The saddest words - It might have been

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“Of all sad words of tongue or pen,

the saddest are these, It might have been.”

 

 

John Greenleaf Whittier wrote these powerful words in his poem,  "Maud Mueller," published in Pamphlet in 1856.  An American poet and Quaker who fiercely opposed slavery, he was strongly influenced by my favorite Scottish poet Robert Burns.

It was 158 years ago when Whittier wrote those immortal words.  Just seven years later the Emancipation Proclamation, a presidential proclamation, was issued by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863 freeing all slaves in America.

On April 9, 1865 General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant formally ending the Civil War and abolishing slavery forever, and just six years later the greatest president in our history was assassinated after leading our nation through it's darkest hours.

 

Destiny?  Certainly Lincoln had premonitions of his upcoming death.  If George Washington was the Father of America then Abraham Lincoln was most certainly the Soul of America sent to the promised land in our hour of most need.  In the end he gave everything including his life to save a struggling nation and make it a beacon to the rest of the world with a Constitution guaranteeing individual freedom and equal opportunity.

 

Robert Burns inspired other people besides Whittier.  Burns lived during the American (1776) and French (1789) revolutions and greatly admired those people who would challenge the powerful monarchies that controlled them.  A prolific poet and lyricist,  his poem and song "Auld Lang Syne" is sung throughout the world as New Year dawns.  Born January 25, 1759 he died July 21, 1796 when he was just 37 years old.

 

American novelist John Steinbeck used Burn's works for the title of his 1937 novel "Of Mice and Men."  When asked for the source of his greatest creative inspiration, singer and songwriter Bob Dylan selected Burn's 1794 song "A Red, Red Rose" as the lyric that had the biggest effect on his life.  Author J. D. Salinger borrowed from Burn's poem "Comin' Through the Rye" for his 1951 novel "The Catcher in the Rye."

 

Even I was drawn to Burns and his wonderful talent when I discovered that a distant Scottish relative,  Mary Campbell, was one of his first loves and the subject of several early poems.  Their relationship was the subject of much conjecture and it has been suggested that on May 14, 1786 they exchanged Bibles and "plighted their troth over the Water of Fail" in a traditional Scottish wedding.

 

In August of the same year she was caring for her brother who had typhus and caught the disease herself eventually dying at the age of 23 in Campbeltown, Scotland, an ancient town founded by my ancestors of the Campbell clan.

 

At any rate, while the historical perspective is interesting it is the poignant, melancholy and sentimental words of Whittier one should ponder.  What do they mean in your life?  Are they your final testament because you did not have the courage to follow your heart instead of your mind?  Or can you still escape from the sadness of knowing something might have been?

 

Perhaps you never had a choice in the matter.  Over and over in my life things happened, not of my making or doing, that radically altered my life, shattered my dreams or broke my heart.  Some were my fault or choice, others were when I was a victim of the cruel hand of fate.

 

Some were big and others were small yet they all were definitive lessons that I really wished I didn't have to learn.  Don't get me wrong or feel sorry for me, they were my path, not yours, and I am certain there was some kind of mystical or spiritual reason for the experience.

 

I remember once I spent years with a childhood friend and classmate before I realized  his older sister was my soul mate.  It was something I never expected.  She was the most beautiful girl I ever knew and I was always amazed at how the older boys were lined up to take her out.  She was also very smart, talented and worked hard to hide her many attributes.

 

For some reason, perhaps my lack of discretion or desire to talk to everyone, or the fact I never beat around the bush but always was frank, honest and kept conversations in total confidence, she always treated me like a confidant in spite of a couple of year's age difference.  It seemed I was always far more comfortable with older and more mature people.

 

 

Over the years I became her sounding board about boys, life, the world and whatever else she wanted to discuss.  When her family moved to the next state I would visit her brother several times a year and spend time talking to her when I was in town.

 

After about 12 years of knowing her, when I was a junior in high school, things suddenly changed when I drove to her home.  Bear in mind that in spite of my maturity I was always in awe of her and being her friend was about the best thing I ever did.  But I was also no fool so I was aware my chances of ever being intimate with her, or her wanting to go out with me, were about the same as dating Audrey Hepburn or Natalie Wood.

 

On this particular visit I noticed she seemed really sad and when she went out for a walk behind her house I followed to find out the problem.  By the time I caught up with her she was sitting on a fallen tree trunk and I sat down beside her.  No person that nice and beautiful deserved to be sad so I started singing the Elvis song "Are you lonesome tonight" and to my absolute surprise she started laughing.

 

I asked her if I was that bad and she said I wasn't, but it was just what she needed to stop feeling sorry for herself.  So we talked.  For hours it seemed.  She told me about all the creeps who wanted to date her for a trophy, how insincere they were and how she wished people could just be honest and respectful, like me.

 

Finally she asked what I thought of her, really thought of her.  I admitted it would be impossible to give her any objective assessment because I had been madly in love with her since I was in 1st grade.  After she stopped laughing it took me about 20 minutes to convince her I really was hopelessly in love with her.

 

As she pondered on my dilemma she acknowledged I was the only person she could discuss anything with and never worry about being judged, she trusted me to keep her secrets, and that I always had something intelligent or funny to make her feel better.  Why was it so easy to talk to me she wondered?  And why did I care enough about her to try and help her if she was feeling bad or make her laugh when she was sad?

 

Eventually she concluded I really did care for her.  What she wanted most was to find someone who treated her like I did.  By this point I was praying to God to let her kiss me on the cheek or something in appreciation.  Then she said why do I need to find someone like you when I already know you?

 

That dangling modifier left me dangling and speechless.

 

Over the next year I made several trips to see her brother and her and we spent more and more serious time together.  Hugs grew into kisses and neither of us had any interest in any other person being part of our lives.  Of course we still had college to get through but we agreed to let our parents know how we felt about each other before I went away to college.

 

One day that summer before I left for the University of Arizona she called and said she was going to fly down where I lived in a corporate plane from her father's company so we could tell my parents about us.  Then I would drive her back home so we could tell her parents.  By now we felt so strongly and comfortable about each other that being engaged seemed insignificant.  This was the person I would share my life with.

 

No more would we have to sneak around hiding our relationship.  As I waited at home for her to call and say she landed I was listening to the music of the British invasion on the radio when a news bulletin came on that a corporate plane had crashed a few miles from the airport and there were no survivors.

 

As the weight of the world crashed down on my shoulders I just knew it was her and my heart sank.  She was gone forever.  Our secret would never be revealed.  Our life would never be shared with each other.

 

I was engulfed in a darkness that seemed to suck the life out of me.  I did not know what I did to deserve such a fate and I did not understand why such a beautiful soul had to be taken from this world when she had so much to offer.

 

In the end  I was very angry with God for a long time to come.

 

It was not the first time the line "the saddest words of tongue or pen are these four words it might have been" haunted me and conjured up all kinds of shattered dreams, but this time the line was empowered like never before, and it pierced my heart like no other event in my life.

 

Though I had no choice nor fault nor blame in the tragic event I took it personal and wondered if she was gone because of me.  If I had never pursued our long distance relationship wouldn't she still be alive?  I lost my Earth Angel but in the end I guess I got my Angel in Heaven to help watch over me and I could only hope that the Kingdom she was now in was a far better cry than what we have here.

 

Many years later the passage of time seemed to lessen the anger and allow me to realize that we are all on our own separate paths and though our paths may cross and even run parallel for a time it does not diminish the fact we each have our own Sacred Covenant with Divine Providence and we will depart when our time has come.

 

Rather than harbor bitterness or anger over the loss of a loved one, an act which I came to recognize as somewhat selfish, I became aware of how blessed I was to have spent any time on this Earth in the company of an Angel.

 

As my memory of her shifted from the tragic conclusion of our relationship in the ashes of a plane crash to the wonderful time we did have when we were together, and to the beautiful hopes and dreams we shared of a life together, I think I began to understand the real meaning of love and life.

 

Love is the spiritual bond between two souls allowing them to share both creating and creation in life and of life and it transcends the physical world and human definitions as we discover perfect love together.

 

Whether you call it the Christ consciousness or the conquering of human ego and spiritual dualism, perfect love is accepting co-creator responsibility for all that is, recognizing the life force in all of creation, and giving all of your existence to caring for the gifts of creation we experience in this life and any future existence.

 

Life is the record of our progress in this journey of our soul during this existence, a stepping stone in our Sacred Covenant leading toward our path home.
 

Do not waste your opportunities in life.  Do not embrace "it might have been."

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Lincoln's Gettysburg Address - The Foundation of American Equality

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Happy Birthday Mr. Lincoln

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Today is Honest Abe's 203rd birthday and he is as revelant today as he was during the Civil War.  So today we shall celebrate his humor, legendary as it was, with a fine report by Gordon Leidner of Great American Humor. 

Lincoln’s Humor

by Gordon Leidner of Great American History

Today we think of Abraham Lincoln as a great leader—perhaps our greatest. We recall his eloquent speeches, his dedication to the Union, and his superior leadership. We honor his devotion to duty, sacrifice, and honesty.

What we don’t think of today when we think of Abraham Lincoln is "a good joke." In Lincoln’s day, however, he was a well known humorist and story teller. The anecdote about two Quaker women discussing Lincoln and Confederate president Jefferson Davis at the beginning of the Civil War is illustrative: The first Quaker lady said, after some contemplation, that she believed the Confederacy would win the war because "Jefferson Davis is a praying man." “But Abraham Lincoln is a praying man too,” the second Quaker lady protested. "Yes," the first admitted, "but the Lord will think Abraham is joking."

Lincoln inherited his penchant for jokes and story telling from his father, Thomas Lincoln. When Abe was a child he loved to listen to his father and other men swap yarns around the woodstove. As he grew older he became increasingly adept at telling and re-telling humorous stories, frequently modifying them to accommodate each situation. When Lincoln became a lawyer, he used his jokes and stories to gain the good will of juries, and more than once his opposing counsel would complain to the judge that Lincoln’s stories were irrelevant and distracting to the jury. The trouble for them was that Eighth Circuit Judge David Davis loved Lincoln’s jokes more than anyone else in the court room.

Typical of a joke Judge Davis loved was one which Lincoln told to poke fun at himself: I feel like I once did when I met a woman riding horseback in the woods. As I stopped to let her pass, she also stopped, and, looking at me intently, said: "I do believe you are the ugliest man I ever saw." Said I, "Madam, you are probably right, but I can’t help it!" "No," said she, "you can’t help it, but you might stay at home!"

Another one of Lincoln’s 8th Circuit yarns was the one about a man in Cortlandt county who had raised a hog of such tremendous size that people came from miles around to see it. One of the people saw the hog’s owner and inquired about the animal. "W’all, yes," the old fellow said: "I’ve got such a critter, mighty big un, but I guess I’ll have to charge you about a dollar for lookin’ at him." The stranger glared at the old man for a minute or so, handed him the desired money, and started to walk away. "Hold on," said the old man, "don’t you want to see the hog?" "No," said the stranger. "Lookin at you, I’ve seen as big a hog as I ever want to see!"

He told another story of a time he was splitting rails when a man carrying a rifle walked up to him and demanded that Lincoln look him directly in the eye. Lincoln stopped his work and obliged the man, who continued to silently stare at him for some minutes. Finally the man told Lincoln that he "had promised himself years ago that if he ever met a man uglier than himself, he would shoot him." Lincoln looked at the man’s rifle mischeviously and said nothing. Finally Lincoln pulled open his shirt, threw out his chest, and exclaimed, "If I am uglier than you, go ahead and shoot—because I don’t want to live!"

As a politician, Lincoln made excellent use of his humorous stories. His long time political opponent Stephen A. Douglas complained that Lincoln’s jokes were "like a slap across my back. Nothing else—not any of his arguments or any of his replies to my questions—disturbs me. But when he begins to tell a story, I feel that I am to be overmatched." More than once Douglas and other political opponents of Lincoln’s saw their eloquently presented arguments forgotten by the audience after Lincoln followed up their speeches with a homely story or anecdote. At Alton, Illinois, during the last of the “great debates” with Douglas, Lincoln told a story that illustrated how he felt about a political feud that was currently raging between Democratic senator Douglas and the head of the Democratic Party. He said he felt like the old woman that, not knowing who was going to win a brawl between her husband and a bear, decided to cheer for both of them: "Go it husband, go it bear!"

In another instance Lincoln got a tremendous laugh from the audience when he said one of Senator Douglas'’ arguments was “as thin as the homeopathic soup that was made by boiling the shadow of a pigeon that had starved to death.”

When Lincoln became president, he used his jokes for a different purpose. He would frequently use them to get rid of visitors that had over-stayed their alotted visiting time. In these situations he would use a funny story to illustrate a point he was trying to make, and then—while the listeners were laughing—would ease them out the door.

This happened once when Lincoln was asked what he was going to do with a general that had failed several assignments. Anxious to get rid of his questioners, he told them that the question reminded him of a blacksmith he knew back in New Salem. One day, when the blacksmith didn’t have much to do, he started his fire and began heating up a piece of soft iron. When he got it hot he carried it to the anvil and began to hammer it, thinking he would weld it into an agricultural implement. He pounded away for some time until he got it fashioned into some shape, but discovered that the iron was not big enough for the implement he had in mind. He then put it back into the forge, heated it up again, and recommenced hammering, having decided to make a claw hammer. After a while he concluded that there was too much iron for a hammer. So again he heated it, this time thinking he would form an axe. After hammering and welding it into shape, he concluded there was not enough iron left to make an axe. He was now getting tired and disgusted at the result of his various failures. So finally he filled his forge full of coal, worked up a tremendous heat, and brought the remaining lump of iron to a white heat. With his tongs he lifted it from the bed of coals, and thrusting it into a tub of water near by, exclaimed with an oath, "Well, if I can’t make anything else of you, I will make you into a big fizzle, anyhow!" After he escorted his laughing visitors out the door, Lincoln decided to send the general out west to fight Indians.

Another example of Lincoln’s humor during the war was when he talked about Confederate General John B. Hood’s army after it had been annihilated in the battle of Nashville, Tennessee. Lincoln said "I think Hood’s army is about in the fix of Bill Sykes’s dog, down in Sangamon county. Bill Sykes had a long, yaller dog, that was forever getting into the neighbors’ meat houses and chicken coops. They had tried to kill it a hundred times, but the dog was always too smart for them. Finally, one of them got a bladder of a coon, and filled it up with powder, tying the neck around a piece of punk. When he saw the dog coming he fired the punk, split open a hot biscuit and put the bladder in, then buttered it all nicely and threw it out. The dog swallowed it at a gulp. Pretty soon there was an explosion. The head of the dog lit on the porch, the fore-legs caught astraddle the fence, the hind-legs fell in the ditch, and the rest of the dog lay around loose. Pretty soon Bill Sykes came along, and the neighbor said; "Bill I guess there ain’t much of that dog of your’n left." "Well, no," said Bill; "I see plenty of pieces, but I guess that dog, as a dog, ain’t of much more account." Lincoln concluded that although there were still pieces of Hood’s army left, the army, as an army, wasn’t of much more account.

As the responsibilities of the office of president became more unendurable, Lincoln used humor for self-therapy. He wanted to lessen the tensions in himself and those around him, and he frequently pointed fun at pompous generals when doing this. He said that he once saw a short, fat general that reminded him of a man he knew in Springfield whose name was Enoch. He said Enoch’s legs were so short that when he walked through the snow the seat of his trousers wiped out his footprints.

Lincoln told of the preacher that said, during his sermon, that although the Lord was the only perfect man, the Bible never mentioned a perfect woman. A woman in the rear of the congregation called out "I know a perfect woman, and I’ve heard of her every day for the last six years." "Who was she?" asked the surprised minister. "My husband’s first wife," came the reply.

Listening to two groups of men that came to argue as to whether or not a St. Louis church should be closed as a result of statements of disloyalty from its minister, Lincoln said that the situation reminded him of a story. He said that a man in Sangamon County had a melon patch that kept getting ruined by a wild hog. Finally he and his sons decided to take their guns and track the animal down. They followed the tracks to the neighboring creek, where they disappeared. They discovered them on the opposite bank, and waded through. They kept on the trail a couple of hundred yards, when the tracks again went into the creek, and promptly turned up on the other side. Out of breath and patience, the farmer said "John you cross over and go up on that side of the creek, and I’ll keep up on this side, because I believe that hog is on both sides of the creek!" "Gentlemen," concluded Lincoln, "that is just where I stand in regard to your controversies in St. Louis. I am on both sides. I can't allow my Generals to run the churches, and I can’t allow your ministers to preach rebellion."

One cannot truly appreciate Lincoln without understanding his humorous side. Lincoln certainly deserves the credit he’s received for what he accomplished in the way of preservation of the Union and freeing the slaves. But Lincoln had a lighter side, also, and he used his jokes and stories both for the purpose of winning over his audience and relieving the tremendous pressure he experienced as President during the terrible Civil War.

Now Abraham Lincoln belongs to the ages.
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Was Obama Right on his Afghanistan Policy? Is it a War that can't be Won?

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In all the uproar over the new book by Bob Woodward, Obama's Wars, and the volatile internal debate, denunciations and recriminations raging in the media, we tend to get distracted from the underlying policy actions of the President in the midst of the internal conflicts.

What needs to be assessed is did the President come to the right conclusions in overriding the advice of his military commanders and attempting to contain the build up in Afghanistan?

What seems clear is this. The president redirected the war effort from one of nation rebuilding to one of targeted terrorist attacks. At the same time he greatly expanded the use of drones and other counter terrorism efforts and increased coordination with Pakistan in an effort to reach beyond the Afghan border in pursuit of Pakistan based terrorists.

History has demonstrated that no outside nation has successfully undertaken a war against Afghanistan and won including the world's only super powers the Soviet Union and the United States. Afghanistan is a tribal run society with no particular loyalty to anyone or any political philosophy.

Could a conventional war ever be successful in Afghanistan? Hardly, but war is seldom waged for conventional purposes. Prior to World War II it was the arms dealers of the world and the international bankers, both of whom were based primarily in Europe, who dictated the proliferation of war in the world.

With American intervention into World War II the American military industrial complex became the dominant world force in war, or the instigation of war more properly. We were warned of this danger in explicit terms by President Eisenhower, the Commander of the Allied war effort, just three days before he gave up his presidency to newly elected John F. Kennedy.

The haunting words of Eisenhower delivered to the nation are as follows:

Military-Industrial Complex Speech, Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1961

(Excerpts delivered 3 days before leaving office)

"A vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment. Our arms must be mighty, ready for instant action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction.

Our military organization today bears little relation to that known by any of my predecessors in peacetime, or indeed by the fighting men of World War II or Korea.

Until the latest of our world conflicts, the United States had no armaments industry. American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But now we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense; we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions. Added to this, three and a half million men and women are directly engaged in the defense establishment. We annually spend on military security more than the net income of all United States corporations.

This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence -- economic, political, even spiritual -- is felt in every city, every State house, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society.

In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the militaryindustrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.

We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.

Akin to, and largely responsible for the sweeping changes in our industrial-military posture, has been the technological revolution during recent decades.

In this revolution, research has become central; it also becomes more formalized, complex, and costly. A steadily increasing share is conducted for, by, or at the direction of, the Federal government.

Today, the solitary inventor, tinkering in his shop, has been overshadowed by task forces of scientists in laboratories and testing fields. In the same fashion, the free university, historically the fountainhead of free ideas and scientific discovery, has experienced a revolution in the conduct of research. Partly because of the huge costs involved, a government contract becomes virtually a substitute for intellectual curiosity. For every old blackboard there are now hundreds of new electronic computers.

The prospect of domination of the nation's scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present - and is gravely to be regarded.

Yet, in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific technological elite.

It is the task of statesmanship to mold, to balance, and to integrate these and other forces, new and old, within the principles of our democratic system -- ever aiming toward the supreme goals of our free society."

Nearly 100 years earlier and just before his death President Abraham Lincoln also warned of the dangers facing America:

"We may congratulate ourselves that this cruel war is nearing its end. It has cost a vast amount of treasure and blood. It has indeed been a trying hour for the Republic; but I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. As a result of the war, corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed.

I feel at this moment more anxiety for the safety of my country than ever before, even in the midst of war. God grant that my suspicions may prove groundless."

The passage appears in a letter from Lincoln to (Col.) William F. Elkins, Nov. 21, 1864.

History would indicate President Obama has taken the right course in seeking a means to get out of the Afghan country as soon as possible. His compromise with the military by sending 30,000 more troops will make the path more difficult and his goal is opposite of the military industrial complex will to keep America at war. It will be a task he faces and one all presidents have faced throughout our history.

All Americans should support a path to a return to America's role as a peacekeeper, not an advocate of war. By now we should have learned the dangers of war after Viet Nam, Desert Storm, Iraq and Afghanistan. It is time we return to traditional American values.

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News You Won't Read in Papers!

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Newspapers simply won't publish letters to the editor which they either deem politically incorrect (read below) or which does not agree with the philosophy they're pushing on the public. This woman wrote a great letter to the editor of an Orange County, California newspaper that should have been published but it was not. With your help it will get published via cyberspace!



From:"David LaBonte"

My wife, Rosemary, wrote a wonderful letter to the editor of the OC Register which, of course, was not printed. So, I decided to "print" it myself by sending it out on the Internet. Pass it along if you feel so inclined. Written in response to a series of letters to the editor in the Orange County Register:



Dear Editor:

So many letter writers have based their arguments on how this land is made up of immigrants. Ernie Lujan for one, suggests we should tear down the Statue of Liberty because the people now in question aren't being treated the same as those who passed through Ellis Island and other ports of entry.

Maybe we should turn to our history books and point out to people like Mr. Lujan why today's American is not willing to accept this new kind of immigrant any longer. Back in 1900 when there was a rush from all areas of Europe to come to the United States, people had to get off a ship and stand in a long line in New York and be documented. Some would even get down on their hands and knees and kiss the ground. They made a pledge to uphold the laws and support their new country in good and bad times. They made learning English a primary rule in their new American households and some even changed their names to blend in with their new home.



They had waved good bye to their birth place to give their children a new life and did everything in their power to help their children assimilate into one culture. Nothing was handed to them. No free lunches, no welfare, no labor laws to protect them. All they had were the skills and craftsmanship they had brought with them to trade for a future of prosperity.

Most of their children came of age when World War II broke out. My father fought along side men whose parents had come straight over from Germany , Italy , France and Japan . None of these 1st generation Americans ever gave any thought about what country their parents had come from. They were Americans fighting Hitler, Mussolini and the Emperor of Japan . They were defending the United States of America as one people.



When we liberated France, no one in those villages were looking for the French-American or the German American or the Irish American. The people of France saw only Americans. And we carried one flag that represented one country. Not one of those immigrant sons would have thought about picking up another country's flag and waving it to represent who they were. It would have been a disgrace to their parents who had sacrificed so much to be here. These immigrants truly knew what it meant to be an American. They stirred the melting pot into one red, white and blue bowl.



And here we are with a new kind of immigrant who wants the same rights and privileges. Only they want to achieve it by playing with a different set of rules, one that includes the entitlement card and a guarantee of being faithful to their mother country. I'm sorry, that's not what being an American is all about. I believe that the immigrants who landed on Ellis Island in the early 1900's deserve better than that for all the toil, hard work and sacrifice in raising future generations to create a land that has become a beacon for those legally searching for a better life. I think they would be appalled that they are being used as an example by those waving foreign country flags.



And for that suggestion about taking down the Statue of Liberty , it happens to mean a lot to the citizens who are voting on the immigration bill. I wouldn't start talking about dismantling the United States just yet.

(signed)
Rosemary LaBonte

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Today in History - Abraham Lincoln Shot in Ford's Theater!

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"I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts."

It was 145 years ago today, just five days after Generals Grant and Lee signed the documents at the old Appomattox Court House ending the Civil War, that President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated at Ford's Theater by John Wilkes Booth.

"Any people anywhere, being inclined and having the power, have the right to rise up, and shake off the existing government, and form a new one that suits them better. This is a most valuable - a most sacred right - a right, which we hope and believe, is to liberate the world."

The most beloved president in our history, Lincoln's was a difficult and painful presidency that began in 1861 when several states had already withdrawn from the Union. For the next 4 years he led the nation through some of the most trying times ever as he fought to preserve the Republic while freeing the slaves and ending the European influence on America's domestic affairs.



"I do the very best I know how - the very best I can; and I mean to keep on doing so until the end."

There were times the nation was on the brink of self-destruction like just before the Battle of Gettysburg when the Southern Armies were routing the Union pushing them farther and farther north. At Gettysburg July 1-3, 1863, the Union generals did what Lincoln wanted and in one of the bloodiest conflicts in the history of American wars, when there were over 50,000 causalities and nearly 5000 killed, the Union army prevailed.

"Don't interfere with anything in the Constitution. That must be maintained, for it is the only safeguard of our liberties."

Lincoln also secretly secured the help of Tsar Alexander II of Russia, who sailed Russian fleets into the harbors of New York and San Francisco when the Union was at it's weakest, and send messages to England and France that if they sent troops into the American Civil War to help the Confederates that the Russian Empire would consider it an act of war on Russia and attack.



"If we could first know where we are, and whither we are tending, we could then better judge what to do, and how to do it."

At the time England had troops posted in Canada while France had troops posted in Mexico ready to come to the aid of the Southern states in a last desperate attempt to preserve the European trade with the South. The action by the Tsar stopped England and France from attacking.



"The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew."

While Lincoln was considered the great Liberator in America for freeing the slaves Alexander was considered the great Liberator in Russia for ending the feudal system. The Tsar, like his friend Lincoln, was assassinated in 1881 by those opposed to his efforts in human rights making Lincoln and Alexander both human rights martyrs.



"Public sentiment is everything. With public sentiment, nothing can fail. Without it, nothing can succeed."

Lincoln had premonitions of his death. His speeches and correspondence rank among the greatest writing of all time and his love of God and country were such as to help him finish what he started, saving the Union, before his untimely death.

Everyone should study the works and words of Lincoln as masterpieces in politics and human relations and a model of what a president should be in America.



On March 4, 1865, Lincoln delivered his second inaugural address, his favorite of all his speeches. At this time, a victory over the rebels was at hand, slavery was dead, and Lincoln was looking to the future.

"Fondly do we hope — fervently do we pray — that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue, until all the wealth piled by the bond-man's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said "the judgments of the Lord, are true and righteous altogether." With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan — to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations."
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