Published: September 20, 2008 05:02 pm            

Mark Bennett: How would the 16th president handle the current war and the economic and financial issues facing the country?

TERRE HAUTE — Abraham Lincoln wouldn’t bail out AIG.

Or would he?

It was Lincoln, the Republican, who signed the National Bank Act of 1864, creating a new system of banks and a federal government agency to regulate it. Just four years earlier, the country had a hodge-podge of currency, with more than 10,000 different bank notes circulating; banks failed; the economy struggled.

So, in 2008, if the financial giant American International Group, investment bank Bear Stearns, and mortgage entities Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac fail, you have to wonder, what would Lincoln do?

Without a time machine, we’ll never know. And, even if Abe could be beamed into the 21st century, it’s debatable whether the complexities of modern America would overwhelm his prairie lawyer background. Still, Lincoln is regarded as the nation’s greatest president for more than just his handling of the issues of his day. His moral strength, humanity and commitment transcend the changing eras.

He would be a great president today.

Those four words — what would Lincoln do? — seem like a subplot to the 2008 presidential campaign. His name gets invoked frequently by the candidates, Barack Obama and John McCain.

Both have territorial claims to the 16th president. McCain shares a party tie with Lincoln, the first Republican president. Obama’s historic rise to the Democratic nomination parallels Lincoln’s in many ways, climbing from the Illinois state senate to a brief stint in Congress and then the White House.

“Both of these guys love Lincoln,” Harold Holzer, a renowned Lincoln historian and author, said Tuesday by telephone from New York.

The country should pray that affection never wanes. At a time when America faces a continuing war, a punch-drunk economy and a dire need to find home-grown sources of energy, the nation needs its next president to clearly see Lincoln’s shadow.

“I hope that we never have an election where the candidates don’t look at the Lincoln example,” Holzer said.

Holzer knows the Great Emancipator’s life story. He’s co-authored 20 books on Lincoln and the Civil War, and serves as co-chairman of the national Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission. Holzer’s upcoming book, “Lincoln: President-Elect,” examines his final ascent from Illinois politics to the Oval Office.

Many of the Lincoln references this election season concern Obama’s legislative experience. As Obama’s readiness gets debated, his supporters rightly emphasize that Lincoln served just one term in Congress, representing the 7th District in the U.S. House, before becoming president. But the most convincing case for leadership over experience comes from Lincoln’s predecessor.

James Buchanan had been a three-term U.S. senator, secretary of state and an envoy to Britain. In 1856, America elected him president.

“James Buchanan was one of the most experienced legislators ever to be elected president,” Holzer explained, “and yet he just dithered and made a mess.”

Instead of confronting the festering feud over slavery and the imminent secession by Southern states, Buchanan — with all of his congressional and international experience — did virtually nothing to address it. He left Lincoln to face an epic catastrophe.

Skeptics might insist that Lincoln would be ill-equipped to comprehend issues such as universal health care, stem-cell research, the Iraq war and crumbling financial markets. Yet, it’s doubtful that any subsequent president, from Andrew Johnson to George W. Bush, could endure the crushing weight Lincoln carried as he navigated his own “issues.” The freedom of an entire segment of our population, hundreds of thousands of Civil War casualties, and the sheer survival of the nation were the only things at stake.

Lincoln could handle a Wall Street collapse.

“What he offered that’s universal and eternal is honesty,” Holzer said, “and speaking to the people directly to reassure them, and resolving turmoil.

“He basically never lied to the American people,” Holzer continued. “His ‘Honest Abe’ label was very diligently and honestly earned.”

A “brilliant” thinker, Lincoln was also smart enough to surround himself with an experienced cabinet team.

Perhaps his most endearing quality was an unmasked humanity. “He’s a guy who laughed and cried,” Holzer said. “He was once asked, ‘How could you laugh in this time of crisis?’ And he replied that if he didn’t laugh, he’d be crying all the time.”

Yes, but could Lincoln handle the glaring intensity of 24-hour, 21st-century news coverage?

“He thought he was in the modern era in communications,” Holzer said. Photography became the latest, cutting-edge technology during Lincoln’s years as president. Suddenly, his movements were exposed to the public like no leader before.

“He was a fellow who was not handsome, and yet he was one of the most photographed people of his time,” Holzer said. Pictures of Lincoln, the president, often were included in family photo albums and in American homes.

“Can you imagine an era when people put politicians’ pictures on the wall?” Holzer asked.

Maybe folks back then found comfort in gazing at Abe’s rugged face and asking, “What would Lincoln do?”

The right thing, of course.

Mark Bennett can be reached at mark.bennett@tribstar.com or (812) 231-4377.

        

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