A
NECESSARY CLEAN UP WILL HELP
RESTORE DEMOCRACY
Los Angeles May 29th 2008
From the desk of Eric Lafayette
Some
of us want a CLEAN America.
Others
want to push the garbage under the rug and tell everyone that
there is no filth around them. They claim the stench that surrounds
them is a misperception; it is actually a new fragrance that smells
almost as sweet as roses.
How
can America be rebuilt without first cleaning up the garbage and
manure that are spread everywhere in the White House? It is spread
deepest in the President’s and Vice President’s offices,
but it is all over every office in the Bush – Cheney Administration
including the offices of all their henchmen and henchwomen.
First
and above all to clean the filth, its existence must be recognized.
For example, I am certain that any American could tell me the
story of a friend, a child, or a family member who refused to
recognize a dirty spot you pointed it out to them on a window,
a plate, the rug or the table. When you mentioned it and asked
them to please help you clean it up they replied ferociously and
in bad faith, “You are wrong, it is perfectly clean!”
Denial is the first step in lying.
The
Bush Cheney dictatorship is the master of bad faith lies and is
attempting to rewrite history in their own favor.
Leaders of the Democratic Party in their mediocrity and lack of
guts accepted the enormous lies of the administration. With the
exception of Senator Edward Kennedy and a handful of ethical intelligent
people the administration has been believed when it hammered on
its lies about Iraq:
“We
went to war against Iraq because they had weapons of mass destruction."
The
Bush Cheney official version and rewriting of history is:
IT
WAS NOT THE PRESIDENT’S FAULT IF IRAQ HAD NO WEAPONS OF
MASS DESTRUCTION; IT WAS BAD INTELLIGENCE. That is the lie the
Bush- Cheney-Rove machine constantly reinforced through the years.
However,
this is a lie. The USA had the best intelligence in the world
on their desk: Competent teams of UN inspectors in Iraq were on
the ground. They also had helicopters and sent one report after
another saying that they could not find any weapons of
mass destruction.
The
first step for the Bush-Cheney-Rove propaganda machine was to
villify the UN and they went at it ferociously but more importantly
with great efficiency thus making more than 60% of the USA citizens
hate or despise the UN as a non credible organisation.
The
UN inspectors’ report was totally counter to the goals of
the Bush Cheney propaganda machine and its efforts to successfully
brainwash 90% of the American people into supporting the Iraq
War. The only possible solution for the Bush Cheney Administration
was to get rid of the UN inspectors before they delivered their
final report which would have stated the truth; there were ZERO
WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION IN IRAQ.
France
for once was right and pleaded with George Bush to leave the UN
inspectors in Iraq until they finished their mission. But of course
Bush sent the UN inspectors packing so that they could
not unveil the truth which would have deprived Bush of the pleasures
of his war of choice.
For
this common sense ethical advice France was put in the bag of
enemies and thanks to Karl Rove’s extremely effective brainwashing
machine French products were boycotted, French fries were renamed
Freedom fries. Images of American people pouring French wine into
gutters are evidence that Xenophobia is the cousin of racism and
easily awakened. This intentional, and very efficient brainwashing
was fascinating to observe. France was not alone. All countries
in the Middle East, including the United States’ best friends,
Saudi Arabia, told George Bush not to invade Iraq.
You
can now remember this pattern fueled by the Bush- Cheney-Rove
propaganda pattern which villified any person, Country or organizaion
that was NOT supporting going to war against Iraq. It is NOW very
clear that the case to go to war was pure propaganda based on
lies and it worked very well because 90% of the American people
swallowed the hook but also the line and the sinker with great
pride. They called themselves Patriots and derided and insulted
the people who were agaisnt the war.
It
was a difficult time for people who saw through the lies of the
Bush- Cheney- Rove propaganda machine, we were labeled as traitors.
We
must recognize the fact that under the Bush – Cheney –
Rove propaganda machine the USA has become the noxious moral equivalent
of a pig pen and that they continue to rewrite history to make
their filth smell like roses. Most Democratic Leaders are used
to the stench now even though it is completely unacceptable to
anyone with ethical values. If you love the Democracy created
by the Founding Fathers and not the dictatorship of the Bush Cheney
era YOU (AND I) MUST DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY.
Clean
out the pig pen, sue the keepers and punish them. Rebuild the
USA as a strong Democracy, or in other words: prosecute and convict
the Bush crowd and send them to jail. They MUST go to jail. That
by itself will have a noticeable cleaning effect.
FIGHT
FOR ETHICS EVERYWHERE, FIGHT FOR ETHICAL STANDARDS ALL THE TIME
BECAUSE THE USA, WHEN NOT LEAD BY THE BUSH CHENEY DICTATORSHIP,
IS THE ONLY BEACON OF DEMOCRACY LEFT IN THE WORLD.THAT CAN SHINE
A BIG LIGHT
Eric
Lafayette
------------
THE US CONSTITUTION,
IMPEACHMENT and the IMMUNE SYSTEM
In times of war the American People need to believe in their President
and be confident of his ability to lead the nation to Victory.
The United States is involved in a war in Iraq,
and I believe it is time to strongly express what a minority of
Americans believe.
A
majority of Americans thought that electing more Democrats to
serve in Congress
would drastically change the abominable direction the nation was
headed under the leadership of the Bush Cheney Administration
and a Republican Congress.
August 26, 2007 was a critical date because a poll of Americans
showed the following results:
76% of Americans are dissatisfied with Congress
Only 18% of Americans are satisfied with Congress
This poll shows a lot more than dissatisfaction.
Poll numbers like these reveal despair, profound despair.
18% satisfaction is despair.
Despair in the face of a Congress that has been forced by the
Veto power of President Bush to continue the destructive and very
much hated policies of the President.
Many Americans and many Democratic leaders believe that
the USA suffers from a mild case of the flu and that taking two
aspirins will activate its historically strong IMMUNE SYSTEM which
will kick in and reestablish a strong healthy USA.
From
their point of view the USA’s Immune System is not badly
damaged and can be counted on to stimulate a quick and complete
cure and recovery. The Democratic leader of the House of Representatives,
Nancy Pelosi, has clearly stated, "IMPEACHMENT is off the
table."
The belief that the US Democracy still has a remarkably strong
immune system and that it can rebound when stimulated by a couple
of aspirins and a week of antibiotics to produce a miracle is
false.
Their assessment of the situation could not be more wrong.
I believe that the USA suffers from a grave case of Cancer and
that its IMMUNE SYSTEM has been so weakened that only a surgical
removal of the tumor accompanied by Chemotherapy and Radiation
can be counted on to save the country.
The IMPEACHMENT process could remove the BUSH- CHENEY CANCER and
Chemotherapy and Radiation could weaken and politically eradicate
their henchmen, their henchwomen and their control of the media.
From my point of view the Immune System of the USA has been almost
entirely destroyed and no longer functions well enough to heal
itself and recover from the flu let alone an invasive and dangerous
Cancer.
THE MOST CRUCIAL PART OF THE IMMUNE SYSTEM OF THE USA IS THE UNITED
STATES CONSTITUTION.
The
BUSH CHENEY Government has punctured so many big holes in the
fabric of the US Constitution that it can no longer fulfill its
primary and essential role in the framework of the Immune System.
Successful criminal attacks on the US Constitution are NUMEROUS.
Here are a few examples among others of the many assaults on the
US Constitution
We
will start first with the Bill of Rights an integral part of the
US Constitution
• Spying on Americans by wiretapping their phone conversations
without a warrant tears the fabric of the US Constitution and
eradicates protection guaranteed in the IV amendment
• The right to a fair trial was illegally overturned for
4 years by the Bush Cheney government in the Padilla case and
others. Prisoners were denied access to lawyers and the right
of habeas corpus as well as any form of communication with the
outside world. These policies are reminiscent of the very Despotic
Kingdoms in 1776 Europe against which our founding father rose
against to create the UNITED SATES OF AMERICA . These people were
Americans caught on American soil and held on unknown charges
under an illegal designation invented by the Bush Cheney Government
“enemy combatant." These policies eradicated the protection
of the V and VI Amendments.
• Opening the Office of Faith in the White House is a direct
insult to the Amendment I of the Constitution which stipulates
the separation of Church and State.
Then
we will continue with the US Constitution main Body
No specialist in Constitutional Law can or will deny that the
main goal of the Founding Fathers was to establish a system of
checks and balances that would preserve individual freedoms and
make the establishment of a dictatorship in the USA impossible.
The Bush Cheney Administration has relentlessly worked to suppress
the system of check and balances.
The
Congress was controlled by the Bush Cheney Republicans through
a victory in a fair election.
• President Bush was elected the first time based on his
racist criminal approach having won the primary on a campaign
based on racism and anti-Semitism.
• In addition the Conservative Supreme Court intervened
in the recount and in fact nominated the President of the USA
instead of letting him be elected or defeated.
• Although the Supreme Court was already Conservative and
Republican the President nominated two Supreme Court Justices
who are right wing Bush Cheney Republicans.
• In addition the Bush Cheney regime stacked as many Federal
Courts as possible with rightwing judges and public prosecutors.
• The US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales whose role is
to uphold the law went so far in his desire to circumvent the
Constitution that he went to the hospital bed of a very weak man
to force him to sign documents giving permission for illegal wiretapping
without warrants which the sick man a strong ally of President
Bush but a Man of Integrity, the Director of Homeland security
refused to do.
From 2000 to the end of 2006 here is how the system of checks
and balances worked.
The President decided to govern using illegal actions; the Congress
did not Check him but approved his illegal actions. Then because
of the time necessary for court challenges related to illegal
actions the Bush Cheney Government had their way for years.
The
USA which was once the absolute symbol of Freedom and Democracy
was a Dictatorship and is still a Dictatorship.
Examples
abound and they include torture, rendition programs, Guantanamo
and a stubborn refusal to respect the Geneva Conventions.
The Supreme Court rubber stamped Bush’s illegal actions
most of the time. There were however a couple of notable exceptions
when the Supreme Court refused to support torture or the suppression
of Habeas Corpus or the right to a fair trial, but in most instances
the Supreme Court did not check the criminal actions of the Bush
Cheney Government.
For 6 years the illegal actions of the President were not checked
by the Republican Congress or the Supreme Court. During this Period
the system of Checks and Balances no longer existed.
The Constitution of the USA was not the law of the Country
anymore.
It is easy to see now that the SYSTEM OF CHECKS AND BALANCES that
served as the CORNER STONE in the Foundation of the UNITED STATES
CONSTITUTION was blown to pieces by the Bush Cheney Government.
It is also obvious that the Immune System of the United States
of America is extremely weak.
To the Democrats who say that in the end the system worked because
American voters elected a DEMOCRATIC majority in Congress and
thus repudiated the horrible Bush Republican policies my question
is the following:
Why does this Congress with its Democratic Majority have
an approval of only 18%?
A
low 18% approval rating shows continued despair generated by one
additional power of the President, the Presidential Veto.
President Bush successfully used his veto and repeatedly rendered
the Democratic Congress totally IMPOTENT. Only an incredibly strong
majority in the Senate can overrule the President’s veto.
The BUSH-CHENEY Dictatorship is still ruling the USA.
The
only tool hat could reestablish Democracy in the USA is THE IMPEACHMENT
PROCEDURE and Nancy Pelosi took it off the table.
As of today with a small Democratic Majority in Congress the System
of Checks and Balances is quite ill after receiving abuse from
unchecked power in the Executive Branch and excessive Political
Control of the Judicial Branch.
The System of Checks and Balances created to act as an immune
system protecting the United States Constitution is in fact disabled
and not functioning.
If it was not enough that the immune system has been extremely
weakened it is happening when the body and brain of the United
States the Economy and innovation are no longer strong and healthy.
In modern times the strength of the US has always been
nourished by its economy and capitalism supported by power house
companies and brilliant research.
In 1972 American automakers held more than 90 % of the US market
and were making record profits. Today in 2007, they hold less
than 50% of the market and all are losing money, closing factories
and laying off workers by the thousands.
Once upon a time American TVs and Stereos were considered number
one in the world with brands like TEAC, RCA and Zenith. These
former giants are now barely historical foot notes in an industry
dominated by Sony and Samsung.
The
only reason the USA shows the appearence of prosperity is because
the USA are running huge debts and one of the main owner of the
US debt is China.
When you use your credit card to flash around a false
image of prosperity, one day or the other it is going to bite
you hard.
THE
USA CANNOT BE REBUILT ON ROTTEN FOUNDATIONS.
THE TASK IS IMMENSE.
LET US START RIGHT AWAY WITH IMPEACHING BUSH - CHENEY
Eric Lafayette
Content
Website: www.fordemocracy.com
Meetup Website: http://dfa.meetup.com/88/
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE
USA A CORRUPT DICTATORSHIP
Impeach, Sue and Rebuild
Los Angeles, July 3rd 2007
Just when you might have thought that the Dictators: Vice President
Dick Cheney and President Bush could not have more utterly unflinching
contempt for American Democracy they again showed us that in their
hands the United States of America is not a Democracy anymore
but a Dictatorship.
President
Bush overturned the decision made by a Republican Judge to send
Mr. Scooter Libby, a former senior aide to the Vice President,
to jail. Scooter Libby was convicted of obstruction of justice
and lying to the court. The President commuted the sentence because
in his words “it was too harsh a punishment.”
The
reason strong punishment must be imposed on somebody who lies
to the court is because by lying he does obstruct Justice by preventing
the Jury from knowledge based on the truth so that they can render
an informed and accurate verdict. Lying under oath makes the justice
system of the USA totally irrelevant and this mockery of the system
of American Justice shows a complete contempt for Democracy, any
and all Democracies.
The
USA after becoming a Dictatorship is now A CORRUPT DICTATORSHIP.
Scooter Libby lied to protect his boss Vice President Cheney who
betrayed one of the CIA’s operatives Valerie Plane.
Then his boss Vice President Cheney in the infamous and criminal
tradition of the Mafia asked his accomplice in crimes President
Bush to sign a break out of Jail paper.
Scooter Libby protected his former Bosses by taking a fall on
their behalf. In the great tradition of the Mafia's corrupted
ways Scooter will be rewarded by his Bosses and not serve the
two and a half years sentence a Republican Judge and a Jury of
his peers condemned him to.
In a sad ironical twist, President Bush is by far the American
President who has pronounced the word Democracy more often than
any American President in History. He has hailed and promoted
Democracy in Iraq by violence.
In another sad Ironical twist, Iraqi leaders are using the same
type of corruption President Bush did. Captains, Colonels, high
ranking civil servants demoted or on their way to jail are discreetly
pardoned and reinstated by the Iraqi Prime minister and his top
ranking friends.
President Bush, Vice President Cheney and the Republicans are
showing American citizens and the entire world that lying under
oath, making a mockery of the Justice system and using corruption
as a tool for governing is the American way.
That was done on the SECOND OF JULY two days before the Anniversary
of the day America started to fight to become the greatest Democracy
on earth.
My fellow Americans Happy Fourth of July 2007 to all of you living
in the Dictatorship of the USA courtesy of Vice President Cheney
and President Bush.
Where are the
great diplomats?
Los Angeles, December 12th, 2006
Where are the great American diplomats?
Nowhere in charge of US diplomacy.
The
greatest are James Baker and Henri Kissinger. Under George Bush
junior's presidency, their service has been confined to backdoor
or unsolicited advice.
They are truly a special breed of extremely intelligent and experienced
men.
Their
overwhelming superiority resides in the fact that they
engaged any government or any entity as often as necessary to
further US interests in the world.
Their strategies is in fact a blue print for anybody that would
like to become an international diplomat.
It is the frequency of their stays in foreign countries
that should be the measuring tool of the efficiency of their policies.
Two
other important leaders could be added in the selected group of
diplomats that could help the USA in the dire situation it find
itself in.
They
are Colin Powell and Bill Clinton.
Colin Powell has a formidable military experience as well as the
great respect of foreign leaders and four years as Secretary of
State.
Bill Clinton won a war helping Muslims without losing a single
American soldier in battle.
Bill Clinton however has his hand full helping his wife becoming
President of the USA. If she become President then she would have
a first rate diplomat at her side.
His marital status prevent Bill Clinton to be a diplomat at the
service of other leaders.
From
the point of view of the Democratic leaders such as Nancy Pelosi:
Who could she depend to advise her on how to conduct international
Diplomacy?
NOBODY!
We have three Republicans James Baker, Henri Kissinger, Colin
Powel and a Democrat Bill Clinton who has an exclusive contract
with Hilary Clinton.
Where
could Nancy Pelosi hope to find help to solve the Iraqi
war as well as the Afghanistan war as
well as the Israeli Palestinian problem as well
as the Lebanon problem? (And looming in the near
future are Iran and North Korea)
The simple act of listing the Huge Problems the
USA has on its plate reveals how CRUCIAL choosing a top Foreign
affair adviser is now.
The Great people we have named have one thing in common: extreme
intelligence and absolute devotion to the USA.
Never forget that being smart is the prerequisite for a very high
level diplomat.
Nancy
Pelosi must hire one or more of the Republican seasoned
international diplomats all of them have achieved legendary
status that I have listed, other lesser international so called
consultant are not of enough quality to extirpate the USA from
the mess Pdt Bush pushed us in.
Henri Kissinger is a Consultant and should be for hire.
James Baker now done with the Report on Iraq would probably amicable
to giving advice to Democrat leaders in this new bipartisan spirit.
Colin Powel is unemployed and should have been already hired by
the Democratic party. It is still time. Colin Powel is far from
being a Monday morning quarterback
Asking Colin Powel to advise Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reed is more
than a necessity, it is a Duty that Nancy Pelosi and Harry reed
should feel absolutely compelled to fulfill.
It is their Duty to the USA as a nation, to the Americans, more
than half of them now trusting the Democratic party to lead the
Nation on a better path.
The
multiple sites of International problems are huge and they were
wrecked by President Bush foolish and irresponsible policy.
All responsible high level leaders such as the Baker - Hamilton
report and scores of Generals have concluded that Iraq was a mess
and has created a situation of inferiority for the USA around
the world
Conceptually
Foreign affairs is like a chess game.
Think of the grand masters of Chess.
They know by experience hundreds of strategies they can reply
to in a split second when other average players will spend hours
trying to find a solution. In real war an average player is left
behind all the time, this has been demonstrated with Iraq where
the USA lost the war.
Then when a new combination arises, the supreme intellectual
powers of these masters get into gear and deliver a brilliant
solution.
The
Democratic Party needs the best in Defense and Foreign affairs
and they do not have anybody of the necessary caliber.
Not
having the necessary knowledge yet makes the Democratic party
depends on a silver bullet for solving the Iraqi war such as the
one offered by Congressman Murtha which is redeploying the troops
along the periphery of Iraq.
Congressman Murtha must be commended for opposing "the stay
the course" option pushed by President Bush at a time when
it was unpopular to oppose the war.
In fact Mr Murtha is the main architect of the November
Democratic victory in the Congress.
His solution is way too simplistic, it was advertised as a silver
bullet by Nancy Pelosi but it is not a silver bullet.
The
two most important points are that:
There is no silver bullet for Iraq,
A solution valid today and not implemented today and kept without
change on the table for days is a recipe for failure.
Bottom line:
It is this constant evolution of events that make the hiring of
legendary diplomats by the Democrats absolutely necessary if they
want to have some credibility and if they want to have some efficiency
in governing.
During
the two last years of President Bush, Democrats should absolutely
attract and select a shadow cabinet of extremely competent Men
and Women, not only good but the absolute best chosen among Democrats
or Republicans.
Eric
Lafayette
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------------------------------
The Party of Honorable Americans
November 13th 2006
Article
from our Newsletter USA TOMORROW
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Email :ericlafayette@fordemocracy.com
Now that we have a Democracy again how do we separate the wheat
from the chaff?
There are a tremendous differences between the Liberals, the Democrats,
the liberal news media, the McCain Republicans, the John Warner
Republicans versus the Bush Republicans, the Cheney Republicans
and the conservative media, like Rush Limbaugh, Fox Cable News
and talk shows that pander to the politics of Bush and Cheney
Republicans and the Neo-Cons.
The interesting thing is that it is easy to recognize them.
The main characteristic of the Bush/Cheney Republicans is avoidance
of debating with their opponents on ideas and policy issues. Instead
of engaging in such meaningful exchange their trade focuses on
character assassination, smears, racism, antisemitism and xenophobia.
As an example of this kind of pointed attack, Rush Limbaugh verbally
mocked Michael J. Fox recently. Michael J. Fox is now physically
handicapped and suffers from Parkinson’s disease. Fox has
appeared on TV defending and asking for support of stem cell research
which could help him and millions others who suffer from the disease.
Limbaugh, a drug addict, deliberately chose to smear a
person marked by this crippling disease.
Fortunately, a recent poll showed that Rush Limbaugh’s popularity
with the American people was less than 30% and Michael Fox’s
more than 70%. This is a good sign implying that 70% of American
will no longer follow Rush Limbaugh. The troubling sign is that
there are still almost 30% of Americans who follow somebody that
is the lowest form of a human being.
Rush Limbaugh is the king of the sewer.
Anne Coulter smeared the widows of 9/11 victims by saying, “I've
never seen people enjoying their husbands' deaths so much.”
This is very much the same kind of nauseating comment that Rush
Limbaugh and the creatures from the sewers ecstatically make with
great excellence. This comment is not an exception among Ann Coulter’s
disgusting comments. One of her many, many other disgusting remarks
was that she wished that the New York Times would be bombed.
Ann Coulter is the Queen of the sewer.
Bill O' Reilly is another member of the crowd from the sewer.
He has large numbers of followers. He perfectly exemplifies the
right wing extremist radio talk shows and TV cable talk shows.
He has very little knowledge of political science or history,
and when speaking of honor and decency, neither are even remotely
parts of his character or his behavior. Most of his craft and
audience gains have been based on character assassination, lies
and smears.
In addition it is very symptomatic
of these characters to constantly interrupt their guests. Because
these members of the media never have intelligent educated answers
and instead have the rudest manners, interrupting an intelligent
articulate guest is their only recourse because of the lack of
intelligence these talk show TV and radio host show, their behavior
demonstrates complete disrespect for their guests. A recent example
is Bill O' Reilly’s smearing Madonna and criticizing her
adoption of a Malawi baby. Reilly stated on his show that it was
not a good solution for the Malawi baby to be adopted by Madonna
because being adopted into a rich family could harm children implying
that rich people raise their children poorly and that the child
would be better off staying in Malawi.
This is typical of Bill O’Reilly and his despicable reporting
style and ignorance of reality. Prior to his adoption this child
was living in an orphanage and almost all of his siblings, and
cousins, died of disease and hunger. Bill O’Reilly’s
character assassination is based on so many lies and his comments
are so sickening and ill-informed that one wonders about the intellectual
capacity of his audience and fan base.
Bill O Reilly is the emperor of the sewer.
Here are some other prominent creature from the sewer:
. Bob Ney, US Representative from Ohio is one of them. He was
the inventor of Freedom Fries. This involved renaming the French
Fries at the congressional cafeteria to punish the French for
not having followed the Americans into the Iraqi quagmire.
Accusing foreigners of anything by choosing only the criterum
of being of an other nationality is Xenophobia and Xenophobia
is the only despicable tools left to the racists when this other
nation of foreigners is of the same skin color as their.
Bob Ney is currently on his way to jail for corruption.
Former
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is responsible for an unwarranted
waste of life in Iraq, and has been dismissed. He called the French
and the Germans the old Europe. Today, many Americans who are
and were verbally aggressive against French citizens wish they
had followed the advice of France and Germany and not gone into
the Iraqi nightmare.
A great number of Americans were supporting the war against Iraq
at the beginning. In contrast our readers knew that President
Bush secured their agreement through lies and deceptions. Through
lies and deceptions he was reelected and we should point out the
lies and deceptions by the members of the his administration and
ask for accountability.
Americans who have been deceived and are now beginning to see
how blind and foolish in supporting President Bush should try
their best to help their country politically and legally get read
of President Bush dictatorial Leadership, they should then be
welcome into the bosom of the many who have seen the ligh lately.
Now
only the Americans that dearly want to be part of the creature
of the sewers ar still defending President Bush. His lies and
deceptions have been unveiled to the point that in any of the
recent polls The Americans rejects President Bush by an average
of 63%. The majority of the Americans understand now how horrible
a Leader President Bush is.
Victory
of the Democrats has been widely celebrated throughout the world
with 200 Congressmen and Congresswomen of the European parliament
stating that, “it is the beginning of the end of a six yeasr
nightmare for the world."
Remember:
These leaders from the sewer
wants to treat Americans in the same way they would treat their
worst foreign enemies:
Anne Coulter wanted to bomb
the New York Times.
Bill O Reilly wanted a child stay in an orphanage instead of living
in a rich American/British family.
Rush Limbaugh made fun of a victim of Parkinson’s disease.
A disturbing foot note:
John McCain, himself a man of Honor and integrity, is kissing
up to too many of these creatures from the sewer.
Hilary Clinton has a tendency to partner with creatures from the
sewer such as Newt Gingrich.
As you can see it is quite easy to spot the Republican Leaders
from the sewers as well as their followers. Here are a few telling
shared elements:
Instead of debating the ideas or political ideology put forward
by their opponents, the creature from the sewer attack their opponents
by trying as the saying goes " to kill the messenger"
of what could be bad news for them with slander and smear campaigns.
Anytime you see somebody, anybody, who engages in smear campaigns,
character assassination, anti-Semitism and/or racism you have
a creature from the sewer.
Because “birds of a
feather flock together" or when regarding the sewer crowd
and their admirers, "rats of a same coat wade together"
people who admire the leaders from the sewer are themselves part
of the sewer crowd. Fans of Rush Limbaugh or of Fox Cable News
and talk shows automatically qualify to be part of the crowd from
the sewer.
It is indeniable that the
Leaders from the sewers have focused in large part their attack
on American leaders
Examples:
Karl Rove mounted a very racist campaign against John McCain and
defeated McCain by implying that he was surrounded by Jews and
was an adulterer who had an illegitimate colored child. John McCain
was a member of the President Bush’s own party. If Carl
Rove had not killed John McCain’s campaign with false rhetoric
then John McCain, a man of honor, might have become President,
and more that 2,800 American soldiers would be alive today and
more than 20,000 American soldiers would not have been injured.
In
addition Karl Rove used racism to elect President Bush. The southern
states were crucial in the primaries against John McCain, and
Karl Rove organized the launch of George W. Bush’s Presidential
campaign at Bob Jones University in South Carolina, a blatantly
racist university that forbade marriages and close relationships
between white female students and male students of color and vice
versa. This was a very clever move from Karl Rove who was able
to demonstrate the campaign’s agenda with an important first
step; the campaign’s launch at Duke University in South
Carolina demonstrated George W. Bush’s position without
having to state or write it openly. This racist message was perceived
as it was intended to be in the racist South which in the primaries
and the election gave their racist votes to George Bush who was
elected President of the USA thanks to a racist campaign.
Make no mistake the President of the USA for the 21st
century and the opening of the third millennium AD was elected
on raw racism.
Dedicated
racists are part of the sewer crowd. Yes, they qualify automatically.
As the designer of most of the repugnant attacks on honorable
people, there is no doubt that Karl Rove is the Dark Prince
of the sewer
So far I have listed only
Republicans as part of the leaders and crowd of the sewer, but
that does not mean that all Republicans are members of this group.
Many Republicans are themselves incensed by the disgusting practices
of the Republicans from the sewer.
This
generation of Republican leaders from the sewers who achieved
true power under George Bush the Youngest are quite a team. The
team includes Vice President Cheney and many others all avid Viewers
of the Media of the sewer, the Fox Channel. The team with the
assistance of the media of the sewer used personal attacks and
character assassination as their main means of governing, bullying
and deceiving the American people and squashing their opponents
in Congress. To achieve their goal the most despicable means were
never too dishonorable to be used.
The difference between the sewer crowd and members of the old
guard of the Republican Party
is gigantic.
It can be defined by one word, HONOR. Honor and
honorable conduct are ingrained in the character of these old
guard Republicans.
Again for my readers, it is
quite simple to separate the people from the sewer from the honorable
people:
If
you spot one of the following you have a creature from the sewer:
character assassination, racism, consistent use of smear tactics,
anti-Semitism, gender assassination or worship of and complete
belief in Fox Cable News, talk shows and Rush Limbaugh.
Who
are the Honorable Republicans?
These are some of the best
known examples: Senators John Warner, Dick Army, Allen Specter
and Olympia Snow because they embody Honor and Decency, and there
are many more. These Republican Senators are mean, hard nosed,
ferocious combatants, but if you put them in a ring with an opponent
who is an elected Democrat they will immediately apply the rules
of the Marquis of Queensbury which are the rules that define the
sport of fair boxing and fair play.
On the other hand, if you
put an opponent, any opponent in a ring with Rush Limbaugh, Bill
O’Reilly or Karl Rove they will immediately strike below
the belt and engage in back stabbing especially if their opponents
are fellow Americans. Their methods are a very efficient way of
destroying the USA and Democracy.
That
is my dear readers the gigantic difference between the men and
women of honor and the crowd from the sewer. The almost obsolete
value of Honor as an Ethical guide should be revived and serve
as a benchmark for Americans who want to build an America that
does not smell like a sewer but will again become the strongest
and most ethical nation in the world.
After 6 years of Bush the Second’s absolute dictatorship
when the USA was no longer a Democracy, and following the reestablishment
of Democracy in the USA thanks to the Democrats regaining control
of one Congressional Branch of government, it is time to rebuild
the USA. The first step is for honorable Democratic Leaders to
work with honorable Republicans Leaders at all levels as well
as for Honorable Democratic citizens to exchange ideas and projects
with Honorable Republican citizens to build a brighter future
for the USA.
Let
us together create a new party, the Party of Honorable Americans.
Let us work together to see that the party of the crowd from the
sewer shrinks and vanishes. However, in order to create this new
party it is important that The Republican crowd from the sewer
be held accountable for the destruction not only of Democracy
in the USA but for the relentless destruction of American ethics
as well as for their unerring political cruelty. The Honorable
Republicans must repudiate the Republicans from the sewers.
It is time now for Republicans who were attracted by Fox cable
talk shows and Rush Limbaugh to take a hard look at themselves
and say :
Do I like my country more than the crowd from the sewer?
If the answer is yes then these Republicans should join the party
of the honorable Republicans.
Then the Party of Honorable Americans can restore the
prestige of the USA and Democracy.
Eric Lafayette
My website is www.fordemocracy.com
My Newsletter is USA Tomorrow and will help you stay way ahead
of the curve.
------------------------------------------
USA
TOMORROW,
Another Day Another
Lie, Another Day Another Betrayal
of US Integrity,
The Geneva Convention and fair Trials
2006, September 19th
Article from our Newsletter USA TOMORROW
You
can receive our Free Newsletter USA TOMORROW by writting in the
subject line of an Email I WANT USA TOMORROW; click here
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SPECIAL MILITARY COURTS
In my previous article, Abhorrent Aberration, I
explained that the Bush Government is trying to set up a special
military tribunal to try "enemy combatants." In the first
version of the Bush Administration’s plan the administration
decided as necessary to withhold from detainees some elements and
evidence against them that would be available to the prosecution.
In
other words:
The Prosecution will have a complete file.
The Detainee will have an expunged incomplete file.
That
is justice the Bush way. In the good old days American were proud
to be a Nation based on a great Judiciary system, well not anymore.
When
their plan was heavily criticized by extremely important members
of the Republican Party, the Party of the President; President Bush’s
staff member Mr Hadley the National Security advisor came up with
a new version of the plan for a special military tribunal.
Please fasten your seat belts, this is the amended plan:
No elements will be withheld from the lawyer of the detainee but
the detainee’s lawyer must withhold from the detainee
some elements.
Here is the stupidity and the crime against American Integrity:
Absolute trust between lawyer and the accused is fundamental and
a primary basis for having lawyers as advocates in the American
Justice System. If the accused person’s lawyer received all
elements of the accusation and was then forced to withhold some
information and not communicate openly with his client then it is
the end of trust between lawyer and client and a complete parody
of justice.
Actually with President Bush proposal the accused person
lawyer is explicitly told to Betray his clients by withholding exonerating
evidences.
The
accused person is now settled with TWO prosecutors: The official
prosecutor and now his own lawyer acting as a prosecutor.
Bottom
line:
After being strong armed by President Bush and Vice President Cheney
the Congress passed the law as Designed by President Bush. The voice
of dissent and decency of Senator Lindsey Graham and John Mc Cain
chose to remain silent and These Senators voted for the law.
If a person is labeled by the CIA or any other law enforcement agency
an Enemy combatant then he or she is DENIED access to the American
courts of justice as well as regular military court of Justice and
is entered in the Bush system of Justice where the now detainee
can be held indefinitely without a trial or can be tried with trumped
up evidence.
One more time President Bush has rejected the Constitution of the
USA to lower the USA to the level of a tyrannical Banana Republic.
President Bush signed this Law called: "Military Commission
act" in October 17, 2006
MODIFICATION OF THE GENEVA CONVENTION
The
Geneva Convention is a treaty signed by 194 nations. It is the
essence of the credibility of a Nation when apposing and
affixing its signature on a document composed of words agreed to
by all of those 194 civilized nations to of course not to change
UNILATERALLY the content.
If you change ONE word (The Bush Administration defines change as
“clarification.”) there is no longer a valid treaty.
Even changing a Coma or a Period is a Modification of the text of
a Treaty.
In addition each time the USA signs a treaty in the future the other
parties signing the treaty can legitimately say:
“There is no use signing a treaty with the USA because
they will modify it at their own convenience and renege on their
word.”
or:
"Let us sign the Treaty we will not have to respect
it anyway because the USA do not respect the Treaties they sign"
A
Treaty is a contract between Nations.
When
at Home an American sign a contract to buy a car, this American
will be shocked if the car Dealer increase the Price of the Vehicle
UNILATERALLY after the contract has been signed.
Here is the stupidity and the crime against American Integrity:
If the USA UNILATERALLY modifies ONE word of the Geneva Convention
Treaty, then the Written Word of the USA is not worth anything,
anywhere, anytime,anymore.
President
Bush father the Previous President Bush is one of the President
that worked very hard at continuing to uphold the moral ground gained
by the USA during World War II and the Cold War. His son the actual
President drive to modify UNILATERALLY the Geneva Convention must
be an extremely painful blow as a Father and as a World War II veteran
and as an American.
Make no mistake reneging on the word in a multilateral Treaty
will reflect on each and every Americans.
Last News 10/17/2006:
Only when been faced a guaranteed rejection by a few members of
his party who assured him that they will vote against this law and
that he did not stand a chance to have his dream of torture included
in his unilateral version of the Geneva Convention did President
Bush abandoned his quest for allowing torture within the Geneva
convention.
However he included torture in a paragraph of the "Military
commission act"
Eric Lafayette
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--------------------------
USA TOMORROW
Bush's Abhorrent Aberrations Are Debasing
the USA,
September 18, 2006
Article
from our Newsletter USA TOMORROW
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Bush's
Abhorrent Aberrations Are Debasing the USA
On
Friday, September 11, 2006 military tribunals with new rules for
trying International Terrorists as well as all prisoners of secret
services like the CIA were strongly advocated by President Bush.
These rules had initially been presented by the Bush White House
early in September.
The
Supreme Court and the US Congress had basically asked the Government
to clean up its act regarding the unlawful detention of
foreign enemy combatants. In September 2006, with pressure
from the Supreme Court and Congress, the White House asked Republican
members of Congress to rubber stamp their new demands
regarding the creation and establishment of rules for special military
tribunals that would deal with detainees.
The
simple fact that the white House DARED to offer such a version of
the rules for trying international combatants as well as anybody
who had the misfortune to fall into the hands of intelligence agencies
like the CIA is almost impossible to understand if you do not already
know that President Bush, Vice President Cheney and their staff
are insulting Democracy everyday while posturing as leaders and
defenders of Democracy. You would also have to understand that they
are debasing the Constitution of the USA as they pretend to make
the USA stronger. President Bush and Vice President Cheney have
imposed a form of Leadership on the American citizen that is a non-beneficial
symbiosis of forceful tyranny and constant stupidity supported by
instigating fear of terrorism which incredibly wrongly includes
Iraq the Only Nation in the Middle East that had ZERO terrorists
before the USA conquered it and since then the conquest of Iraq
by the USA has created ten of thousands of New terrorists.
Here
are the rules of the White House plan in a nut shell:
There
will be two different files for the trial
·
One file is complete, and it is prepared for the
prosecution
·
One file is incomplete and intentionally expunged,
and it is prepared for the accused person.
Let's
look at an example of the Bush Administration’s plan:
Mohammed
John Doe was living in Lebanon near the Israeli border and was a
friend of the Americans and spoke almost perfect American English.
During one of the numerous recent bombings his house and papers
were destroyed, and he was arrested by the Israeli Army the same
day a Hezbollah rocket killed many Lebanese and one American civilian.
Because he was in the village that the Hezbollah rocket came from
he was arrested. He was arrested without any identification papers
because they were lost in the bombings. He spoke excellent American
English so the Israelis delivered him to the CIA and he is now in
one their secret torture prisons around the world. These prisons
have been exposed so the USA will be forced to try him.
(This example is not so far fetch, today September 18th 2006, it
was reveled that a Canadian Syrian was imprisoned and tortured on
incomplete files handled by the American intelligence.)
The
defense file on Mohammed John Doe indicated that he was a Syrian
Spy, an accusation that came from the Israelis because they had
a couple of pictures where he appeared near tanks and cannons as
well as one important and significant picture showing him shaking
hands with a man who was an undercover CIA operative still on active
duty in the Middle East. The identity of the CIA operative is a
very sensitive and important intelligence issue and was therefore
hidden from Israel and the soldiers. The prosecution withheld this
photo of the undercover CIA agent from the accused person and his
defense team.
Because
he knew the CIA operative only by his covert name nobody believed
him.
It was thus easy to label Mohamed John Doe as a Syrian Spy and have
him condemned.
Under Bush’s new rules which are only fit for barbaric countries
he would be condemned and executed by the new military tribunals.
Under the laws and principles of justice created by the Founding
Fathers under the US Constitution these new rules for military tribunals
are nothing more than a kangaroo court that makes a mockery of the
system of justice that the US has honored and adhered to in the
past.
However a few good men: Republican Senators John McCain, John Warner
and others along with former Secretary of Defense and State, General
Colin Powel crafted a very good sets of rules that respect and reflect
of the Spirit of the US Constitution. Here they are:
·
Military judges evaluate sensitive materials and decide if they
should eliminate them totally.
·
Or they are not given to either the prosecution or the defense.
·
Or they are given to both parties if they are not too sensitive.
·
In addition they remain secret because only a Military judge sworn
to secrecy on these matters will have seen them.
But
instead President Bush again said that it was his way or the highway
thus spitting in the face of the Founding Fathers and making a mockery
of US Justice and Democracy.
There
is no way that this kind of debasement of the Principles of Law
will be accepted by the United States Supreme Court. By demonstrating
total contempt for the US Constitution, President Bush shows that
he does not and has never understood what Democracy is. The Founding
Fathers were very serious about due process and US Constitutional
Law because they wrote not one but two Amendments about it.
The fundamental principle of Law in Modern Democratic Countries
is the promise of A FAIR trial.
Only
in the worst of barbaric dictatorships such as Stalin's or Saddam
Hussein’s and in the most barbaric countries does the defense
not have the same access to evidence and information that the prosecution
has. It is absolute folly to show the WORLD that the USA
has forever abandoned the ethical high ground and placed itself
at the lowest possible levels along with other infamous criminal
countries in the history of the world.
If
that was not enough, President Bush is asking Congress to approve
a UNILATERAL rewriting of the Geneva Convention. The Geneva
Convention is a treaty signed by almost all nations in the world
(194 Nations) that guarantees certain rights to prisoners. The important
word is UNILATERAL.
As
if everything else mentioned was not enough, the President has asked
the Congress to approve a UNILATERAL rewriting
of the Geneva Convention because in President Bush’s words,
“the wording is too vague.” Specifically President Bush
wants to rewrite the following passage that prohibits: (c) Outrages
upon personal dignity, in particular, humiliating and degrading
treatment.
What is there to clarify except if you want to modify the Geneva
Convention to authorize TORTURE?
Shocking
as this is the main point is in the word UNILATERAL: You
DO NOT modify a treaty unilaterally if it is signed by other Nations.
A treaty is a Document whose text is set and has been approved jointly
by all the other Nations. Modifying it UNILATERALLY is absurd and
means a UNILATERAL withdrawal from the treaty itself.
In
recent history, the USA has been involved in huge confrontations
between ideologies - Fascism and Totalitarian Communism - and it
has always tried to take the high moral ground. It is because of
this position that the USA won against Hitler and the Nazi Regime
and Fascist Imperial Japan, both nations guilty of war crimes.
Later the USA brought down Totalitarian Communism by adhering to
the moral high ground.
The
USA can be considered a Founding Member of the Geneva Convention.
UNILATERALLY modifying the Geneva Convention which is in fact a
withdrawal from the Geneva Convention is absolute folly and shows
that President Bush’s leadership is unethical and a debasement
of the integrity of the USA which could reduce it to the level of
Criminal Nations. Any intelligent person discovered this about the
Bush Administration years ago and that the administration’s
plans and policies take the USA lower and lower and represent an
imminent threat to Democracy while shocking and tragic is no surprise.
Eric Lafayette
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----------------------
ABRAHAM
LINCOLN
Abraham Lincoln:
A Lesson in Honesty and Courage.
In 1908 in a wild and remote area of the North Caucasus (Russia),
Leo Tolstoy the great writer of his age, was the guest of a tribal
chief "living far away from civilized life in the mountains."
Gathering his family and neighbors, the local chief asked Tolstoy
to tell stories about famous men in history. Tolstoy told how he
entertained the eager crowd for hours with tales of Alexander the
Great, Caesar, Frederick the Great and Napoleon. When he was winding
down to a close, the chief stood and said, "But you have not
told us a syllable about the greatest general and greatest ruler
of the world. We want to know something about him. He was a hero.
He spoke with a voice of thunder, he laughed like the sunrise and
his deeds were strong as the rock.... His name was Lincoln and the
country in which he lived is called America ....."
I looked at them; Tolstoy recalled and saw their faces all aglow,
while their eyes were burning. I saw that those rude barbarians
were really interested in a man whose name and deeds had already
become a legend.
Tolstoy went on and told the story about the life and great deeds
of Abraham Lincoln.
He then thought about what made Lincoln such a great man and deducted
that Abraham Lincoln’s supremacy expressed itself through
his inimitable moral power and the greatness of his character.
In the words of the American
people Abraham Lincoln was, "Honest Abe."
Below is a quote from
Abraham Lincoln which reflects his honesty.
"I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true.
I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live by the light that
I have. I must stand with anybody that stands right, and stand with
him while he is right, and part with him when he goes wrong."
Sometimes the leaders of the Bush Republican party claim Abraham
Lincoln as one of their own, a modern Republican.
There is nothing more false and disingenuous.
The moral values of the modern Republican Party are the opposite
of the values embodied by the Republican Party during Abraham Lincoln’s
era, particularly regarding civil rights, racism and the economy.
Abraham Lincoln was a Liberal, a stickler for respect for the United
States Constitution, a friend of humble working men and an opponent
to the powerful and the greedy.
In the entire history of the USA there are no two United States
Presidents whose core values, behavior and policies are in greater
opposition to each other than President George Bush the younger
and President Abraham Lincoln.
Here are four quotations from Abraham Lincoln that illustrate his
values.
----“Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital.
Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed
if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital,
and deserves much the higher consideration.”
----“These capitalists generally act harmoniously and in concert,
to fleece the people.”
----“We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress
and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow
the men who pervert the Constitution.”
----“Don't interfere with anything in the Constitution. That
must be maintained, for it is the only safeguard of our liberties.”
If you have been
awake during the years of President Bush’s absolute Dictatorship
(2000- 2006) you will have witnessed Bush Cronies filling
their pockets with taxpayers’ money and the Leaders of the
Republican Party preventing a long overdue raise of the minimum
wage for the poorest laborers.
In addition the debasement of the US Constitution has been constant
and forceful.
President Bush circumvented the Constitution by unlawfully disrespecting
and disregarding the following amendments and articles.
-------THE COURTS: The right to a fair and speedy trial
guaranteed by the United States Constitution: Amendment VI
------- PRIVACY RIGHTS: No spying on anyone’s private life:
Amendment IV
------ LEGISLATING PER ORDINANCES (EXECUTIVE ORDERS): President
Bush has made going around the Congress a trademark of his Presidency.
Never in the History of the United States has a President, President
George W. Bush, worked so forcefully to destroy what the most beloved
President of the USA, Abraham Lincoln, had built.
Abraham Lincoln believed honesty was a way of life, and his thinking
is epitomized in this quote
”You may fool all the people some of the time, you
can even fool some of the people all of the time, but you cannot
fool all of the people all the time.”
This is in sharp contrast
with President Bush’s continuous lying over the last 6 years
after being elected on promising there would be no more lying.
From the beginning of his Presidency until the present, President
Bush and his cronies have lied more to the American people than
any other President with the possible exception of President Nixon.
It took six years for the American People to open their eyes proving
that President Lincoln was right again.
At the beginning of the Civil War a tremendous amount of work was
imposed on Abraham Lincoln when he supervised the war himself because
he had terrible generals in the beginning. Abraham Lincoln very
often went to visit and comfort as many wounded soldiers as he could.
In contrast President Bush has to be told to go and see the wounded.
Once elected President, he chose all of his opponents in the race
to the Presidency as members of his cabinet, nominating them for
the highest offices. They were Cabinet Secretaries Seward, Chase,
Bates and Blair.
During the campaign they had attacked him relentlessly and the least
of the attack was that he was a "rail splinter, a farm boy,
a second rate lawyer from Ohio, etc.”
In addition within a year he nominated Edward Stanton as Secretary
of War. Stanton had scorned him and put him down in a most rude
way when they were supposed to work together on a legal case.
Without one exception all of the men named above had absolute contempt
for Lincoln and some had hostility when they came to Lincoln’s
Cabinet. After a few months or a couple of years all except Chase
admired, loved and even worshipped that great man.
Lincoln had the courage and the bravery to hire fierce opponents
because he knew that they were competent and that they would keep
the nation together.
The more People knew Lincoln, the more they loved him.
While he was President Lincoln met and shook hands with tens of
thousands of American people of humble origins.
In contrast President Bush hired his Daddy’s staffers putting
obedience over competence, and when the destitute in the New Orleans
were faced with the catastrophe of the Katrina Disaster and its
aftermath he flew over their heads and never shook the hand of one
victim during the crisis, instead he again sent in his Mom and Dad.
It was impossible to write a Biography of Abraham Lincoln highlighting
the specific qualities that made him a legend and endeared him to
all American People as well as people all over the world without
contrasting him with President Bush whose specific deeds could be
summarized by: How can I destroy the American Constitution, scorn
poor Americans, make my country disliked by the majority of the
world’s inhabitants and rip it apart from within?
.
President Bush is the perfect example of the worst President ever,
his debasing of the United States Constitution and the Nation should
be a constant reminder that only men with Abraham Lincoln’s
honesty and integrity cherished Democracy and their countries above
their own electoral interests, so much so that Lincoln is
remembered for saving his country from disaster while President
Bush has led his country into disaster.
Here is another Lincoln quote:
"A statesman is he who thinks in the future generations,
and a politician is he who thinks in the upcoming elections"
President Lincoln was also a man of great vision and predicted President
George W. Bush’s era with this following quote.
“I see in the near future a crisis approaching that
unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country.
Corporations have been enthroned, 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
the wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed.”
In Conclusion:
Reading a book about the life of Abraham Lincoln is an exceptional
experience. One such book A Team of Rivals about Lincoln during
the war years gives a fascinating vision into the courage of this
extremely kind man.
Anybody on earth should be proud to say I would like to follow in
the footsteps of Abraham Lincoln.
From Wikipedia
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Abraham Lincoln
Born February 12, 1809
Hardin County, Kentucky
Died April 15, 1865, age 56
Washington, D.C.
Political party Whig, Republican
Spouse Mary Todd Lincoln
Religion no affiliation
Lincoln had a lasting influence on U.S. political values by redefining
republican values, promoting nationalism, and enlarging the powers
of the federal government. His assassination, in 1865, made him
a martyr for the ideal of national unity.
Scholars rank Lincoln among the top three U.S. Presidents, with
the average of those surveys placing him unambiguously at number
one. His life and influence have made him an icon of cherished American
political freedoms and aspirations.
Lincoln 1809 to 1854
Early life
Symbolic log cabin at Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic
Site
Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809, to Thomas Lincoln
and Nancy Hanks, two uneducated farmers. He was born in a one-room
log cabin on the 348 acre (1.4 km²) Sinking Spring Farm. The
farm was in Nolin Creek, three miles (5 km) south of Hodgenville,
Kentucky. This was the southeast part of Hardin County (now part
of LaRue County), and was at that time considered the "frontier."
Lincoln was named after his grandfather, who was killed in 1786
in an American Indian raid.[1] He had no middle name. Lincoln had
one elder sister, Sarah Lincoln, who was born in 1805. He also had
a younger brother, Thomas Jr, who died in infancy. Thomas Lincoln
was a respected and relatively affluent citizen of the Kentucky
backcountry, for a period of time. He had purchased the Sinking
Spring Farm in December 1808 for $200 cash and assumption of a debt.[2]
Thomas however, lost all his property in court cases, and when Lincoln
was a child the family was living in a dugout on the side of a hill
in Indiana, without even a log cabin to shelter them. His parents
belonged to a Baptist church that had pulled away from a larger
church because they refused to support slavery. From a very young
age, Lincoln was exposed to anti-slavery sentiment. However, he
never joined his parents' church, or any other, and as a youth he
ridiculed religion.[3]
In 1816, when Lincoln was seven years old, his impoverished family
moved to Perry County (now in Spencer County), Indiana. He later
noted that this move was "partly on account of slavery,"
and partly because of economic difficulties in Kentucky. In 1818,
Lincoln's mother died of "milk sickness" at age thirty
four, when Abe was nine. Soon afterwards, Lincoln's father remarried
to Sarah Bush Johnston. Sarah Lincoln raised young Lincoln like
one of her own children. Years later she compared Lincoln to her
own son, saying "Both were good boys, but I must say —
both now being dead that Abe was the best boy I ever saw or ever
expect to see." Lincoln was affectionate toward his step-mother,
but distant from his father.[4]
In 1830, after more economic and land-title difficulties in Indiana,
the family settled on public land in Macon County, Illinois. The
following winter was desolate and especially brutal, and the family
nearly moved back to Indiana. When his father relocated the family
to a new homestead in Coles County, Illinois the following year,
the 22-year-old Lincoln struck out on his own, canoeing down the
Sangamon River to Sangamon County, Illinois, in the village of New
Salem. Later that year, hired by New Salem businessman Denton Offutt
and accompanied by friends, he took goods from New Salem to New
Orleans via flatboat on the Sangamon, Illinois and Mississippi rivers.
While in New Orleans, he may have witnessed a slave auction that
probably left an indelible impression on him for the rest of his
life.[clarify] Whether he actually witnessed a slave auction at
that time or not, he visited Kentucky often and he had opportunity
to see similar sales from time to time.[5]
His formal education consisted of about 18 months of schooling
from unofficial teachers. In effect he was self-educated, studying
every book he could borrow. He mastered the Bible, William Shakespeare's
works, English history and American history, and developed a plain
style that puzzled audiences more used to grandiloquent oratory.
He was a local wrestler and skilled with an axe; some rails he had
allegedly split in his youth were exhibited at the 1860 Republican
National Convention, as the party celebrated the poor-boy-made-good
theme. He avoided hunting and fishing because he did not like killing
animals even for food and, though unusually tall and strong, spent
so much time reading that some neighbors suspected he must be doing
it to avoid strenuous manual labor.
Early career
Young Abraham Lincoln
Lincoln began his political career in 1832, at age 23, with a campaign
for the Illinois General Assembly as a member of the Whig Party.
The centerpiece of his platform was the undertaking of navigational
improvements on the Sangamon River in the hopes of attracting steamboat
traffic to the river, which would allow sparsely populated, poor
areas along and near the river to grow and prosper. He served as
a captain in a company of the Illinois militia drawn from New Salem
during the Black Hawk War, although he never saw combat. He wrote
after being elected by his peers that he had not had "any such
success in life which gave him so much satisfaction."[6]
For a few months he operated a small store in New Salem, Illinois,
selling tea, coffee, sugar, salt, blue calico, brown muslin, straw
hats--and whiskey.[7] After coming across the second volume of Sir
William Blackstone's four-volume Commentaries on the Laws of England,
he taught himself law and was admitted to the bar in 1837. That
same year, he moved to Springfield, Illinois, and began to practice
law with Stephen T. Logan. He became one of the most respected and
successful lawyers in Illinois and grew steadily more prosperous.
Lincoln served four successive terms in the Illinois House of Representatives,
as a Whig representative from Sangamon County, beginning in 1834.
He became a leader of the Whig party in the legislature. In 1837,
he made his first protest against slavery in the Illinois House,
stating that the institution was "founded on both injustice
and bad policy."[8]
It was in 1837, that Lincoln met his most intimate friend, Joshua
Fry Speed, with whom he shared a bed for the next four years, a
common practice on the frontier at the time (Donald). ."..it
is hardly too much to say that he was the only — as he was
certainly the last — intimate friend that Lincoln ever had."(Nicolay
and Hay) When Speed married in February, 1842, Lincoln wrote from
Springfield: "I feel somewhat jealous of both of you now; you
will be so exclusively concerned for one another, that I shall be
forgotten entirely."[9]
In 1842, Lincoln wrote a series of anonymous letters which were
published in the Sangamo Journal, mocking prominent Democrat and
State Auditor James Shields. When Shields found out it was Lincoln,
he challenged him to a duel. Since Shields was the challenger, Lincoln
chose the weapon and specified "Cavalry broad swords of the
largest size." Lincoln, much taller with long arms, had an
overwhelming advantage; the duel was called off at the last minute.[10]
In 1841, Lincoln entered law practice with William Herndon, a fellow
Whig. In 1854, both men joined the fledgling Republican Party. Following
Lincoln's death, Herndon began collecting stories about Lincoln
from those who knew him in central Illinois, and published them
in Herndon's Lincoln.
Family
On November 4, 1842, at the age of 33, Lincoln married Mary Todd.
She came from a prominent slave-owning family from Kentucky and
allowed his children to spend time in Kentucky surrounded by slaves.
The couple had four sons:
Robert Todd Lincoln (August 1, 1843 - July 26, 1926): born in Springfield,
Illinois, and died in Manchester, Vermont.
Edward Baker Lincoln (March 10, 1846 - February 1, 1850): born and
died in Springfield.
William Wallace Lincoln (December 21, 1850 - February 20, 1862):
born in Springfield and died in Washington, D.C..
Thomas "Tad" Lincoln (April 4, 1853 - July 16, 1871):
born in Springfield and died in Chicago.
Only Robert survived into adulthood. Lincoln greatly admired the
science that flourished in New England and was one of the few men
in Illinois at the time to send a son to elite eastern schools;
he sent Robert Todd Lincoln to Phillips Exeter Academy and Harvard
College. Robert had three children and three grandchildren, but
none of these had children, so Abraham Lincoln's bloodline ended
when Robert Beckwith (Lincoln's great-grandson) died on December
24, 1985.[11]
Among his wife's family, four of his brothers-in-law fought for
the Confederacy with one wounded and another killed in action. Lieutenant
David H. Todd, a half-brother of Mary Todd Lincoln, served as commandant
of the Libby Prison camp during the war.
Antiwar activist
Lincoln in the 1840s
In 1846, Lincoln was elected to a term in the U.S. House of Representatives.
A staunch Whig, Lincoln often referred to party leader Henry Clay
as his political idol. As a freshman House member, Lincoln was not
a particularly powerful or influential figure in Congress. He spoke
out against the Mexican-American War, which he attributed to President
Polk's desire for "military glory — that attractive rainbow,
that rises in showers of blood." Besides this rhetoric, he
also directly challenged Polk's claims as to the boundary of Texas.[12]
Lincoln was among the 82 Whigs in January 1848 who defeated 81 Democrats
in a procedural vote on an amendment to send a routine resolution
back to committee with instructions for the committee to add the
words "a war unnecessarily and unconstitutionally begun by
the President of the United States." The amendment passed,
but the bill never reemerged from committee and was never finally
voted upon.[13]
Lincoln damaged his reputation by an intemperate speech in the
House. He announced, "God of Heaven has forgotten to defend
the weak and innocent, and permitted the strong band of murderers
and demons from hell to kill men, women, and children, and lay waste
and pillage the land of the just." Two weeks later, Polk sent
a peace treaty to Congress. No one in Washington paid any attention
to Lincoln, but the Democrats orchestrated angry outbursts from
all over his district, where the war was popular and many had volunteered.
In Morgan County, resolutions were adopted in fervent support of
the war and in wrathful denunciation of the "treasonable assaults
of guerrillas at home; party demagogues;" slanderers of the
President, defenders of the butchery at the Alamo, traducers of
the heroism at San Jacinto. Lincoln's law partner William Herndon
warned Lincoln that the damage was mounting and irreparable; Lincoln
himself was despondent, and he decided not to run for reelection.
In the fall 1848 election, he campaigned vigorously for Zachary
Taylor, the successful general whose atrocities he had denounced
in January. Lincoln's attacks on Polk and Taylor came back to haunt
him during the Civil War and indeed was held against him when he
applied for a major patronage job from the new Taylor administration.
Instead Taylor offered Lincoln a minor patronage job in remote Oregon
Territory. Acceptance would end his career in the fast-growing state
of Illinois, so he declined. Returning instead to Springfield, Lincoln
gave up politics and turned his energies to making a living as an
attorney, which involved grueling travels on horseback from county
courthouse to county courthouse.[14]
Prairie lawyer
By the mid-1850s, Lincoln faced competing transportation interests
— both the river barges and the railroads. In 1849, he received
a patent related to buoying vessels. Lincoln represented the Alton
& Sangamon Railroad in an 1851 dispute with one of its shareholders,
James A. Barret. Barret had refused to pay the balance on his pledge
to the railroad on the grounds that it had changed its originally
planned route. Lincoln argued that as a matter of law a corporation
is not bound by its original charter when that charter can be amended
in the public interest, that the newer proposed Alton & Sangamon
route was superior and less expensive, and that accordingly the
corporation had a right to sue Mr. Barret for his delinquent payment.
He won this case, and the decision by the Illinois Supreme Court
was eventually cited by several other courts throughout the United
States.[15]
An important example of Lincoln's skills as a railroad lawyer was
a lawsuit over a tax exemption that the state had granted to the
Illinois Central Railroad. McLean County argued that the state had
no authority to grant such an exemption, and it sought to impose
taxes on the railroad notwithstanding. In January 1856, the Illinois
Supreme Court delivered its opinion upholding the tax exemption.
Lincoln's most notable criminal trial came in 1858 when he defended
William "Duff" Armstrong, who was on trial for murder.
The case is famous for Lincoln's use of judicial notice, a rare
tactic at that time, to show that an eyewitness had lied on the
stand. After the witness testified to having seen the crime by the
light of the moon, Lincoln produced a Farmer's Almanac to show that
the moon on that date was at such a low angle that it could not
have provided enough illumination to see anything clearly. Based
upon this evidence, Armstrong was acquitted.
Lincoln was involved in more than 5,100 cases in Illinois alone
during a 23-year legal practice. Amounting to about one case per
business day, many cases involved little more than filing a writ,
while others were more substantial and drawn-out. Lincoln and his
partners appeared before the Illinois State Supreme Court more than
400 times.
Republican politics 1854–1860
The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, which expressly repealed the limits
on slavery's spread that had been part of the Missouri Compromise
of 1820, drew Lincoln back into politics. Illinois Democrat Stephen
A. Douglas, the most powerful man in the Senate, proposed popular
sovereignty as the solution to the slavery impasse, and he incorporated
it into the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Douglas argued that in a democracy
the people of a territory should decide whether to allow slavery
and not have a decision imposed on them by Congress.[16]
It was a speech against the act, on October 16, 1854, in Peoria,
that caused Lincoln to stand out among the other free soil orators
of the day. In the speech, Lincoln commented upon the Kansas-Nebraska
Act:
“ [The Act has a] declared indifference, but as I must think,
covert real zeal for the spread of slavery, I cannot but hate. I
hate it because of the monstrous injustice of slavery itself. I
hate it because it deprives our republican example of its just influence
in the world—enables the enemies of free institutions, with
plausibility, to taunt us as hypocrites—causes the real friends
of freedom to doubt our sincerity, and especially because it forces
so many really good men amongst ourselves into an open war with
the very fundamental principles of civil liberty—criticizing
the Declaration of Independence, and insisting that there is no
right principle of action but self-interest.[17] ”
He helped form the new Republican Party, drawing on remnants of
the old Whig, Free Soil, Liberty and Democratic parties. In a stirring
campaign, the Republicans carried Illinois in 1854 and elected a
senator. Lincoln was the obvious choice, but to keep the new party
balanced he allowed the election to go to an ex-Democrat Lyman Trumbull.
In 1857-58, Douglas broke with President Buchanan, leading to a
fight for control of the Democratic Party. Some eastern Republicans
even favored the reelection of Douglas in 1858, since he led the
opposition to the administration's push for the Lecompton Constitution
which would have admitted Kansas as a slave state. Accepting the
Republican nomination for the Senate in 1858, Lincoln delivered
a famous speech in which he stated, "'A house divided against
itself cannot stand.'(Mark 3:25) I believe this government cannot
endure permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the
Union to be dissolved — I do not expect the house to fall
— but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become
all one thing, or all the other."[18] The speech created a
lasting image of the danger of disunion because of slavery, and
rallied Republicans across the north.
The 1858 campaign featured the Lincoln-Douglas debates, a nationally
famous contest on slavery. Lincoln warned that the Slave Power was
threatening the values of republicanism, while Douglas emphasized
democracy, as in his Freeport Doctrine, which said that local settlers
should be free to choose slavery or not. Though the Republican legislative
candidates won more popular votes, the Democrats won more seats,
and the legislature reelected Douglas to the Senate. Nevertheless,
Lincoln's eloquence transformed him into a national political star.
During the debates of 1858, the issue of race was often discussed.
During a time period when racial egalitarianism was considered politically
incorrect, Stephen Douglas informed the crowds, "If you desire
Negro citizenship… if you desire them to vote on an equality
with yourselves… then support Mr. Lincoln and the Black Republican
party, who are in favor of the citizenship of the negro."[19]
On the defensive, Lincoln countered that he was "not in favor
of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of
the white and black races."[20] Lincoln's opposition to slavery
was opposition to the Slave Power, and he was not an abolitionist
in 1858. But the Civil War changed many things, including Lincoln's
beliefs in race relations.[21]
Election of 1860
"The Rail Candidate," Lincoln's 1860 candidacy is held
up by slavery issue (slave on left) and party organization (New
York Tribune editor Horace Greeley on right)
Entering the presidential nomination process as a distinct underdog,
Lincoln was eventually chosen as the Republican candidate for the
1860 election for several reasons. His expressed views on slavery
were seen as more moderate than the views of rivals William H. Seward
and Salmon Chase. His "western" origins also appealed
to the newer states. Other contenders, especially those with more
governmental experience, had acquired enemies within the party and
were weak in the critical western states. Lincoln was seen as a
moderate who could win the West. Most Republicans agreed with Lincoln
that the North was the aggrieved party as the Slave Power tightened
its grasp on the national government. Despite his Southern connections
(his in-laws owned slaves), Lincoln misunderstood the depth of the
revolution underway in the South and the emergence of Southern nationalism.
Throughout the 1850s he denied there would ever be a civil war.
His supporters repeatedly denied that his election would be a spark
for secession.[22]
Lincoln did not campaign or give speeches. The campaign was handled
by the state and county Republican organizations. They were thorough
and used the newest techniques to sustain the enthusiasm of party
members and thus obtain high turnout. There was little effort to
convert non-Republicans, and there was virtually no campaigning
in the South except for a few border cities such as St. Louis, Missouri,
and Wheeling, Virginia; indeed the party did not run a slate of
electors in most of the South. In the North, there were thousands
of Republican speakers, tons of campaign posters and leaflets, and
thousands of newspaper editorials. They focused first on the party
platform, and second on Lincoln's life story, making the most of
his boyhood poverty, his pioneer background, his native genius,
his rise from obscurity to fame. His nicknames, "Honest Abe"
and "the Rail-Splitter," were exploited to the full. The
point was to emphasize the superior power of "free labor,"
whereby a common farm boy could work his way to the top by his own
efforts.[23]
On November 6, 1860, Lincoln was elected the 16th President of
the United States, beating Democrat Stephen A. Douglas, John C.
Breckinridge of the Southern Democrats, and John C. Bell of the
new Constitutional Union Party. Lincoln was the first Republican
president. He won entirely on the strength of his support in the
North: he was not even on the ballot in nine states in the South
— and won only 2 of 996 counties in the other Southern states.
Lincoln gained 1,865,908 votes (39.9% of the total,) for 180 electoral
votes; Douglas 1,380,202 (29.5%) for 12 electoral votes; Breckenridge
848,019 (18.1%) for 72 electoral votes; and Bell 590,901 (12.5%)
for 39 electoral votes. There were fusion tickets in some states,
but even if his opponents had combined in every state, Lincoln had
a majority vote in all but two of the states in which he won the
electoral votes and would still have won the electoral college and
the election.
Civil War
Secession winter 1860–1861
As Lincoln's election became more probable, secessionists made it
clear that their states would leave the Union. South Carolina took
the lead followed by six other cotton-growing states in the deep
South. The upper South (Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina,
Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, and Arkansas) listened to and rejected
the secessionist appeal. They decided to stay in the Union, though
warning Lincoln they would not support an invasion through their
territory. The seven Confederate states seceded before Lincoln took
office, declaring themselves an entirely new nation, the Confederate
States of America. President Buchanan and President-elect Lincoln
refused to recognize the Confederacy, which became the immediate
cause of the war.
President-elect Lincoln evaded possible assassins in Baltimore
and on February 23, 1861, arrived in disguise in Washington, D.C.
At Lincoln's inauguration on March 4, 1861, the Turners formed Lincoln's
bodyguard; and a sizable garrison of federal troops was also present,
ready to protect the capital from Confederate invasion or insurrection
from Confederates in the capital city.
Photograph showing the March 4, 1861, inauguration of Abraham Lincoln
in front of U.S. Capitol Building
In his First Inaugural Address, Lincoln declared, "I hold that
in contemplation of universal law and of the Constitution the Union
of these States is perpetual. Perpetuity is implied, if not expressed,
in the fundamental law of all national governments," arguing
further that the purpose of the United States Constitution was "to
form a more perfect union" than the Articles of Confederation
which were explicitly perpetual, and thus the Constitution too was
perpetual. He asked rhetorically that even were the Constitution
a simple contract, would it not require the agreement of all parties
to rescind it?
Also in his inaugural address, in a final attempt to unite the
Union and prevent the looming war, Lincoln supported the pending
Corwin Amendment to the Constitution, which had passed Congress.
It explicitly protected slavery in those states in which it already
existed, and was designed to appeal not to the Confederacy but to
the critical border states. Lincoln adamantly opposed the Crittenden
Compromise, however, which would have permitted slavery in the territories.
Despite support for the Crittenden compromise among some Republicans,
Lincoln denounced it saying it "would amount to a perpetual
covenant of war against every people, tribe, and state owning a
foot of land between here and Tierra del Fuego [at the far end of
South America]."
By the time Lincoln took office, the Confederacy was an established
fact, and no leaders of the insurrection proposed rejoining the
Union on any terms. No compromise was found because no compromise
was possible. Lincoln perhaps could have allowed the southern states
to secede, and some Republicans recommended that. However, conservative
Democratic nationalists, such as Jeremiah S. Black, Joseph Holt,
and Edwin M. Stanton had taken control of Buchanan's cabinet around
January 1, 1861, and refused to accept secession. Lincoln and nearly
all Republican leaders adopted this nationalistic position by March
1861: the Union could not be broken. However, Lincoln being a strict
follower of the constitution, would not take any action against
the South unless the Unionists themselves were attacked first. It
finally happened in April 1861.
Fighting begins: 1861–1862
Main article: American Civil War
After Union troops at Fort Sumter were fired upon and forced to
surrender in April 1861, Lincoln called on governors of every state
to send detachments totaling 75,000 troops to recapture forts, protect
the capital, and "preserve the Union," which in his view
still existed intact despite the actions of the seceding states.
Virginia, which had repeatedly warned Lincoln it would not allow
an invasion of its territory or join an attack on another state,
then seceded, along with North Carolina, Tennessee and Arkansas.
Nevins[24] argues that Lincoln made three serious mistakes at this
point. He at first underestimated the strength of the Confederacy,
assuming that 75,000 troops could end the insurrection in 90 days.
Second, he overestimated the strength of Unionist sentiment in the
South and border states; he assumed he could call the bluff of the
insurrectionists and they would fade away. Finally he misunderstood
the demands of Unionists in the border states, who warned they would
not support an invasion of the Confederacy.
The slave states of Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland, and Delaware
did not secede, and Lincoln urgently negotiated with state leaders
there, promising not to interfere with slavery in loyal states.
After the fighting started, he had rebel leaders arrested in all
the border areas and held in military prisons without trial; over
18,000 were arrested. None were executed; one — Clement Vallandingham
— was exiled; all were released, usually after two or three
months. See Ex parte Merryman.
Emancipation Proclamation
Main articles: Abraham Lincoln on slavery and Emancipation Proclamation
Lincoln met with his Cabinet for the first reading of the Emancipation
Proclamation draft on July 22, 1862. L-R: Edwin M. Stanton, Salmon
P. Chase, Abraham Lincoln, Gideon Welles, Caleb Smith, William H.
Seward, Montgomery Blair and Edward Bates
Congress in July 1862 moved to free the slaves by passing the Second
Confiscation Act. The goal was to weaken the rebellion, which was
led and controlled by slave owners. This did not abolish the legal
institution of slavery (the 13th Amendment did that), but it shows
Lincoln had the support of Congress in liberating the slaves owned
by rebels. Lincoln implemented the new law by his "Emancipation
Proclamation."
Lincoln is well known for ending slavery in the United States.
In 1861-62, Lincoln made it clear that the North was fighting the
war to preserve the Union, not to abolish slavery. Freeing the slaves
became, in late 1862, a war measure to weaken the rebellion by destroying
the economic base of its leadership class. Abolitionists criticized
Lincoln for his slowness, but on August 22, 1862, Lincoln explained:
“ I would save the Union. I would save it the shortest way
under the Constitution. The sooner the national authority can be
restored; the nearer the Union will be "the Union as it was."
... My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and
is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the
Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save
it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save
it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that.[25]
”
The Emancipation Proclamation, announced on September 22 and put
in effect January 1, 1863, freed slaves in territories not under
Union control. As Union armies advanced south, more slaves were
liberated until all of them in Confederate hands were freed (over
three million). Lincoln later said: "I never, in my life, felt
more certain that I was doing right, than I do in signing this paper."
The proclamation made abolishing slavery in the rebel states an
official war goal. Lincoln then threw his energies into passage
of the 13th Amendment to permanently abolish slavery throughout
the nation.[26]
Lincoln had for some time been working on plans to set up colonies
for the newly freed slaves. He remarked upon colonization favorably
in the Emancipation Proclamation but all attempts at such a massive
undertaking failed. As Frederick Douglass observed, Lincoln was,
"The first great man that I talked with in the United States
freely who in no single instance reminded me of the difference between
himself and myself, of the difference of color."[27]
Domestic measures
While Lincoln is usually portrayed bearded, he first grew a beard
in 1860 at the suggestion of 11-year-old Grace Bedell
Lincoln believed in the Whig theory of the presidency, which left
Congress to write the laws while he signed them, vetoing only bills
that threatened his war powers. Thus, he signed the Homestead Act
in 1862, making available millions of acres of government-held land
in the west for purchase at very low cost. The Morrill Land-Grant
Colleges Act, also signed in 1862, provided government grants for
agricultural universities in each state. Lincoln also signed the
Pacific Railway Acts of 1862 and 1864, which granted federal support
to the construction of the United States' first transcontinental
railroad, which was completed in 1869. Other important legislation
involved money matters, including the first income tax and higher
tariffs. Also included was the creation of the system of national
banks by the National Banking Acts of 1863, 1864, and 1865 which
allowed the creation of a strong national financial system.
Lincoln sent a senior general to put down the "Sioux Uprising"
of August 1862 in Minnesota. Presented with 303 death warrants for
convicted Santee Dakota who had massacred innocent farmers, Lincoln
affirmed 39 of these for execution (one was later reprieved).
1864 election and second inauguration
After Union victories at Gettysburg, Vicksburg and Chattanooga in
1863, victory seemed at hand. Lincoln promoted Ulysses S. Grant
General-in-Chief on March 12, 1864. When the spring campaigns all
turned into bloody stalemates, Lincoln strongly supported Grant's
strategy of wearing down Lee's army at the cost of heavy Union casualties.
Lincoln easily defeated efforts to deny his renomination, and selected
Andrew Johnson, a War Democrat from the Southern state of Tennessee
as his running mate in order to form a broader coalition. They ran
on the new Union Party ticket; it was a coalition of Republicans
and War Democrats.
Republicans across the country had the jitters in August, fearing
that Lincoln would be defeated. Acknowledging those fears, Lincoln
wrote and signed a pledge that, if he should lose the election,
he would nonetheless defeat the Confederacy by an all-out military
effort before turning over the White House.[28]:
“ This morning, as for some days past, it seems exceedingly
probable that this Administration will not be re-elected. Then it
will be my duty to so co-operate with the President elect, as to
save the Union between the election and the inauguration; as he
will have secured his election on such ground that he cannot possibly
save it afterwards.[29] ”
Lincoln did not show the pledge to his cabinet, but asked them
to sign the sealed envelope.
The Democratic platform followed the Peace wing of the party, calling
the war a "failure." However their candidate, General
George McClellan, supported the war and repudiated the platform.
Lincoln provided Grant with new replacements and mobilized the
Union party to support Grant and talk up local support for the war.
Sherman's capture of Atlanta in September ended defeatist jitters;
the Democratic Party was deeply split, with some leaders and most
soldiers openly for Lincoln; the Union party was united and energized,
and Lincoln was easily reelected in a landslide. He won all but
two states, capturing 212 of 233 electoral votes.
On March 4, 1865, he delivered his second inaugural address, which
was 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[30] ”
Conducting the war effort
The Running Machine
An 1864 cartoon featuring Lincoln, William Fessenden, Edwin Stanton,
William Seward and Gideon Welles takes a swing at the Lincoln administration
The war was a source of constant frustration for the president,
and it occupied nearly all of his time. Lincoln had a contentious
relationship with General George B. McClellan, who became general-in-chief
of all the Union armies in the wake of the embarrassing Union defeat
at the First Battle of Bull Run and after the retirement of Winfield
Scott in late 1861. Lincoln wished to take an active part in planning
the war strategy despite his inexperience in military affairs. Lincoln's
strategic priorities were twofold: first, to ensure that Washington,
D.C., was well defended; and second, to conduct an aggressive war
effort in hopes of ending the war quickly and appeasing the Northern
public and press, who pushed for an offensive war. McClellan, a
youthful West Point graduate and railroad executive called back
to military service, took a more cautious approach. McClellan took
several months to plan and execute his Peninsula Campaign, which
involved capturing Richmond by moving the Army of the Potomac by
boat to the peninsula between the James and York Rivers. McClellan's
delay irritated Lincoln, as did McClellan's insistence that no troops
were needed to defend Washington, D.C. Lincoln insisted on holding
some of McClellan's troops to defend the capital, a decision McClellan
blamed for the ultimate failure of his Peninsula Campaign.
McClellan, a lifelong Democrat who was temperamentally conservative,
was relieved as general-in-chief after releasing his Harrison's
Landing Letter, where he offered unsolicited political advice to
Lincoln urging caution in the war effort. McClellan's letter incensed
Radical Republicans, who successfully pressured Lincoln to appoint
fellow Republican John Pope as head of the new Army of Virginia.
Pope complied with Lincoln's strategic desire for the Union to move
towards Richmond from the north, thus guarding Washington, D.C.
However, Pope was soundly defeated at the Second Battle of Bull
Run during the summer of 1862, forcing the Army of the Potomac back
into the defenses of Washington for a second time. Pope was sent
to Minnesota to fight the Sioux.
An 1864 Mathew Brady photo depicts President Lincoln reading a book
with his youngest son, Tad.
Panicked by Confederate General Robert E. Lee's invasion of Maryland,
Lincoln restored McClellan to command of all forces around Washington
in time for the Battle of Antietam in September 1862. It was the
Union victory in that battle that allowed Lincoln to release his
Emancipation Proclamation. Lincoln relieved McClellan of command
shortly after the 1862 midterm elections and appointed Republican
Ambrose Burnside to head the Army of the Potomac, who promised to
follow through on Lincoln's strategic vision for an aggressive offensive
against Lee and Richmond. After Burnside was stunningly defeated
at Fredericksburg, Joseph Hooker was given command, despite his
idle talk about becoming a military strong man. Hooker was routed
by Lee at Chancellorsville in May 1863 and relieved of command early
in the subsequent Gettysburg Campaign.
After the Union victory at Gettysburg, Meade's failure to pursue
Lee, and months of inactivity for the Army of the Potomac, Lincoln
decided to bring in a western general: General Ulysses S. Grant.
He had a solid string of victories in the Western Theater, including
Vicksburg and Chattanooga. Earlier, reacting to criticism of Grant,
Lincoln was quoted as saying, "I cannot spare this man. He
fights." Grant waged his bloody Overland Campaign in 1864,
using a strategy of a war of attrition, characterized by high Union
losses at battles such as the Wilderness and Cold Harbor but by
proportionately higher losses in the Confederate army. Grant's aggressive
campaign eventually bottled up Lee in the Siege of Petersburg, took
Richmond, and brought the war to a close in the spring of 1865.
Lincoln authorized Grant to destroy the civilian infrastructure
that was keeping the Confederacy alive, hoping thereby to destroy
the South's morale and weaken its economic ability to continue the
war. This allowed Generals William Tecumseh Sherman and Philip Sheridan
to destroy farms and towns in the Shenandoah Valley, Georgia, and
South Carolina. The damage in Sherman's March to the Sea through
Georgia totaled in excess of $100 million.
Lincoln had a star-crossed record as a military leader, possessing
a keen understanding of strategic points (such as the Mississippi
River and the fortress city of Vicksburg) and the importance of
defeating the enemy's army, rather than simply capturing cities.
However, he had limited success in motivating his commanders to
adopt his strategies, until in late 1863 he found in Grant a man
who shared his vision of the war, his insistence on using black
troops, and was able to bring that vision to reality with his relentless
pursuit of coordinated offensives in multiple theaters of war.
Lincoln showed a keen curiosity with military campaigning during
the war. He spent hours at the War Department telegraph office,
reading dispatches from his generals on many nights. He frequently
visited battle sites and seemed fascinated by watching scenes of
war. During Jubal A. Early's raid into Washington, D.C., in 1864,
Lincoln had to be told to duck his head to avoid being shot while
observing the scenes of battle.
Homefront
Rhetoric mobilizes the nation
Lincoln was more successful in giving the war meaning to Northern
civilians through his oratorical skills. Lincoln possessed an extraordinary
command of the English language, as evidenced by the Gettysburg
Address, a speech dedicating a cemetery of Union soldiers from the
Battle of Gettysburg that he delivered on November 19, 1863. Lincoln's
choice of words resonated across the nation and across history,
defying Lincoln's own prediction that "the world will little
note, nor long remember what we say here." Lincoln's second
inaugural address is also greatly admired and often quoted. In these
speeches, Lincoln articulated better than anyone the rationale behind
the Union effort.
Civil liberties suspended
Lincoln, in stovepipe hat, with Allan Pinkerton and Gen. John McClernand
at Antietam
During the Civil War, Lincoln appropriated powers no previous President
had wielded: he used his war powers to proclaim a blockade, suspended
the writ of habeas corpus, spent money without congressional authorization,
and imprisoned 18,000 suspected Confederate sympathizers without
trial. Nearly all of his actions, although vehemently denounced
by the Copperheads, were subsequently upheld by Congress and the
Courts.
Reconstruction
Reconstruction began during the war as Lincoln and his associates
pondered the questions of how to reintegrate the Southern states
back into the Union, and what to do with Confederate leaders and
with the freed slaves. Lincoln was the leader of the "moderates"
regarding Reconstruction policy, and usually was opposed by the
Radical Republicans led by Thaddeus Stevens in the House and Charles
Sumner and Benjamin Wade in the Senate (though he cooperated with
those men on most other issues). Lincoln was determined to find
a course that would reunite the nation as soon as possible and not
permanently alienate the Southerners, and throughout the war Lincoln
urged speedy elections under generous terms in areas behind Union
lines. Critical decisions had to be made during the war, as state
after state was reconquered. Of special importance were Tennessee,
where Lincoln appointed Andrew Johnson as governor, and Louisiana
where Lincoln tried a plan that would restore the state when 10%
of the voters agreed. The Radicals thought that policy was too lenient,
and passed their own plan, the Wade-Davis Bill in 1864. Lincoln
vetoed Wade-Davis, and the Radicals retaliated by refusing to seat
representatives elected from Louisiana, Arkansas, and Tennessee.[31]
On April 9, 1865, General Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House
in Virginia; the war was effectively over. The other rebel armies
surrendered and there was no guerrilla warfare. Lincoln went to
Richmond to make a public gesture of sitting at Jefferson Davis's
own desk, symbolically saying to the nation that the President of
the United States held authority over the entire land. He was greeted
at the city as a conquering hero by freed slaves, whose sentiments
were epitomized by one admirer's quote, "I know I am free for
I have seen the face of Father Abraham and have felt him."
When a general asked Lincoln how the defeated Confederates should
be treated, Lincoln replied, "Let 'em up easy."[32]
Assassination
Main article: Abraham Lincoln assassination
Further information: Abraham Lincoln's burial and exhumation
The assassination of Abraham Lincoln. From left to right: Henry
Rathbone, Clara Harris, Mary Todd Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln and John
Wilkes Booth
Originally, John Wilkes Booth had formulated a plan to kidnap Lincoln
in exchange for the release of Confederate prisoners. In April he
changed to a plan for assassination.[33]
Booth, a well-known actor and a Confederate spy from Maryland,
heard that the President and Mrs. Lincoln, along with the Grants,
would be attending Ford's Theatre. Having failed in a plot to kidnap
Lincoln earlier, Booth informed his co-conspirators of his intention
to kill Lincoln. Others were assigned to assassinate vice-president
Andrew Johnson and Secretary of State William H. Seward.
Without his main bodyguard Ward Hill Lamon, to whom he related
his famous dream of his own assassination, Lincoln left to attend
the play Our American Cousin at Ford's Theater. As a lone bodyguard
wandered, and Lincoln sat in his state box (Box 7) in the balcony,
Booth crept up behind the President's box and waited for the funniest
line of the play, hoping the laughter would cover the noise of the
gunshot. On stage, a character named Lord Dundreary (played by Harry
Hawk) who has just been accused of ignorance in regards to the manners
of good society, replies, "Well, I guess I know enough to turn
you inside out, old gal — you sockdologizing old man-trap..."
When the laughter came Booth jumped into the box with the President
and aimed a single-shot, round-slug .44 caliber Deringer at his
head, firing at point-blank range. The bullet entered behind Lincoln's
left ear and lodged behind his right eyeball. Major Henry Rathbone
momentarily grappled with Booth but was cut by Booth's knife. Booth
then leapt to the stage and shouted "Sic semper tyrannis!"
(Latin: "Thus always to tyrants") and escaped, despite
a broken leg suffered in the leap. A twelve-day manhunt ensued,
in which Booth was chased by Federal agents (under the direction
of Secretary of War Edwin Stanton), until he was finally cornered
in a barnhouse in Virginia and shot, dying soon after.
An army surgeon, Doctor Charles Leale, initially assessed the wound
as fatal. The President was taken across the street from the theater
to the Petersen House, where he lay in a coma for nine hours before
he died. Several physicians attended Lincoln, including U.S. Army
Surgeon General Joseph K. Barnes of the Army Medical Museum. Using
a probe, Barnes located some fragments of Lincoln's skull and the
ball lodged 6 inches (15 cm) inside his brain. Lincoln never regained
consciousness and was officially pronounced dead at 7:22 a.m. April
15, 1865. There is some disagreement among historians as to Stanton's
words after Lincoln died. All agree he began "Now he belongs
to the..." with some stating he said "ages," while
others believe he said "angels." After Lincoln's body
was returned to the White House, his body was prepared for his lying
in repose in the East Room. He was the first president to lie in
state.
The Army Medical Museum, now named the National Museum of Health
and Medicine, has retained in its collection several artifacts relating
to the assassination. Currently on display in the museum are the
bullet that was fired from the Deringer pistol, the probe used by
Barnes, pieces of Lincoln's skull and hair, and the surgeon's cuff
stained with Lincoln's blood.
Lincoln's funeral train carried his remains, as well as 300 mourners
and the casket of his son William, 1,654 miles (2,661 km) to Illinois
Lincoln's body was carried by train in a grand funeral procession
through several states on its way back to Illinois. The nation mourned
a man whom many viewed as the savior of the United States. Copperheads
celebrated the death of a man they considered an unconstitutional
tyrant. He was buried in Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, Illinois,
where a 177 foot (54 m) tall granite tomb surmounted with several
bronze statues of Lincoln was constructed by 1874. To prevent repeated
attempts to steal Lincoln's body and hold it for ransom, Robert
Todd Lincoln had Lincoln exhumed and reinterred in concrete several
feet thick in 1901.
Religious beliefs
Although Lincoln's parents were fundamentalist Regular Baptists,
historian Dr. Mark A. Noll states that "Lincoln never joined
a church nor ever made a clear profession of standard Christian
belief." Nevertheless, Christian traditions had a profound
effect on Lincoln, as seen in his familiarity with the Bible. Noll
agrees with biographer Jesse Fell that Lincoln rejected orthodox
views on the innate depravity of man, the character and office of
Jesus, the Atonement, the infallibility of the Bible, miracles,
and heaven and hell. Noll argues Lincoln was turned against organized
Christianity by his experiences as a young man who saw how excessive
emotion and bitter sectarian quarrels marked yearly camp meetings
and the ministry of traveling preachers. [34]
When a pious minister told Lincoln he "hoped the Lord is on
our side," the president responded, "I am not at all concerned
about that.... But it is my constant anxiety and prayer that I and
this nation should be on the Lord's side." This anxiety and
religious imagery were prominent in Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address
in March 1865:
“ Both [North and South] read the same Bible, and pray to
the same God; and each invokes His aid against the other. It may
seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance
in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces; but
let us judge not that we be not judged. The prayers of both could
not be answered; that of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty
has His own purposes. ”
In 1846, when Lincoln ran for congress against Peter Cartwright,
the noted evangelist, Cartwright tried to make Lincoln's religion
or lack of it a major issue of the campaign. Responding to accusations
that he was an "infidel" (atheist), Lincoln defended himself,
without denying that specific charge, by publishing a hand-bill
in which he stated:
“ That I am not a member of any Christian church is true;
but I have never denied the truth of the Scriptures; and I have
never spoken with intentional disrespect of religion in general,
or of any denomination of Christians in particular....I do not think
I could myself be brought to support a man for office whom I knew
to be an open enemy of, or scoffer at, religion. [35] ”
As Carl Sandburg recounts in Abraham Lincoln: The Prairie Years,
Lincoln attended one of Cartwright's revival meetings. At the conclusion
of the service, the fiery pulpiteer called for all who intended
to go to heaven to please rise. Naturally, the response was heartening.
Then he called for all those who wished to go to hell to stand.
Not many takers. Lincoln had responded to neither option. Cartwright
closed in. "Mr. Lincoln, you have not expressed an interest
in going to either heaven or hell. May I enquire as to where you
do plan to go?" Lincoln replied: "I did not come here
with the idea of being singled out, but since you ask, I will reply
with equal candor. I intend to go to Congress."
Presidential appointments
Administration and Cabinet
Lincoln was known for appointing his political rivals to high positions
in his Cabinet to keep in line all factions of his party —
and to let them battle each other and not combine against Lincoln.
Historians agree that except for Cameron, it was a highly effective
group.
Portrait of Abraham Lincoln
Office Name Term
President Abraham Lincoln 1861–1865
Vice President Hannibal Hamlin 1861–1865
Andrew Johnson 1865
Secretary of State William H. Seward 1861–1865
Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase 1861–1864
William P. Fessenden 1864–1865
Hugh McCulloch 1865
Secretary of War Simon Cameron 1861–1862
Edwin M. Stanton 1862–1865
Attorney General Edward Bates 1861–1864
James Speed 1864–1865
Postmaster General Montgomery Blair 1861–1864
William Dennison 1864–1865
Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles 1861–1865
Secretary of the Interior Caleb B. Smith 1861–1862
John P. Usher 1863–1865
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