What Was So Special About Abraham Lincoln?

We have had peaceful and militaristic Presidents. We have had savvy diplomats and tactless soldiers. How did they come to be who they were? What shaped the lives of those who shaped our nation?

Abraham Lincoln was a curious and thoughtful man. As a child his curiosity led him to become far more learned than the average farm boy. His thirst for knowledge kept him up long winter nights to read by the light of pine knots. After leaving home, he was reported to pack his saddlebags full of newspapers and books to read during his travels. The world around him provided endless fascination.

Mr. Lincoln's innocent curiosity was rarely tainted with intellectualism or the appearance of learned behaviors. Occasionally, he was inclined to read such as the Iliad. Most commonly, Mr. Lincoln was found reading newspapers, much to the dismay of his friends and associates. He compared the press's view of world events from any source he could find. The news was his passion. When he wasn't reading about it, he was usually writing about it. His commentary and correctional letters to news editors were a regular occurrence throughout his life. Perhaps his close relationship with the press explains his unexpectedly successful political life.

In a country that's leaders were all military leaders or college educated, Lincoln was an exceptional man. He did serve as a Captain in the Black Hawk's War, but that's a far cry from General George Washington. He did study law, but he was serving in the Illinois state legislature before he even completed his studies. Many describe his political ascension as mysterious. He was not the kind of man Americans elected to lead them. Perhaps his education was not so important because they felt they knew him. They had been reading his views and opinions in their newspapers for years, and not as part of a political campaign. He was simply a well-informed, just-minded man that understood the public's opinion.

As a president, he continued to represent the views and opinions of the public. He avoided war and bloodshed to the best of his ability. He aimed to hold the Union together in a simpler, more forgiving manner than most politicians of the time could stand. So much of his life was devoted to interacting with his county via the press that he understood more deeply than most just what his countrymen were going through. For once, the leader was a true representative of the people.