By Ed Epstein
Washington, D.C.
December 9, 2024
Since the Lincoln Group started this blog back in mid-2022, more than 460 items have been published. The most steadfastly popular post, from August 2022, previewed an October 2022 program in which two group members debated whether Lincoln was liberal or conservative in his political philosophy.
Hundreds of people a year look at that blog post, either for a school assignment or out of curiosity about Lincoln, the man who is generally rated as America's greatest president. The Lincoln Group is now helping those people doing research by posting the full presentations from our October 2022 debate for everyone to see, think about, and perhaps cite in reports and papers.
The two presentations are available to the public on the Lincolnian.org website at https://www.lincolnian.org/resources/was-lincoln-a-liberal-or-conservative or by going to Lincolnian.org, tapping on the "resources" dropdown and then the "liberal or conservative" tab.
The two debaters used the terms liberal and conservative in the current political sense. Merriam-Webster cites a definition for liberalism that is helpful: "In the U.S. liberalism means the embrace of an activist, interventionist government expanding its involvement and responsibilities in the economy and centralizing decision making."
As for conservatism, Merriam-Webster defines it in part as "a political philosophy based on tradition and social stability, stressing the importance of established hierarchies and institutions (such as religion, the family, and class structure), and preferring gradual development to abrupt change."
One of the confounding things in such a debate is that Lincoln is a hero to people across the political spectrum. Former Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy kept a huge portrait of Lincoln in his Capitol office, and Republican House Majority Leader Steve Scalise is a Lincoln fan.
To their left, Rep. Jamie Raskin, who is set to serve as ranking minority member on the House Judiciary Committee in the Congress that will convene in January 2025, frequently cites Lincoln.
The important thing to remember in considering where Lincoln falls on the political spectrum is that there is no right answer. We invite everyone to dive into the world of Lincoln and make up your own mind. There's plenty of material at hand--Lincoln is the most written-about person in American history, with some 20,000 books published and more coming out every year.
And to learn more about Lincoln, consider joining the Lincoln Group of D.C. and taking part in our many programs. On our home page, click on the "membership" dropdown.
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