So there's been a lot of talk concerning Barack Obama and Abraham Lincoln lately---
as the article above makes clear, Obama has publicly tried to link himself in various ways to Lincoln; some say Obama tried to follow Lincoln's lead in the way he drew up his cabinet; and others look at Obama coming up from poverty and entering the presidency facing a crisis and see a tie between he and Lincoln.
Many of the historians quoted in the article are skeptical of Obama trying to make himself another Lincoln. They're right. But there are many reasons why they're right to be skeptical that haven't been aired yet. Let's rattle off a quick list:
1] Lincoln was a Republican. Obama is a Democrat.
2] As mentioned in the article, Lincoln did not deliberately create a cabinet "team of rivals" as some kind of presidential/executive branch management tool. He didn't do it deliberately. He HAD to do it, he believed, in order to unify his party and the country.
3] Lincoln is the greatest president of all time because he entered the presidency forced to deal with the greatest CRISIS of all time--nearly half the country having seceded from the Union and the country facing Civil War. Obama faces difficulties, sure--and yet, the crisis he faces today is nothing like that facing Lincoln. Lincoln knew that the very future of the country was at stake. Such isn't the case for Obama.
4] Remember that, in the end, Lincoln proved himself to be a great president. He made mistakes; but he came through them and ultimately saw the country through war. Mr. Obama hasn't in any way proven himself yet.
Hands off Mr. Lincoln, Obama-ites. He's in a league of his own.
