[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 3]
[Senate]
[Pages 3957-3958]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               CELEBRATING THE LEGACY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN

  Mr. ENSIGN. Mr. President, since 1915, an oil portrait of Abraham 
Lincoln has hung in the chambers of the Nevada Assembly. The painting 
of our 16th President serves as a reminder of Nevada's entrance to the 
Union during his remarkable administration and of the special place his 
leadership will always hold in our State's history.
  I want to pay tribute today to that man who rose to the highest 
office in our country at one of the most turbulent times in our 
history. He is an example to all of a good, decent, honorable man, who 
contributed more to the freedom we cherish today than we may ever fully 
understand.
  February 12 was the 198th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth in a 
log cabin in Kentucky. We all learned about ``Honest Abe'' in grade 
school and his role in guiding this Nation through the Civil War.
  But at the very essence of Abraham Lincoln was a man of great 
conviction who showed incomparable humility, a tested sense of 
morality, and an ability to rise above personal pettiness. Learning 
about Abraham Lincoln's life is a humbling lesson in leadership.
  He was self-educated and had none of the advantages of a formal 
education. He taught himself the law and never stopped learning along 
the way. Whether it was studying history, philosophy, or military 
strategy, what Lincoln lacked in classroom time, he made up for in 
focus and determination.
  And while moral fiber can be taught, that doesn't mean it will have 
its desired effect. It is said that trials don't build character, they 
reveal it. Abraham Lincoln had so many trials. His tremendous character 
was revealed time and again. The stories are endless, but I want to 
share a few examples of what a giant of a man President Lincoln really 
was.
  During his days practicing law, Lincoln would often ride the legal 
circuit, which meant that he traveled with a band of lawyers and judges 
across Illinois to try cases in every corner of the State. Lincoln was 
admired and loved by his colleagues for his skill as a lawyer, and his 
gift for telling stories was legendary. It was during this time that 
fellow lawyers noted Lincoln's heartfelt conviction that no man was 
better than he. One lawyer pointed out:

       He arrogated to himself no superiority over anyone. . . .

  This sense of equality would remain consistent throughout Lincoln's 
life--as a man and a public servant--and would extend to other 
character strengths he exhibited. Lincoln was humble--to an astonishing 
degree. In 1855, Lincoln withdrew his name for a seat in the U.S. 
Senate. Although he had the greater number of votes, it became apparent 
that, if either he or the other anti-slavery candidate did not succumb, 
the cause of slavery would be the true victor. Much to the dismay of 
his loyal supporters, Lincoln advised the floor manager to drop his 
name, handing Lyman Trumball the win. Lincoln showed no hard feelings 
and shook Trumball's hand at his victory party.
  Six months later, Lincoln suffered another blow to his morale when he 
believed that he was part of an important patent test case. Unbeknownst 
to him, he was not part of the case, but he continued to prepare as if 
he were. When he approached the lawyers involved with the case, one of 
them, Edwin Stanton, drew the other aside and asked why he had brought 
the ``. . . long armed Ape here . . . he does not know any thing and 
can do you no good.'' Stanton treated Lincoln poorly in the days that 
followed, but six years later, Lincoln asked Stanton to be his 
Secretary of War.
  Lincoln's ability to put aside such losses--which for most people 
would be terrible ego blows--was inspiring. Not only did he move 
forward, but he wasn't blinded by hate or rage and he didn't seek 
revenge. Instead, he recognized the need to surround himself with the 
best people who would make the greatest contributions to the mission at 
hand.
  Lincoln's decision on who would join his cabinet was the perfect 
example of what his assistant, John Nicolay, described as ``one of 
great courage and self-reliance.'' Lincoln did not fill these positions 
with friends and loyal supporters who would agree with him and thought 
as he did. According to Lincoln:

       We needed the strongest men of the party in the Cabinet. We 
     needed to hold our own people together. I had looked the 
     party over and concluded that these were the very strongest 
     men. Then I had no right to deprive the country of their 
     services.

  It took great strength of character to understand that--especially 
when three of those men were his rivals for the Republican nomination 
for the presidency. These men: William Seward, Salmon Chase, and Edward 
Bates, were stunned by their losses to Lincoln in the primary and each 
maintained that he was the best man for the post well after their 
losses. When Lincoln embraced them for the cabinet positions, they 
still looked down on him as the lesser choice for president. However, 
Lincoln was wonderfully gifted at transforming rivals to admirers.
  Seward, who Lincoln named his Secretary of State, slowly came to 
recognize the President's strong leadership abilities. He called the 
President's nobility ``almost superhuman.'' Seward was not alone.
  But not everyone grew gradually fond of the President, as many saw 
his promise and brilliance immediately. Nevada's first senator William 
Stewart, whose seat I occupy today, described Lincoln's greatness.


[[Page 3958]]

       President Lincoln was the greatest man this hemisphere has 
     produced. Without schooling he wrote the best English; 
     without education in rhetoric or logic he was the most 
     conclusive reasoner; without the slightest pretension to 
     oratory he was the most persuasive speaker of his time. He 
     was the kindest, most benevolent and humane man of his 
     generation. Whoever may be second as a scholar, as a 
     statesman and as a friend of humanity, Lincoln must be first.

  Lincoln also touched the hearts of the soldiers who served under him. 
After one of his many visits to the troops on the battlefield, one 
soldier wrote home that as the President passed them, his smile ``was a 
real reflection of his honest, kindly, heart; but deeper, under the 
surface of that marked and not all uncomely face, were the unmistakable 
signs of care and anxiety . . . In fact, his popularity in the army is 
and has been universal.''
  Lincoln's honest, kindly heart--that the soldier referenced--was also 
apparent in his loyalty and willingness to take responsibility for his 
actions. Lincoln would not let a subordinate take the fall for a 
decision he had made. In 1862, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton was the 
victim of an especially aggressive, brutal personal attack. He was 
accused of not providing all the backup troops to counter what turned 
out to be a battle of great loss to the Union. Lincoln took the 
unprecedented step of convening a Union meeting with all the government 
departments. The audience, gathered in front of the Capitol, was 
comparable in size to that of a crowd at an inauguration. He explained 
that, ``The Secretary of War is not to blame for not giving when he had 
none to give. I believe he is a brave and able man, and I stand here, 
as justice requires me to do, to take upon myself what has been charged 
on the Secretary of War.'' What a humbling story. This is what Harry 
Truman meant when he said, ``The buck stops here.''
  Equal to his loyalty was Abraham Lincoln's courage. The Emancipation 
Proclamation was described by one supporter as ``. . . the greatest act 
of justice, statesmanship, and civilization, of the last four hundred 
years.'' The Executive Order, signed by President Lincoln, declared the 
freedom of all slaves in those areas of the rebellious Confederacy that 
had not already returned to Union control. By the summer of 1865, an 
estimated four million slaves had been freed. Hannah Johnson, the 
mother of a Northern Black soldier, wrote to President Lincoln about 
the Emancipation Proclamation, stating:

       When you are dead and in Heaven, in a thousand years that 
     action of yours will make the Angels sing your praises.

  No doubt there are angels still singing, just 144 years later.
  Lincoln never considered himself a champion for the slave. His 
priority was upholding and defending the Union and the Constitution 
upon which it stood. However, it was his vision and steady leadership 
that ultimately brought down slavery in the United States. With this 
transformation also came the respect and admiration of black 
abolitionist Frederick Douglass. Douglass has been a frequent critic of 
the President's, trashing him publicly many times. However, the two 
agreed on the need to recruit and build black regiments to fight in the 
war. It was a controversial move, but Lincoln understood the impact 
that the soldiers would have on the rebellion. Douglass went to the 
White House to meet with Lincoln about some of the inequalities among 
black and white soldiers. Just as he had won over countless rivals in 
the past, Lincoln's ``humane spirit,'' as Douglass called it, won him 
over as well. The two formed a relationship, and Douglass came to 
greatly admire Abraham Lincoln.
  I wanted to talk about Abraham Lincoln because there is a timeless 
lesson in his style of leadership and his moral fiber. Today, we face a 
politically divided government and country. However, the issues are not 
as dire as the Civil War that took the lives of what today would be 
five million people. The United States is not on the brink of 
extinction. But we have an opportunity to rise above the political 
games and the pettiness to make progress on some of the major issues 
facing our Nation. We should all strive to show some of the humility, 
moral conviction, courage, and honesty by which Abraham Lincoln lived 
his life. This Nation paid a grave price in the name of freedom under 
his watch. Not only did freedom survive but it flourished, and he led 
us to new and greater heights.
  Abraham Lincoln lost his life in the name of that freedom. After 
being shot in the back of the head, Lincoln struggled for 9 hours 
between life and death. The Nation--north and south--mourned for this 
beloved man, but those most inconsolable were the men who had first 
been Lincoln's rivals and who had later become his closest friends and 
advisors. There is no greater praise than that of Secretary of War 
Edwin Stanton whose tribute from Lincoln's deathbed has proven true, 
``Now he belongs to the ages.''
  President Lincoln told an Ohio regiment in 1864:

       It is not merely for to-day, but for all time to come that 
     we should perpetuate for our children's children this great 
     and free government, which we have enjoyed all our lives.

  I invite my colleagues to join me in honoring the legacy of one of 
our greatest Presidents by working together and challenging each other 
to lead as he did.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. OBAMA. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Cantwell). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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