This time up, it's Abraham Lincoln. Now, I pretty much despise all politicians, even the ones that I kind of support, and I know it's so much easier canonizing someone from the past because one can just gloss over the ugly parts and focus on what they want, but c'mon, this is Honest Abe after all. There are a few Presidents throughout our history that I admire or just plain find interesting and Lincoln is one of those guys.
Other than being the guy that had the cahones to abolish slavery, I do feel that he was an honest man and did his very best to be the man of character that we all have seen him as. Character in the face of the slavers, the country embroiled in a civil war and being threatened with being split in two, and from what I have learned recently, battling an illness that probably would have killed him had Boothe not done the job. Compare photos of him early in his presidency to those right before his assassination and you can see that there was more going on their besides a stressful leadership.
We can learn an important lesson from Lincoln, one that he knew then. That America must stand as a union and not be destroyed by a minority or fringe opinion. We are so polarized in everything that we do, that maybe we should look back to this important time and try to see just what Abe knew was best for us and the world. It's important for a democracy such as ours to exist. We need to find a better way.
He seemed humble and had a sense of humor, as can be attested by the painters and sculptors who he sat for during his time. And as an artist, what a face to portray in paint and clay! The profile, his nose, those ears and that expression, and add in all the attributes that made him what he was, it all makes for an interesting subject.
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