Party nomination in 1860 and was elected president later that year. During his term, he helped preserve the United States by leading the defeat of the secessionist Confederate States of America in the American Civil War. He introduced measures that resulted in the abolition of slavery, issuing his Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 and promoting the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution in 1865.

Lincoln closely supervised the victorious war effort, especially the selection of top generals, including Ulysses S. Grant. Historians have concluded that he handled the factions of the Republican Party well, bringing leaders of each faction into his cabinet and forcing them to cooperate. Lincoln successfully defused a war scare with the United Kingdom in 1861. Under his leadership, the Union took control of the border slave states at the start of the war. Additionally, he managed his own reelection in the 1864 presidential election.

Opponents of the war (also known as "Copperheads") criticized him for refusing to compromise on the slavery issue. Conversely, the Radical Republicans, an abolitionist faction of the Republican Party, criticized him for moving too slowly in abolishing slavery. Even with these problems, Lincoln successfully rallied public opinion through his rhetoric and speeches; his Gettysburg Address is but one example of this. At the close of the war, Lincoln held a moderate view of Reconstruction, seeking to speedily reunite the nation through a policy of generous reconciliation. His assassination in 1865 was the first presidential assassination in U.S. history and made him a martyr for the ideal of national unity 

Quotes

"Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves, and under a just God, cannot long retain it."

"And in the end it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years."

"Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt."

Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe."

"Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally."

Noteworthy Sites

• Biography of Abraham Lincoln
• Essays on Abraham Lincoln and His Administration
• Abraham Lincoln Research Site
• Abraham Lincoln Historical Digitization Project
• Lincoln Studies: Abraham Lincoln and the American Civil War
• C-Span: Lincoln 200 Years 

The Nightmare Scenario: Donald J. Trump

 When a Failed TV Talk Show Host Lands in the White House

Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946, New York, New York) was the forty-fifth President of the United States. Trump portrays himself as the very definition of the American success story. Throughout his life he has continually, though sometimes falsely, promoted himself as the epitome of business and entrepreneurial excellence, with his interests in real estate, sports, and entertainment. His entry into politics and public service, powered by his carefully crafted TV persona, resulted in the Presidential victory in 2016.

After graduating from the Wharton School of Finance, Mr. Trump followed in his father’s footsteps as a real estate developer, and he entered the world of real estate development in New York. The Trump signature soon became synonymous with the most prestigious of addresses in Manhattan and subsequently throughout the world.

Mr. Trump announced his candidacy on June 16, 2015, and after seventeen Republican contenders suspended their campaigns, he accepted the Republican nomination for President of the United States in July of 2016. After a vigorous campaign that consisted of persistent attacks on his opponent Hillary Clinton, Mr. Trump won the election on November 8 of 2016. Though he preferred to view his victory as a landslide, citing the fact that he won over 2,600 counties nationwide, the most since President Reagan in 1984, the truth is he lost the popular vote to Clinton by 3 million votes.

Trump campaigned in places he knew Republicans have had difficulty winning like Flint, Michigan, charter schools in inner-city Cleveland, and Hispanic churches in Florida, never ceasing his attacks on Secretary Clinton. The strategy worked.

President Trump has been married to his third wife, Melania, for twelve years and they are parents to their son, Barron. Additionally, Mr. Trump has four adult children, Don Jr., Ivanka, Eric and Tiffany, and eight grandchildren.

From the beginning, the Trump Presidency was mired in scandal and controversy. Associates were indicted and some confessed to crimes during his first year. Many pundits doubted he would finish his term. On December 18, 2019, he was impeached by the House of Representatives for strong-arming the Ukranian Government to intercede in our election on his behalf thus becoming the third president in U.S. history to be so disgraced. Because the Republican majority in the Senate cast a blind eye on his crimes, he was not removed from office.

Throughout his term, he undermined confidence in the intelligence service, the Justice Department and the press. He opposed all who espoused opinions contrary to his own false and erratic narrative.

When he lost the 2020 election by a landslide, in his typical petty fashion, he claimed he was the victim of voter fraud and refused to admit defeat. He refused to allow his government to brief incoming Joe Biden's administration, thereby insuring against a smooth transition and putting the country in further jeopardy.

On January 6th, 2021, energized by "The Big Lie" that the election had been stolen from Trump, a group of insurgents, incited by Mr. Trump and his associates, stormed the Capitol in an effort to stop the certification of the electoral votes. People died and the lives of members of congress, as well as Vice President Pence and his family, were threatened. The insurgents, following the lead of the out-going President, chanted "Hang Mike Pence" and constructed a mock gallows on the Capitol grounds.

As a result of his role in the vicious attacks, Trump was impeached for a second time. Though acquitted by a partisan senate, he was considered guilty in the eyes of the country. His legacy will be one of racism, bigotry, lawlessness, treason and, due to his inept handling of the corona-virus, a country crippled by a pandemic.

2023 found Trump assailed with an abundance of legal woes, including 90+ indictments. Even so, he remained the Republican Party's leading candidate for the Presidency. As always, his constant lying swayed a large part of the electorate who, unfortunately, fail to see through them.

Quotes

"It is what it is."

"Sometimes by losing a battle you find a new way to win the war."

"You have to think anyway, so why not think big?"

"Without passion you don't have energy, with out energy you have nothing."

"When somebody challenges you, fight back. Be brutal, be tough."

Noteworthy Sites

¹ Donald J. Trump - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Trump Cabinet
A Very Stable Genius: Donald J. Trump's Testing of America
Books by Donald J. Trump
Intimate Portrait of Donald J. Trump by his Niece
Reports on Trump at The Newyorker