Drawing on a 138 year legacy of biographies, monuments, shrines, icons, and ritual observances, Merrill Peterson’s 1994 book Abraham Lincoln in American Memory identifies five different historical representations of the sixteenth president: “Savior of the Union,” “Great Emancipator,” “Man of the People,” “The First American,” and “The Self-Made Man.”
Similarly, by analyzing Gallup Poll responses from 1945 and 2001, sociologists Barry Swartz and Howard Schuman have refined Peterson’s study by examining how those popular representations of Lincoln have changed over time. Their conclusion? Due to the Civil Rights Movement and the New Social History and wave of multipluralism that followed, the “Great Emancipator” image (although represented most conspicuously in monument form by the racist, paternalistic “Emancipation Memorial” pictured above) has unreservedly usurped the “Savior of the Union” and “Man of the People” images which gained currency during the era of reconciliation and the Great Depression, accordingly.
Yet more recent works of scholarship have portrayed Lincoln as an ambitious and capable intellectual, scribe, and pragmatist. The writings of James McPherson, Allen Guelzo, Richard Carwardine, and Douglas Wilson convey, respectively, a man who possessed a deep understanding and command of military strategy, Enlightenment and democratic philosophy, political practicality, and the English language.
Will this “intellectual” Lincoln be the next to find its way into the realm of popular memory? If social imperatives and academic cues (facts of representation) are indicators of the progression of popular understandings of the past (facts of reception), then the answer may be yes. The military bungling, political rigidity, and perceived anti-intellectual bent of the Bush Administration appear to have prompted scholars and non-academics alike to address the utility of language skills and intellectual expression among their political leaders (I think we all know to whom I am referring). Although monuments to “Lincoln the Intellectual” – with Lincoln reading over the writings of Locke, or even the Bible – have not been erected just yet, the imperatives of our recent past (or our modern political leaders) may render them socially necessary.
Similarly, by analyzing Gallup Poll responses from 1945 and 2001, sociologists Barry Swartz and Howard Schuman have refined Peterson’s study by examining how those popular representations of Lincoln have changed over time. Their conclusion? Due to the Civil Rights Movement and the New Social History and wave of multipluralism that followed, the “Great Emancipator” image (although represented most conspicuously in monument form by the racist, paternalistic “Emancipation Memorial” pictured above) has unreservedly usurped the “Savior of the Union” and “Man of the People” images which gained currency during the era of reconciliation and the Great Depression, accordingly.
Yet more recent works of scholarship have portrayed Lincoln as an ambitious and capable intellectual, scribe, and pragmatist. The writings of James McPherson, Allen Guelzo, Richard Carwardine, and Douglas Wilson convey, respectively, a man who possessed a deep understanding and command of military strategy, Enlightenment and democratic philosophy, political practicality, and the English language.
Will this “intellectual” Lincoln be the next to find its way into the realm of popular memory? If social imperatives and academic cues (facts of representation) are indicators of the progression of popular understandings of the past (facts of reception), then the answer may be yes. The military bungling, political rigidity, and perceived anti-intellectual bent of the Bush Administration appear to have prompted scholars and non-academics alike to address the utility of language skills and intellectual expression among their political leaders (I think we all know to whom I am referring). Although monuments to “Lincoln the Intellectual” – with Lincoln reading over the writings of Locke, or even the Bible – have not been erected just yet, the imperatives of our recent past (or our modern political leaders) may render them socially necessary.
"Lincoln the Intellectual" is something I have been really drawn to in my studying of Lincoln. It baffles me why I can't see that in today's leaders. Perhaps it's the foreknowledge of knowing what Lincoln accomplished or maybe it's the dumbing down of today's leaders by radical "journalism" that smears the perception of today's leaders, but something is keeping me from seeing the wisdom I read in Lincoln
ReplyDeleteEven the media hyped "Obama the Intellectual" does not come off to me like he is deserving. Of course comparing to the former president he does but not to the early founders and Lincoln. Obama is to agenda driven and while Lincoln was too (probably more so) the latter communicated clearly and on point and the former communicates in circles. Not real sure why I started comparing Obama to Lincoln but it happens.