The Glory of Their Deeds

February 15, 2010 marks President's Day, a day set aside to honor the lives and legacies of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Often considered our two greatest chief executives, their stories have been told and retold in classrooms, village squares and in untold historical volumes.

Washington towered above all of the other founding fathers, figuratively and literally. At full height standing six foot three, the powerful patriarch cast an imposing shadow upon even the greatest of men, in every way. In essence, Washington was great because he was a servant - he answered the call of his nation time and time again, willingly giving away his own desires for his countrymen's needs. The great general and statesman was a natural born leader who blazed a trail through the frontier of freedom and millions have followed in his path. Continuously, he gave sacrificially of himself and risked his very life for the glorious cause of liberty. More than any other, he pledged to his countrymen his life, his fortune, and his sacred honor, the last of which was his most prized possession.

In giving of self so completely, in giving everything to his nation, in offering all to his fellow American, Washington has risen to near god like status, soaring upward in apotheosis upon the dome of freedom itself. His contemporaries revered him, knowing that he was the "indispensable man." Without him, the nation would have surely died in the womb of liberty, stillborn, leaving the world devoid of the nation child which would grow to bring national and individual freedom based on eternal truth to a world in bondage. The great Washington even gave in his death - his will decreed that upon the death of his beloved Martha, his slaves would be cared for and given their freedom.

If given the charge to choose one event from Washington's life to share on this anniversary day, one is given a nearly impossible task. Would it be his miraculous escape from enemy attack in the wilderness fighting of the French and Indian war; his willingness to lead an untested army of citizen soldiers against the greatest military force in the world, subsisting them initially with his own money; his driving of the British from Boston; his escape from Brooklyn in the providential fog; his determination to maintain his army in the crucible of ice that was Valley Forge; his audacious Christmas attack in a blinding sleet and snow storm across river and land to gain a freedom saving victory at Trenton; his farewell speech to his men at Fraunces Tavern; his laying down of power through the resigning of his commission at Annapolis; his presiding over the Constitutional Convention; his precedent setting first presidency and the timeless wisdom of his farewell address to the nation all come to mind.

This writer's choice is none of these. Instead, it is a little known event that perhaps best explains why the father of our country is so beloved, why he is first in the grateful hearts of his countrymen. Washington was so good, and so great, we have tended to place him upon a pedestal. Indeed, his memory and legacy should be held high for the world to see; however, we should never forget that he was of flesh and blood and not marble and bronze. He struggled with his temper, he grew tired and weary, he worried, he loved, he cried, and he lost.

My remembrance is of the man and of a moment of joy that I would have given almost anything to witness. It occurred near Chester, Pa. Washington had moved his army southward to help encircle the British against the sea near Yorktown. Washington was waiting anxiously for word regarding French Admiral De Grasse and his fleet. If De Grasse's fleet could outsail the British and close the trap by sea at the mouth of the Chesapeake, Cornwallis would have to surrender and independence would surely be won.

A group of French officers approached Chester by boat to join Washington. As they approached the dock, they saw a tall officer in blue jumping up and down, waving his hat in one hand and a handkerchief in the other. As they drew closer, one remarked that it appeared to be His Excellency, General Washington, but of course, that was not possible, for they knew the general to be of a serious nature. Incredibly, however, it was the general, who was not only jumping and waving, but shouting at the top of his voice, 'De Grasse, De Grasse. His fleet is in the Chesapeake!" One French officer recorded that "a child whose every wish had been granted could not have expressed a sensation more lively. His deportment had all changed." One could not then, nor perhaps now, imagine in his wildest dreams, a scene so spontaneously joyful and vivid as the stoic General Washington leaping with glee upon a dock - but it happened...


It is said that more words have been written regarding the life of Abraham Lincoln than an other historical figure apart from Jesus Christ. Ironic, in that Lincoln is known in his own momentous writings for the brevity of his language; yet, in that brevity lies a power that has reached across the centuries - the power of eternal truth and universal freedom.

When considering the life and legacy of our sixteenth president, one cannot but be impressed by the distance traveled and the obstacles overcome as he traversed the path God laid out for him. Each of us is given a course to run in life - it is ours uniquely, to be sure, but equally certain is the truth that we do not run it alone. The Almighty, in His providential goodness, watches over us, guides, and directs, blessing us constantly with helping hands, loving hearts, and signposts of His ever faithful provision. During his presidency, Abraham Lincoln, more than at any other time in his life, sought the wisdom and counsel of the Almighty, placing his will in the will of His heavenly Father:

"I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for that day."

"The will of God prevails. In great contests each party claims to act in accordance with the will of God. Both may be, and one must be, wrong. God cannot be for and against the same thing at the same time. In the present civil war it is quite possible that God's purpose is something different from the purpose of either party -- and yet the human instrumentalities, working just as they do, are of the best adaptation to effect His purpose. I am almost ready to say that this is probably true -- that God wills this contest, and wills that it shall not end yet. By his mere great power, on the minds of the now contestants, He could have either saved or destroyed the Union without a human contest. Yet the contest began. And, having begun He could give the final victory to either side any day. Yet the contest proceeds."

Abraham Lincoln's course was long and arduous. From the most barren of places on a frontier plain, he rose to the highest office of his country, only to see that country torn down because of his rising. From simple beginnings, he walked with determined step and determined mind to encounter, engage, and extinguish the most vexing questions in our history - questions, which if answered wrongly, would have led the great experiment in American self-government to failure.
The great man is purported to have said of difficulties,

"When great problems arise, I like to pull them up by the roots, and dry them by the fires of my mind."

Hearkening back to his youthful days on the farm when plants from the garden would be pulled and placed before the hearth and patiently dried until ready, Lincoln gives us a picture of the slow, methodical musings of his mind. Only when the process was fully completed would the product be prepared for consumption.
Many and great are the accomplishments of this good and noble man. In four short, yet never-ending years, he led lady liberty out from among the catacombs, through the labyrinth of civil suffering and sacrifice, until she reached the sun drenched land of her new birth of freedom. This was his greatest accomplishment - to save his nation in such a way that it was worthy of the saving. As he eloquently stated,

"In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free - honorable alike in what we give, and what we preserve. We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best hope of earth. Other means may succeed; this could not fail. The way is plain, peaceful, generous, just - a way which, if followed, the world will forever applaud, and God must forever bless."

America, the last, best hope of earth, was nobly saved. More than anything else, it was saved because Abraham Lincoln refused to surrender, refused to compromise, refused to ignore the eternal truth embedded in the Declaration of Independence:

"...that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

This eternal, absolute truth, from the nature of God unto human nature, guarantees to ALL men, all people, everywhere and always, inherent blessings and rights that cannot be altered with our stubby pencils and stubborn hearts. They have been etched into every heart and life by the very finger of the Almighty - Abraham Lincoln believed this and believed that this nation should throw off her sin and her hypocracy and truly live it, and give it, to all of God's children, not only of this nation, but of every nation, for all future time. Every American, every person, should be forever, profoundly grateful to this singular figure upon the canvas of history - the quintessential champion of human freedom.
At the age of twenty three, Abraham Lincoln said:

"Every man is said to have his peculiar ambition. Whether it be true or not, I can say for one that I have no other so great as that of being truly esteemed of my fellow men, by rendering myself worthy of their esteem. How far I shall succeed in gratifying this ambition, is yet to be developed."

Lincoln had a recurring dream in which he was sailing upon an indistinct ship through a foggy mist toward an unknown and mysterious shore. Perhaps this vision was an outcropping of his uncertainty regarding whether he was fulfilling his ambition to be esteemed by his fellow man. One wonders, as he breathed his last and gave up his majestic spirit, if for him, the mist rose and the shore became clear. For his children, it has always been so - the life and legacy of Father Abraham is esteemed and enshrined in the temple of our hearts. May it ever be so.

Searching for a moment in the life of Abraham Lincoln to encapsulate his essential character is truly a daunting task. One is reminded of the strength and determination to rise from nothing; his effort to educate himself and rise to pass the bar; his great trial success, his marriage, and the boys; his eloquent defense of freedom and denunciation of the institution of slavery; his zeal in opposing Kansas-Nebraska and Dred Scott; his warning of the fall of a house divided and his epic debates with Douglas; his election victories for the presidency and his ardent conduct of the war and prudent statesmanship regarding the very essence of genuine freedom for all; his immortal 272 words at Gettysburg which defined a nation for all time; his words of love for all in the second inaugural, chiseled now in the temple of his memory; his heroe's welcome and entrance into Richmond in April 1865 and his admonition to freed slaves to give not himself, but God alone, the glory for their freedom; his haunting dream; his tragic death, martyred for the cause as the last and greatest sacrifice offered upon the altar of freedom.

The chosen event involves an extraordinary meeting between a free black woman and the emancipator on the afternoon preceding the night of horrors that was April 14, 1865. Carl Sandburg records the meeting, describing this woman, faint from hunger and a five mile walk to the White House, attempting to gain entrance to speak with the president. The woman managed to get past two guards before being stopped at the main entrance. "No further madam, against orders," she was told. The woman persisted, "For God's sake, let me see Mr. Lincoln." As a result of the commotion, the door opened and Mrs. Nancy Bushrod stood face to face with Abraham Lincoln. The president inquired as to the nature of the woman's visit and Mrs. Bushrod proceeded to explain that she and her family had escaped north from Richmond following the official issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation in January 1863. She told the president that her husband Tom had joined the Union army, but his pay has stopped coming. Could the president help her get Tom's back pay?

Abraham Lincoln listened to her story and according to Mrs. Bushrod, told her, "You are entitled to your soldier-husband's pay. Come this time tomorrow and the papers will be signed and ready for you. Nancy then stated, "I couldn't open my mouth to tell him that I was going to remember him forever for those words and I couldn't see him because the tears were falling." Nancy turned to go, but was called back by the president. "My good woman," Father Abraham said, "perhaps you'll see many a day when all the food in the house is a single loaf of bread. Even so, give every child a slice and send them off to school." With that, Nancy said, "the president bowed to me, like I was a natural born lady."

Considering all of his accomplishments and qualities, his kindness, compassion, and innate goodness alone would have made him, in the words of Walt Whitman, "the grandest figure on the crowded canvas of the nineteenth century." Like his beloved Washington, Abraham Lincoln was a great man because he was a servant of all.

The years may have shrouded these men in the mists of history, but the brilliance of their lives and the power of their selfless legacies continues in clarity, reminding all who gaze upon them of their greatness. May they forever be remembered, honored, and emulated by a grateful posterity.

"Time shall not dim the glory of their deeds."