“Whoever in his heart would understand the meaning of America,
will find it in the life of Abraham Lincoln.” ~ Ronald Reagan, January 20, 1981
President Reagan had a variety of favorites: red sweaters and brown shoes, black jelly beans, Calvin
Coolidge, and his wife, Nancy. But did you know what a deep and abiding appreciation he held for Abraham
Lincoln?
On this 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library is
presenting one of the most comprehensive exhibits on the 16th president ever compiled. It is astounding to
study the similarities between the two presidents: two great communicators who loved to tell stories with wit
and wisdom; who stared down threats to democracy; who believed in doing the right thing; and who rose from
simple, primitive beginnings through talent and hard work. With such history breathing in our boughs, let’s
consider the common ground between two Republican presidents who both ignited periods of political
realignment.
In Lincoln’s case, his new Republican Party displaced the Democratic Party and controlled the
presidency for 56 of the next 72 years. And Reagan? In 1981, his inaugural address silenced the Carter era of
malaise and heralded the hope of American ingenuity. Like Lincoln, the power of Reagan’s ideas propelled
conservative ideology for many years to come, officially running into cement on the eve of President Obama’s
inauguration in 2009—which constitutes a 28-year run.
“Well, we’ve gathered here this afternoon to celebrate the life of Abraham Lincoln. And I’d suppose I’d
better point out that, despite what you may have heard, it’s not true that honest Abe and I went to school
together.” ~ Ronald Reagan, February 12, 1987
No, they did not attend school together, but they both grew up as young Americans with humble
beginnings. Abraham Lincoln, named after his paternal grandfather, was born in a primitive log cabin on
February 12, 1809, on Sinking Spring Farm in Hodgenville, Kentucky. From equally simple digs, the young
Reagan grew up above the family store in Illinois. During Lincoln’s life of 56 years, he experienced the loss of
a young brother as a child as well as the death of his mother, who died when he was only 9 years old.
Developing a passionate love of books and learning, the young Lincoln’s interests were cultivated by his
stepmother, Sarah Bush Johnston.
Lincoln’s father taught him the skills of his trade, such as carpentry, storytelling, farming, and, of
course, the importance of hard work. Unlike President Reagan, who attended Eureka College, the young
Lincoln was self-educated. However, both men shared an intense passion for reading. Lincoln devoured
everything by candlelight, from Blackstone’s Commentaries on the Laws of England to the Bible, which was
also one of Ronald Reagan’s favorites. In addition to the Good Book, the young Reagan also loved That Printer
of Udell’s by Harold Bell Wright, Witness by Whittaker Chambers, and poetry by Robert Service. It is widely
known that both men expressed how influential their reading choices were in their lives and believed strongly in
this fundamental ideal: You don’t have to be rich to love learning and make something of yourself.
“Plain common sense, a kindly disposition, a straightforward purpose, and
a shrewd perception of the ins and outs of poor, weak human nature have
enabled him to master difficulties which would have snapped any other man.”
~The New York Herald, 1864, describing Abraham Lincoln
Couldn’t this description, written of Lincoln in 1864, apply to Reagan? However, when they entered the
presidency, whether in the inaugural years of 1861 or 1981, the abilities of the two leaders were greatly
underestimated. The Eastern establishment viewed Lincoln as a Washington outsider, a second-rate country
lawyer who was completely ill equipped to handle the presidency. Reagan, of course, was characterized as a
simple-minded actor, an “amiable dunce,” and a war-mongering cowboy. As it turns out, they both may have
benefited from being underestimated by their adversaries.
And how did Lincoln manage the media? “As a general rule, I abstain from reading the reports of
attacks upon myself,” he said in his last public speech in 1865, “wishing not to be provoked by that to which I
cannot properly offer an answer.” Reagan handled the media with aplomb. He often joked about the problems he
was having when the press accused Don Regan of making White House decisions by saying, “You know, I do follow
what you write. One of you just recently wrote a piece questioning why things seem to be going so well for me
lately. Well, it's just a case of letting Reagan be Regan.” Still, while Lincoln may have abstained from reading
reports about himself, he understood the importance of relating to the public, embracing its ideas, and reporting
back in clear terms. As he said in his first Lincoln–Douglas debate in August 1858, “With public sentiment,
nothing can fail; without it, nothing can succeed. Consequently, he who molds public sentiment goes deeper
than he who enacts statutes or pronounces decisions.”
This same kind of political style was adopted by Reagan, who said, when running for Governor of
California in 1966, “It was a rebellion of ordinary people. A generation of middle-class Americans who had
worked hard to make something of their lives was growing mistrustful of a government that took an average of
37 cents of every dollar they earned and still plunged deeper into debt every day . . . [and was] growing
mistrustful of the self-appointed intellectual elite back in Washington.” Reagan wrote in his autobiography, “By
going on television or radio and telling the people what was going on in Sacramento and what we were trying to
do about it, I thought I might be able to get public opinion on my side. It worked better than I ever dreamed it
would.”
“If you are in the right, ignore defeat. Persevere.
For in persevering, Lincoln saved the Union and won freedom for more than
one-tenth of the population that had been kept down in bondage.”
~Ronald Reagan, February 12, 1987
The above quote embodies Lincoln’s greatest lesson, and when Ronald Reagan uttered those words, he
had no idea his legacy would also reflect the same lesson. The lesson is liberty. Abraham Lincoln understood
that the idea of human liberty is the critical component of the very nature of our nation. In September of 1862,
he assembled his cabinet and explained that he had made a vow regarding human freedom to himself and “his
maker.” When Congress convened in December, Lincoln read the text of the Emancipation Proclamation, a
document declaring that, in the rebel States, all Americans, “whatever their color, should be thenceforward and
forever free.”
On the eve of Ronald Reagan’s election as president, moments after President Carter conceded, Reagan
quoted Abraham Lincoln. Meeting with the press in Century City, he said, “Do you know, Abe Lincoln, the day
after his election to the presidency, gathered in his office the newsmen who had been covering his campaign
and he said to them, ‘Well, boys, your troubles are over now; mine have just begun.’” Then, President Reagan
got to work on those troubles. One-hundred and twenty-two years after the Emancipation Proclamation,
President Reagan held his first meeting with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Two years later, Reagan signed
the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, which eliminated an entire class of nuclear weapons. The
provisions of this treaty served to check the intentions of the “evil empire” and also helped usher in a new era of
peace and hasten the demise of communism.
“I am not frightened by what lies ahead. And I don’t believe the American people are frightened by what lies
ahead. Together, we’re going to do what has to be done.”
~Ronald Reagan, November 7, 1980
It is remarkable how both men will always be remembered for doing what needed to be done. The
difficult thing. The unpopular thing. The right thing. Perhaps you and I can best honor Abraham Lincoln and
Ronald Reagan by continuing their good work.