Remembering Abraham Lincoln

One hundred fifty years ago today, Abraham Lincoln, a great leader, U.S. President, and man, was killed as he attended a show in Washington D.C.

Violence, senseless violence, which still permeates the world, took this man who stood taller, (albeit with flaws, as is the case with all of us), than his considerable height, during a horrible civil war in the United States.

Growing up I read about him and idolized him before my focus shifted to sports.

The tragic assassination of John F. Kennedy, the first U.S. President I recall, also took away from my intense love and attention to Lincoln.

That horrible event nearly 100 years after the one that took Mr. Lincoln’s life still leaves me asking and wondering why, if not how and by whom?

In these tough, cynical, “too far gone” times, perhaps it will do good to remember Abraham Lincoln as a man, who came from poverty, and without formal education (“talk about being home schooled,” fellow attorney and Lincoln scholar Michael Liss pointed out) to rise to fame and do great deeds.

The fierce determination so evident in Mr. Lincoln was used for good not greed, to help the less fortunate and actively strive to improve. Yes, good advice for the world, this country and any individual.

Remember, if nothing else, part of one sentence in the last paragraph of President Lincoln’s resounding second inaugural address in March, 1864.

That speech rivaled his more famous “Gettysburg Address” in many minds, and will resonate for all time, if we heed the words.

“With malice toward none, with charity for all…”