LincolnÕs Sword

By Karen S. Lynch (Crossroads ©2007)

 

  With a portrait of Abraham Lincoln hanging above the fireplace behind him, Douglas L. Wilson read from his most recent book, LincolnÕs Sword- The Presidency and the Power of Words. The former Knox College Professor discussed his book to a packed Alumni Room Friday night January 5 at Knox CollegeÕs Old Main. Wilson is the co-director of the Lincoln Studies Center at Knox College. This is the fourth book Wilson has written on Lincoln, ÒBecause IÕm a student of Literature, but itÕs not the kind of book a student of Lincoln would write.Ó

   The latest book is becoming widely acclaimed with rave reviews in publications such as the San Francisco Chronicle, ÒThe book is a delight and a Wonder.Ó Richard Norton Smith, founding director, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum wrote, ÒIt is Doug WilsonÕs genius to reconstruct the man by deconstructing his words.Ó

  Wilson explained that Lincoln wanted to be a poet, but considered himself a failed poet, finding poetry too restrictive. ÒHe could not express powerful emotions written within constraints of pentameter rhyme.Ó Wilson continued, ÒLincoln wrote insensately all of his life, but he never considered himself a writer.Ó He clearly had literary aspirations, according to Wilson, who described Lincoln as ÒA man of letters.Ó

   Giving insight into the inner thoughts of Lincoln, found in the manuscripts the Library of Congress who asked for help in transcription, Wilson said, ÒLincoln was a secretive manÉ not given to private revelations or self-disclosure.Ó In describing the reading habits of Lincoln, Wilson stated, ÒHe devoured books. Lincoln especially loved Shakespeare, the Bible, and Burns. He knew the Bible by heart.Ó

  In facing LincolnÕs critics Wilson explained, ÒHis pen became his sword.Ó Lincoln used his writings to defend against his critics by writing powerful letters and speeches from bits and pieces of papers and notes he often kept in his hat. U.S. Senate candidate Lincoln wrote his ÒHouse DividedÓ speech, given before the Republican State Convention at the Springfield, Illinois statehouse on June 16, 1858. Wilson shared the story behind the ÒHouse DividedÓ speech. ÒLincoln dumped the notes from his hat, arranged then on the table, numbered them and then proceeded to write his speech.Ó Lincoln wanted to shock the people with his now famous speech, according to Wilson. Going against his critics, Lincoln refused to strike the words ÒA house divided against itself cannot stand.Ó

   According to Wilson, Lincoln was both a re-writer and a pre-writer, who often revised several times what he had written, after delivering a speech to submit to Congress to be published with the revisions. ÒHeÕs a pre-writer in anticipation of an occasion, looking for a place to make a statement.Ó Lincoln preferred to read his speeches aloud, according to Wilson. ÒHe has to hear it and have a live audience.Ó

   Lincoln had many critics, even in his own Republican Party for appointing Democrats as Generals. The use of black soldiers was also highly criticized, but strongly defended by Lincoln who was a strong abolitionist. He brought together a divided nation after the carnage of the Civil War by following his own convictions, ignoring his critics. From WilsonÕs book jacket: ÒLincolnÕs Sword tells the story of how Lincoln developed his writing skills, how they served him for a time as a hidden presidential asset, how it gradually became clear that he possessed a formidable literary talent, and it reveals how writing came to play an increasingly important role in his presidency.Ó

 

1/11/07