The Lincoln Forum is one the newer
national groups dedicated to the study of our 16th President.
Founded in 1995, it meets regularly each November in Gettysburg,
Pennsylvania, in conjunction with other events long established
to commemorate the anniversary of the Gettysburg Address. Several
addresses from these functions have been gathered into a new book,
The Lincoln Forum: Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg and the Civil
War, edited by John Y. Simon, Harold Holzer and William D.
Pederson. This slim volume contains essays by Sandra Day O'Connor,
Richard N. Current, Harold Holzer, Edna Greene Medford, John Y.
Simon and Frank J. Williams. Frank Williams penned the Forward
and William C. Davis an introduction.
In "The Anniversary of Lincoln at Gettysburg" Supreme
Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor addresses Lincoln's suspension
of the writ of habeas corpus. Her essay begins with a brief overview
of the history of habeas corpus, and how it was adopted and applied
in the United States. O'Connor then moves on to what prompted
Lincoln to suspend the writ, and more importantly, whether he
used the suspension judiciously. O'Connor agrees with Mark E.
Neely, the author of The Fate of Liberty: Abraham Lincoln and
Civil Liberties (NY: Oxford University Press, 1991) that Lincoln
did not use the suspension to silence political opponents, but
rather used it as a means to protect the military and national
security interests of a nation at war. In her thoughtful essay,
Justice O'Connor uses the arrest of Clement Vallandigham and the
suspension of the Chicago Times as examples of Lincoln's restraint
in using the suspension as a political tool.
In 1958, Richard Nelson Current presented a touchstone of Lincoln
studies in the form of an essay, "The Lincoln Nobody Knows."
This theme, eventually expanded into a full book-length treatment,
has been revisited by this renown Lincoln scholar several times
in his distinguished career. The most recent reexamination occurs
in this book as "He's Still The Lincoln Nobody Knows."
Current takes a historiographical look at five issues in light
of recent Lincoln studies, particularly those by Philip Paludan
(The Presidency of Abraham Lincoln, Lawrence : University
of Kansas Press, 1994), David Donald (Lincoln, NY: Simon
and Schuster, 1995) and Gore Vidal (Lincoln: A Novel, NY:
Random House, 1984). Current examines whether William. H. Herndon
was right about Lincoln's love life; whether Lincoln was an effective
as a Commander-in-Chief; how Lincoln is viewed as a sort of "dictator";
whether Lincoln deserves the appellation of "Great Emancipator";
and finally, what sort of ranking Lincoln deserves when compared
to other Chief Executives. Current casts a broad net in addressing
these issues, and professes to "know" the true answers
to these issues. Unfortunately, he does not venture to share his
insights, because if he did, he would open himself to a fullslide
of contrary opinions.
In "Lincoln's Flat Failure: The Gettysburg Myth Revisited,"
Harold Holzer reexamines several persistent myths surrounding
Lincoln's immortal Gettysburg Address. Holzer reviews the story
that the speech was written on the Presidential train en route
to Gettysburg. The author also explores the myth that Lincoln's
address was not well received by the audience at Gettysburg. The
notion that the address was not well received, says Holzer, can
be traced back to two main sources. The first is the nature of
reporting in newspapers of the day, and the second is the story
from Ward. H. Lamon that Lincoln himself felt that the speech
was a failure. Holzer's arguments are compelling and he succeeds
in dispelling these persistent myths.
Edna Greene Medford, in her essay, "'Beckoning Them to the
Dreamed of Promise and Freedom': African-Americans and Lincoln's
Proclamation of Emancipation," disputes the work of theorists
who have take up the manta that emancipation occurred due to the
phenomena of self-emancipation rather than through Lincoln's proclamation.
Medford suggests that African-Americans saw the Emancipation Proclamation
as more than a vehicle for freedom, but also as a promise of citizenship
and a true sense of belonging to the nation. People of color recognized
the limitations of the Emancipation Proclamation, but placed their
hope in the fact that their willingness to actively fight in the
cause of their freedom would win them equal representation in
government and society as a whole.
The final two essays address Abraham Lincoln's reaction to Union
victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg, and Lincoln's feeling that
these events could have heralded the end of the war. In "Lincoln,
Grant and Meade: Vicksburg and Gettysburg in Retrospect,"
John Y. Simon examines these two Union victories and Lincoln's
reactions to the generals who directed each battle. While both
struggles resulted in victory for the Union, the process of the
battles were quite dissimilar. While the taking the Vicksburg
involved many months of maneuvering and a lengthy siege, Gettysburg
was a relatively short affair lasting but a few days. Lincoln's
response and overall satisfaction in the general who led the Union
armies to these victories were also quite different. Ulysses S.
Grant, who captured Vicksburg, was hailed as a hero. However,
Lincoln was disappointed in his commander at Gettysburg, George
G. Meade. Lincoln's dissatisfaction with Meade was not due to
the course of the battle itself, but with the perception that
Meade did not follow up his success with a final pursuit and a
crushing of Lee's retreating army.
Lincoln's assessment of Meade's lack of movement on the Confederate
army is the subject of the final essay of the book, "Abraham
Lincoln, Puppet Master: The President and General George Gordon
Meade, an Evolving Commander in Chief" by Frank Williams.
Williams contends that Lincoln's disappointment in Meade was unfair.
Meade, the author states, was in a better position to judge the
condition of his army and its ability to pursue the Confederates.
Meade had in fact drawn up a plan to follow the rebels, but could
not implement it before Lee crossed the Potomac River. To further
confound the general in the field, there were conflicting messages
from Gen. Henry Halleck in Washington. Williams contends that,
in time, Lincoln came to accept that Meade's actions were appropriate,
and that perhaps the President's expectations were set too high.
The essays contained in The Lincoln Forum: Abraham Lincoln,
Gettysburg and the Civil War offer a unique and interesting
glimpses of Lincoln as President and Commander-in-Chief, and would
make a worthy contribution to any Lincoln Library
Daniel Pearson
Beaver Dam, WI
