What did Presidents Say? #3

 

    In his Inaugural Address, President Ronald Reagan spoke of the importance of the orderly transfer of authority as called for in our Constitution.  Perhaps few of us then stop to think how unique we really are.  In the eyes of many in the world, this every-four year ceremony we accept as normal is nothing less than a miracle.    

 Reagan continued, "Mr. President, I want our fellow citizens to know how much you did to carry on this tradition.  By your gracious cooperation in the transition process, you have shown a watching world that we are a united people which guarantees individual liberty to a greater degree than any other, and I thank you and your people for all your help in maintaining the continuity which is the bulwark of our republic." 

What many may have forgotten and perhaps more have never known is that rumors still exist that the amazing release of American prisoners, which President Carter had struggled to achieve, was surprisingly accomplished moments after Reagan was sworn into office.  How that happened isn't the point in this blog.  The far more important thing that we know is that both men moved on to do what was best for the Nation.  Whatever background negotiations did or did not occur, both presidents worked together to achieve a peaceful transition of power, not only assisting as Reagan acknowledged but also publicly shaking hands and appearing at the traditional ceremony.

    It may come as a surprise to many Americans to learn that in the past there was less hurry to get the newly elected Presidents into office than there is today.  It was not until 1933 that the 20th amendment moved the ending of the terms of office from March to January.  In addition, it was The Presidential Transition Act of 1963 that provided mechanisms to facilitate an orderly and peaceful transition of power.

Today major-party presidential candidates receive national security briefings once their nomination is formalized by their party.  Just after the presidential election the president elect is informed of the lists of over 9,000 federal civil service leadership and support political appointment positions to review, and fill or confirm.  Normally, there are Transition Teams who begin vetting positions to fill the new administration.  For those of us who have never come near such an overwhelming task, it is hard to imagine, even with the cooperation of both the outgoing and the incoming Presidents and their staff working together.  Yet, for the good of the nation, most Presidents put their own feelings aside and do what is best for the nation.  To fail to do so jeopardizes all of us.

    Let me share another example of someone who did what he thought was right.  Some of you may remember the hanging-chad problem of 2000.   The outcome of the election came down to one state's election results, where the accuracy of the vote count was uncertain.  In addition to the confusing alignment of where to punch your vote, the Florida "butterfly ballot" also sometimes failed to clearly function, leaving those counting votes to "guess" what was an intended punch. Perhaps complicating it even more were the number of candidates on the ballots, a total of 10, although only two were close. 

Florida butterfly ballot

To make it worse, in terms of "how things looked" was the fact that one of the candidates was the son of a former President and the brother of the state's Governor with the hanging-chad problem,  To cap that off, the Secretary of State who certified the winner was that candidate's co-chair of his campaign.  Those things made it even more difficult not to question the potential bias in the counting.

When the Secretary of State announced the victor, the Democrats sued for a recount.  The circuit court ruled against the recount, but the Florida Supreme Court reversed, agreeing to the need for a recount.  Ultimately, it went to the U.S. Supreme Court, where it was decided on a 5-4 vote, that any other means of a recount could not be decided in a timely manner.  Although the Supreme Court did not decide the election directly, it did so indirectly, by ruling there was no time for a recount.  The fact that the vote was decided on party lines--the 5 republican appointees majority deciding the case, with the 4 democrat appointees in the minority, making it seem that there was a political bias, whether there was or not.  

Yet, Al Gore honored the court's decision, setting an example to the nation.  As a further act to maintain acceptance, both the out-going Vice-President Gore and the out-going President Clinton attended the inaugural ceremony, publicly acknowledging the authenticity of the new president and vice president.  American citizens accepted the Supreme Court's decision, not necessarily because they liked it or agreed with it, or even thought it was right but because we are a nation of laws, and by example both outgoing President Clinton and Democratic nominee and Vice-President Gore set the example of how our democracy works.   

Most, although not all presidents, not only accept the outcome but also participate in the smooth transition from one president to the newly elected president not only because a lack of a smooth transition puts the safety of the nation at risk but also because they respect the Constitution. Being chosen as president is a responsibility, not a gift.  Under our constitution it is a responsibility to all of us as well, to accept the rule of law.  Yes, there have been a few poor Losers in our history who have avoided the swearing-in but most have honored that responsibility.  As Lincoln said, "In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow countrymen, is the momentous issue...We are not enemies, but friends.  We must not be enemies.  Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection."  Our Constitution will endure, but we the people have the responsibility to protect and defend it from harm, foreign or domestic.  That is what we must all remember.  

If you would like to share the research I have done in preparing the 3 blogs "What did Presidents Say? feel free to share them.  

    

The Confusion of the News

    It seems lately that too many of the lawyers on television aren't necessarily the best examples of the profession.  You may have asked yourself why any honest person would want to be a lawyer.  To counter some of the impressions those lawyers may have given you, let me begin with a quote from Abraham Lincoln:  "Let reverence for the laws, be breathed by every American mother, to the lisping babe, that prattles in her lap--let it be taught in schools, in seminaries, and in colleges;  let it be written in Primers, spelling books, and in almanacs, let it be preached from the pulpit, proclaimed in legislative halls, and enforced in courts of justice."  Obviously, Lincoln saw the need to educate all Americans of the meaning and importance of our laws.

Quoting Lincoln again:  "Let every American, every lover of liberty, every well-wisher to his posterity, swear by the blood of the revolution, never to violate in the least particular, the laws of the country; and never to tolerate their violation by others."

Today, on television and the internet there are lawyers who purport to express their legal opinions, and there are non-lawyers who also express their opinions about the law, and there are those who express their opinions as if it were the law...  There are also those who are lawyers that  intentionally misrepresent the law.  What is a person to do in such a world of information and misinformation?

Lincoln's advice that all Americans learn to revere our laws and know what they say so we are less easily hood-winked is great advice.  I will also add some excellent advice from Barbara Jordan: "It is reason, and not passion, which must guide our deliberations, guide our debate, and guide our decisions."  

I will add my own opinion about those whom I generally disregard.  Those who shout, who call others names. who refuse to listen to anyone else's ideas are unlikely to gain my respect.  It seems to me that if you have a good idea to share, the best way to do that is a respectful conversation.

Should you judge lawyers by the clients they represent?  Sometimes, but not necessarily.  If ethical lawyers represented only the innocent, we would no longer be able to uphold our American belief that those accused are to be considered innocent until found guilty.  People would quickly learn who represented the good guys and who represented the bad guys, and the presumption of innocence would mean nothing!  

Just as lawyers gain reputations through their conduct, so also do news reporters.  Those of you old enough may remember the CBS evening news moderator, so widely respected that he was often referred to as "Uncle Walter."  In that era of television reporting, it was expected that the news would be delivered without bias, well checked before it was aired.  

Today the goal seems to be post "Breaking News" first, with less emphasis on accuracy and getting the full content.  That race to get the news first inevitably results in errors and incomplete information.  Just as bad, and maybe worse, is the delivery of  'news' by commentators who make no apology for their bias.  There is a difference between reporting the news and commenting an opinion. 

Dole Institute, copyright Lyn Fenwick

Just as reporters are expected to gather accurate information and report that, lawyers also have ethical requirements.  I have explained why guilty defendants deserve reputable lawyers, and now I will explain the importance for lawyers to follow ethical rules.  Lawyers may not "engage in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation," nor "engage in conduct that is prejudicial to the administration of justice." American Bar Association/Rules of Misconduct

Recently the misconduct of lawyers has been in the news, and unfortunately more such news is likely.  Although a lawyer must defend his client, that does not mean the lawyer may ignore his own responsibilities.  In representing a client, a lawyer cannot "commit a criminal act that reflects adversely on the lawyer's honesty, trust worthiness, or fitness as a lawyer in other respects."  ABA Rules of Misconduct

Civics is no longer taught in many high schools.  It is certainly not "breathed by every American mother [into] her lisping babe" as Lincoln urged.  Many, if not most, Americans have not read the Constitution, nor do they understand the responsibilities of lawyers.  Perhaps in coming days, the brief information in this blog will be helpful in understanding current events.

Kansas Political Roots

 

My Great-grandfather was a Union Soldier, and he served for 3 years.  For the rest of his life, he voted republican, as many Union Soldiers did, for the republican party was the Party of Lincoln, and having served him for those three years as a soldier, it was because of Lincoln that he continued to serve his party.

He passed that tradition down to his son, my Grand-father, who did not serve in the army but who did serve in the Kansas House of Representatives as a republican.

Continuing the family political tradition, my father was also a republican, serving as a County Republican Chairman, and like his ancestors, voting republican.  Although my mother's family voted democrat, Mother accepted the Beck tradition of voting republication when she married my father.

Kansas was populated after the Civil War by many men who had served the Union during the war, taking advantage of a year's credit for each year of service for the Union toward the 5 years required to mature a homestead claim.  Like my Great-grandfather, many, if not most, of those men voted for the rest of their lives for the party of Lincoln, as did their descendants, down to the present time.

I do not know the ancestry of Bob Dole or whether he had ancestors that served in the Civil War.  What I do know is he bravely served his country in W. W. II and that he carried the physical consequences of that service for the rest of his life without bitterness, and with the desire of continuing service for his country.  That service was done as a Republican--in the House, in the Senate, as a Vice-presidential nominee, and as the Republican candidate for President.  His sense of duty to American Soldiers never waned, nor did his loyalty to Lincoln's Party.  In fact, many of his sayings share a strong resemblance to Lincoln's quotes.

Me with Elizabeth & Senator Dole; photo credit: Larry Fenwick

In honor of the passing of Senator Dole, I would like to share some of those similar quotes.

Dole:  "You don't go out and hurt somebody's feelings, we have opponents and not enemies in this business."

Lincoln:  "Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?"

Dole:  "Those who cultivate moral confusion for profit should understand this:  we will name their names and shame them as they deserve to be shamed."

Lincoln:  "You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time."

Dole:  "I think voters believe that when you become president of the United States, you have a higher obligation and a higher standard than anybody in the world, ...and if you violate that standard, they're going to remember it on election day."

Lincoln:  "Character is like a tree and reputation its shadow.  The shadow is what we think it is and the tree is the real thing."

Dole:  "Something is wrong with America.  I wonder sometimes what people are thinking about or if they are thinking at all."

Lincoln:  "America will never be destroyed from the outside.  If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves."

Although Senator Dole's sharp tongue and absolute commitment to the Republican Party sometimes led to criticism, this quote from Dole at the 1996 Republican Convention left no question about the Party in which he believed.

"The Republican Party is broad and inclusive.  It represents many streams of opinion and many points of view.  But if there's anyone who has mistakenly attached themselves to our party in the belief that we are not open to citizens of every race and religion, then let me remind you, tonight this hall belongs to the Party of Lincoln.  And the exits, which are clearly marked, are for you to walk out of as I stand this ground without compromise."

Next Week we Vote

 Next week we vote.  Some of us already have.  A month later my book, Prairie Bachelor, The Story of a Homesteader and the Populist Movement will finally be released.  A decade of research for this book, as well as much of my life as a law student, an attorney, an author, and incidentally as the granddaughter of a member of the Kansas House have obviously focused my attention on our nation and how we govern ourselves. 

Isaac Werner's 480 page journal

Much has changed since my great grandfather, a Union Soldier, took advantage of the benefit of a year's credit toward getting title to his claim for each year he served the Union, in his case, reducing the time it took from five years to prove up a claim to only two.  He was not alone.  Many Union soldiers returned to their former homes and found that opportunities had changed, so they decided to come to Kansas to start a new life.  Their loyalty to Abraham Lincoln, their commander, often influenced the choice of Union soldiers to vote republican, a decision that many, including my own family, passed down through the generations.  I doubt that Kansas remaining a dependable republican state would surprise my great grandfather, but a different political change certainly would--women getting the vote!

My research about the Populist Movement, and the People's Party they created--the most successful 3rd party this nation has ever seen--included many discoveries not only about Kansas but also about Texas, where the populist movement began.  Kansas was slower to the movement, but ultimately became its heart.  Women lacked the vote in both of those states, but they were active in the movement.

Not only have women gained the vote, but in this election, one of our national political parties has chosen a female running mate for it's Presidential nominee. Kansas has a female governor, and both Kansas and Texas have female candidates making a strong challenge to their male political opponent in seeking election as their state's senator in Washington.

Stained glass window, Dole Institute 

Because this is a Presidential election year, as I often do, I have looked to the past to learn what past presidents have said about the responsibilities of the one occupying the highest office Americans have to give.  The words of three of America's presidents follow below:

Lincoln:  "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."

Truman:  "When you get to be President, there are all those things, the honors, the twenty-one gun salutes, all those things.  You have to remember it isn't for you.  It's for the Presidency."

Nixon:  "With all the power that a President has, the most important thing to bear in mind is this:  You must not give power to a man unless, above all else, he has character.  Character is the most important qualification the President of the United States can have." 

The responsibilities thrust upon those who are privileged to hold that office are great, but all of us have an important responsibility as well--to Vote! 

Truth vs. Interpretation

Cicero: Credit, Liam Clarkson-Holborn

For a decade, I have been doing research for my manuscript about the Populist Movement of the late 1800s.  I was fascinated to learn that such a significant event that began with the Farmer's Alliance in Texas and reached its peak with the People's Party in Kansas, (spreading to other states primarily in the South and the Central states), was so quickly forgotten.  The People's Party is the most successful 3rd Party movement in our nation's history; yet, many...perhaps most Americans (except those of you who have followed this blog) are not aware of its importance. Nor, are many Americans aware that their ancestors were participants in this movement.

My focus on a political movement from our past has made me especially aware of how people can receive the same information and interpret it differently.  That makes reasonable political discord challenging.  As satirist  Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) wrote in Gulliver's Travels, it might do a politician some good to "...have half his brain swapped with half the brain of a member of the opposing party."

The Populist Movement and the creation of the People's Party arose very quickly, and it fractured and faded just as quickly, less the result of opposition tactics of the Republicans and Democrats but more from divisions and disagreements within the People's Party itself.  The two old parties succeeded in a sense by implementing some of the Populist ideas, so that the need for a third party to get those things done disappeared.

Those of you who read this blog regularly know that I collect quotes I find particularly thought provoking.  Too often, I jot these quotes down on scraps of paper or whatever writing surface is at hand when I discover the quotes.  Eventually, I copy them into a file on my laptop.  Sometimes, before I get them copied into that file, I end up with quotes from unrelated authors and eras that give particular reason for reflection.  When I found the three that I am sharing today in the back of my desk drawer, they challenged me in exactly that way.

Friedrich Nietzsche - 1861

Two of my great grandfathers were friends of Isaac Werner, whose journal has inspired my manuscript over the past decade.  (A third great grandfather was also an acquaintance but lived outside Isaac's immediate community.)  One of those neighboring great grandfathers was a Union Soldier in the Civil War, and like so many of those soldiers, he came to Kansas and staked his claim with the advantage of crediting his 3 years of military service to reduce the 5 years otherwise required to mature a homestead claim, resulting in only 2 years needed for him.  And, like most Union Soldiers, he voted Republican, the party of Lincoln.  My other great grandfather in Isaac's neighborhood emigrated from England, and at that time had only his wife and two young daughters, the youngest being my grandmother.  A son and another daughter were later added to the family.  He became active in the Populist Movement and supported the People's Party.  One a staunch Republican and the other an active Populist, these two men brought differing political perspectives to their voting during the Populist Movement.  Did those differing perspectives impact their political decisions, and how might they have aligned themselves with the two quotes that follow?  

"What is morally wrong can never be advantageous, even when it enables you to make some gain that you believe to be to your advantage.  The mere fact of believing that some wrongful course of action constitutes an advantage is pernicious."  Marcus Tullius Cicero, (106-43 BCE)

"All things are subject to interpretation, whichever interpretation prevails at a given time is a function of power and not truth."  Friedrich Nietzsche.  

As the quotes of Swift, Cicero, and Nietzsche have shown,--men whose lives span several centuries,--the distinction between how we define "Truth" and "Morality" has been and always will be complex when mixed with politics.

Because today is Flag Day...

Because today is Flag Day, I am adding a bonus post, in addition to my continuing series about "My Antonia."  When my Mother was a little girl, her father teased her about all of the flags flying on her June 14th birthday.  He told her the flags were for her.  I'm not sure she ever really doubted that they were!

In a way, those flags do fly for all of us, and so I post this special Flag Day blog with some wisdom from past Presidents, and one from the United States Supreme Court, to remind us why we honor that glorious symbol of our nation.

The way to secure liberty is to place it in the people's hands, that is, to give them the power at all times to defend it in the legislature and in the courts of justice.  John Adams

A primary object should be the education of our youth in the science of government.  In a republic what species of knowledge can be equally important?  And what duty more pressing than communicating it to those who are to be future guardians of the liberties of the country?  George Washington

We do not consecrate the flag by punishing its desecration, for in doing so we dilute the freedom that this cherished emblem represents.  United States Supreme Court, Texas v. Johnson

America will never be destroyed from the outside.  If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.  Abraham Lincoln

No government is perfect.  One of the chief virtues of a democracy, however, is that its defects are always visible and under democratic processes can be pointed out and corrected.  Harry S. Truman

America has never been united by blood or birth or soil.  We are bound by ideals that move us beyond our backgrounds, lift us above our interests and teach us what it means to be citizens.  George W. Bush

May the wisdom of those words inspire all of us, and long may our flag fly.

How Far is Gettysburg?

Monument at Gettysburg Cemetery

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, is less than one hundred miles from Isaac's hometown of Wernersville, Pennsylvania, the village founded by William Werner, Isaac's father.  (To read more about Isaac's hometown and childhood, go to the blog archives to read "Visit to Wernersville, Feb. 16, 2012; Isaac's Birth & Childhood, Nov. 4, 2011; Isaac's Childhood Church, Feb. 23, 2012.)  Today the distance can be driven in well under two hours, but at the time of the American Civil War, when Isaac and his twin brother Henry were still in their teens, the trip through rugged country would have taken much longer. 

 

Pennsylvania was a Union state, and during the Civil War the commonwealth raised over 360,000 soldiers for the Federal armies, more than any other state except New York, although other states sent a larger proportion of their populations.  Thaddeus Stevens, the senator who played such a pivotal role in the recent movie, "Lincoln," was from Pennsylvania, as were several well-known generals.

 

The map shows the division of states during the Civil War, the Union states indicated in dark blue, the Union states that permitted slavery (so-called 'Border States') in light blue, and the Confederate states in red.  Territories at the time of the War are shown in white.  Yet, lines drawn on a map do not always tell the entire story.  Sympathies of individuals did not always align with those of the states in which they lived, and Pennsylvania was no different from other states in that regard.  In addition, there were many who preferred to avoid military service entirely, if that could be managed.

The exhibit that greets visitors as they enter the Gettysburg Museum lists all the states and the numbers of soldiers that fought from each state.  Each state lists both Union and Confederate soldiers, and it surprises most visitors that large numbers of men and boys chose to disregard the state alignments to serve, instead, the side with whom they agreed.

 

In 1861, when Isaac and his brother Henry were 17-year-old school boys in Wernersville, PA, their teacher was a man named Francis Trout Hoover.  Almost three and a half decades later, their old teacher published a book titled, Enemies in the Rear:  Or, a Golden Circle Squared.  A Story of Southeastern Pennsylvania in the Time of Our Civil War.  This book is a fictionalized account of the division of loyalties among citizens in the fictional village of Haltfest, located in Berks County, PA; however, most believe that Haltfest is a pseudonym for Wernersville.  By the time the book was published, F. T. Hoover lived in Rushville, NY and Isaac was deceased and could not have read his former teacher's book.
 

Statue at the Gettysburg Visitors' Center

In the Preface, F. T. Hoover began his story about draft dodgers and active Southern sympathizers with these words:  "To square the circle, that is, to determine its exact contents in square measure, has generally been held to be impossible; but, as herein appears, the national government solved the famous problem perfectly, at least so far as it related to the Golden Circle of Knights in southeastern Pennsylvania.  And the solution showed the exact contents of this particular Circle to be an admixture, in about equal parts, of ignorance, hypocrisy and treason." 

 

As can be deduced from that beginning, F. T. Hoover did not treat his old village and its citizens in a complimentary way in his book.  People still living at the time of the book's publication, who were personally familiar with the events of their community during the Civil War, recognized specific characters, despite their fictitious names.  While they said that some of Hoover's story was pure fiction, they admitted that much of it was true.  So true, in fact, that someone wrote a book identifying the real people masked in the story by pseudonyms.  According to a local historian, copies of that book are rare, most having been destroyed by people who did not want their family names identified!

 

Canon at Gettysburg Battlefield

F.T. Hoover says in the Preface:  "...during the war the agitation and conflict were not all confined to the army and navy, the capital and the great cities.  Remote districts and obscure country places also felt the great movements and were stirred, though of course in a smaller degree.  And that in such localities many thrilling episodes occurred we can readily believe if we will but remember that in those days there were enrolling officers, drafts, and Knights of the Golden Circle." 

 

We tend to look back at history and see things in precise terms--the Union and the Confederacy.  Yet, then as now things are rarely so sharply defined.  The opinions and actions of some people fit the extremes of inflexible black and white, but experience shows that the opinions and attitudes of most people fall in shades of gray rather than absolutes.

The pain and suffering of the Civil War were the result of Americans thinking they could not work

together to resolve disagreements.  Enough Americans believed the differences were so great that the nation should be divided, but President Lincoln never believed that the South had the legal right to secede.  The flag of the United States from 1861-1863 retained all its stars throughout the war, adding a new star for the state of West Virginia.  The Union was preserved.

Francis Trout Hoover wrote his book "to deepen the interest of the present generation in the history" so that we would never again fall into the trap of Ignorance, Hypocrisy, and Treason.  I would add a fourth danger, warning us never to succumb to the arrogance of believing our generation is smarter than the Founding Fathers and over 200 years of history.

(If you wish to read Francis Trout Hoover's book, Enemies in the Rear:  Or, a Golden Circle Squared," about this little known slice of history during the Civil War, you can find several publishers of F.T. Hoover's novel in the form of 'books on demand' at amazon.com.) 

Who reads Shakespeare?

Visit to Shakespeare's Birthplace

I cannot answer who reads Shakespeare today, but in the 1800s many people did, and  Isaac Werner was certainly among those readers.  On December 31, 1870, he wrote in his journal:  "The following works I long to possess...in the course of time to possess them all, and arranged in my library...Clark's Concordona to Shakespeare and some future time also one of the very best large editions of Shakespeare, and so we can cultivate deeper familiarity with authors the more we long to read their works and see the best we can the individuals themselves."  On January 4, 1871 he recorded in his journal having ordered that book, along with Wealth of Nations, Don Quixote, Wharton's History of English Poetry, and several others.   

 

Isaac was unusual among many boys of that era, for at the age of 17 he and his twin brother were still attending school in Wernersville, PA where they were raised.  Clearly, he had received more education than many of his peers.  However, as a young druggist in Rossville, IL he chose to spend much of his income acquiring a personal library and continuing his learning.  (See blog post "Isaac's Library, February 2, 2012)  For the rest of his life he enjoyed Shakespeare, describing in his journal during his years as a homesteader on the prairie many evenings spent reading Shakespeare.

On January 26, 1871, Isaac recorded the list of books he had ordered, including the prices he had paid for them.  Clark's Concordona to Shakespeare was the second most expensive of all the books, at $11.25.  (Don Quixote cost $12.)  To put this cost into context, I researched average earnings in 1870.  According to ask.com, the average yearly income for 1870 was $129.  According to a book no longer in print titled the National Bureau of Economic Research, hourly wages that year ranged between 17 and 41 cents per hour.  Can you imagine wanting a book so badly that you would spend 12% of your annual income to buy it?! 

Title Page to Shakespeare's 1st Folio

Isaac was not alone in his love of Shakespeare.  According to Abraham Lincoln's aide, John Hay, President Lincoln "read Shakespeare more than all other writers together."  We even know which of Shakespeare's plays was Lincoln's favorite, for in 1863 he wrote a letter to Shakespearean actor James Hackett saying, "I think nothing equals Macbeth.  It is wonderful."  Ironically, following Lincoln's assassination the murder of King Duncan in that play was often compared to Lincoln's own death.

For many children of that era--as families pushed westward and often lived on isolated farms or struggled beside their parents just to survive--formal education was not possible.  If these children learned to read and write, they had to learn at home, and often the only books from which to learn were the Bible and Shakespeare--if they were lucky.

One of my favorite quotes from a child of this historic period describing his discovery of the works of Shakespeare comes from the famous lecturer, Robert Ingersoll, who was not so lucky as Lincoln to have Shakespeare in his home.  Ingersoll was in his teens, already on his own in search of work when he heard an old man reading aloud in a small hotel.  He was "filled with wonder," and when everyone left the room for supper, Ingersoll lagged behind to read the title of what the man had been reading, too ashamed to have simply asked the man when he felt the book must be something "an intelligent boy ought to know."  The book was Samuel Johnson's edition of Shakespeare.  Poor and getting by through traveling to offer himself for work wherever it could be found, Ingersoll spent $4 of his meager earnings for his own copy of the book the next morning!  Years later, this is what he wrote about the experience.  "For days, for nights, for months, for years, I read those books, two volumes, and I commenced with the introduction.  I haven't read that introduction for nearly fifty years, certainly forty-five, but I remember it still.  Other writers are like a garden diligently planted and watered, but Shakespeare a forest where the oaks and elms toss their branches to the storm, where the pine towers, where the vine bursts into blossoms at its foot.  That book opened to me a new world, another nature..."

Tableaux recreating scene from Shakespeare's era

How many of us today have read Shakespeare since one or two of his plays were assigned to us in high school?  Perhaps that is because Shakespeare's plays were written to be performed, and as a result, they are better heard than read silently.  The plays are still performed, and many have been adapted for the screen.  Romeo and Juliet may have been adapted more than any other, including George Cukor's 1936 adaptation in which the main characters, Norma Shearer and Leslie Howard, had a combined age of 75!  The beautiful 1968 adaptation by Franco Zeffirelli, that attracted many young fans to Shakespeare, cast teenagers Leonard Whiting as Romeo and Olivia Hussey as the Juliet that I will forever picture in my mind.  For the younger MTV generation, Baz Luhrmann's 1996 version cast Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Dane as the young lovers.

Shakespeare Theater in Ashland, OR

Sometimes movie versions are inspired by Shakespeare's plays rather than being adaptations.  Two hugely popular movies based on Shakespeare's plays are West Side Story, based on Romeo and Juliet, and The Lion King, based on Hamlet. 

Sadly for Isaac, there is no indication that I have found that he ever saw Shakespeare performed, but he read it with friends and he read it alone.  He, like many other great men of that era and since, elevated their minds by reading Shakespeare.  If you have a dusty volume of Shakespeare on a bookcase somewhere, you might consider pulling it off the shelf to read something young men were once willing to spend money earned with days of sweat and toil to buy a challenging book. 

To read a wonderful analysis of Lincoln's interest in Shakespeare you may visit www.abrahamlincolnsclassroom.org/Library/newsletter.asp?ID=21&CRLI=101.