The United States in the 1860s had always been looked at as a time of chivalrous romance, larger-than-life fashion, and the decade that changed the country. Before the Civil War, the south was filled with plantation houses, rolling acres of farmland, and soft-spoken ladies and gentlemen who acted like Aristocracy. They were primarily Democratic (as opposed to Whig), and didn’t mingle much with those on the other side of the Ohio River – the Yankees. After the Civil War, the south was a decimated wasteland in many areas. Some say it never rose from its knees again, and in some parts of the south even today the ghosts of the Civil War reign. There is still some bitter sadness in the south, even 140 years later – and they still talk of Yankees as though they are completely different from themselves. The Union didn’t just win a war – they rubbed the Confederacy’s nose right in defeat. From this great decade in American history, a heroic President emerged. Today, he is celebrated. Back then…he was despised.
Abraham Lincoln’s election and subsequent Presidency started out on shaky ground – much like a more recent President of the United States. Lincoln did not get a vast majority of votes – actually, he wasn’t even on the ballot in nine different southern states. The rather newly formed Republican Party was unpopular in the south, and Republican candidate Lincoln even more so. He managed to grab ahold of the brass ring in the end, though, getting enough votes to lead the nation – like George W. Bush, Lincoln got his seat by the skin of his teeth.
On February 9, 1861, the Confederate States of America was formed by eleven southern states. After Abraham Lincoln’s election, seven more joined them. Like the Presidency of George W. Bush, Lincoln started out without the support of the entire nation. Almost immediately, he made a stirring speech and explained to the Union why America had to go to war. Which one? Well…both. Volunteers were called for, and the Union gave him the answer he sought. Just like that, and it was time for Civil War…and later, the War on Terror.
Lincoln did not want to fight his own country – he wanted to fight the ideas and perhaps ideals of that country. His Presidency, his very election, tore the nation into two halves. With war, he would unite it once more. Before 9/11, George W. Bush was still a controversial President – he’d barely won his election and, to some, had not “proved” himself politically. The nation was split in their opinion of him…until one major event brought the United States together again. One fought a lifestyle and division, one continues to fight terrorism and oppression. Neither picked a battle that could ever, truly, be won.
Lincoln was known in his time as a man who made long, somewhat grandiose speeches that talked of ideals – and principles. But, for the duration of his Presidency, many looked upon him with a jaundiced eye of anger and opposition. Many didn’t agree that a war should be fought at all. Still, Lincoln, for almost his entire term in office, led a country that was actively at war. Sound familiar?
Presidents, and principles, created a history that affected the entire nation. After the Civil War, nothing was ever the same again. Even the political balance changed dramatically, when a surprising number of voters changed their party. What was once Democratic became Republican. With George W. Bush, the balance swung the other way.
The world looks very different now than it did 140 years ago, and very few things remain unchanged. Though, today, Lincoln is a legend and Bush is often the butt of jokes, no one knows what story history will choose to write. In the end, their legends may be very similar – and both may be regarded as true American heroes. In some ways, the Civil War never really ended. Will the War on Terror prove to be the same?
Only time, and history, will tell.
