Abraham Lincoln by Woodrow Wilson

Name: Abraham Lincoln
Author: Woodrow Wilson

This work is a compilation centered on Woodrow Wilson's dedicatory address, delivered as President of the United States upon the War Department's acceptance of the Lincoln Farm Association's gift of the Lincoln birthplace farm at Hodgenville, Kentucky. Wilson uses the occasion of dedicating this memorial "to unity, peace, and brotherhood" to reflect on the meaning of Lincoln's humble origins for American democracy. He argues that the log cabin birthplace is itself a profound symbol: genius, he insists, owes nothing to aristocracy, caste, or institutional pedigree, but arises unpredictably from any soil, however humble. Lincoln's emergence from such modest circumstances to become the dominant, majestic figure of the nation's history is, for Wilson, living proof of democracy's vitality — proof that "every door is open, in every hamlet and countryside," for leadership to arise. Wilson dwells at length on what he calls the "mystery" of democracy — the unexplainable origin of Lincoln's vast sympathy, penetrating mind, and prophetic vision, qualities that cannot be traced merely to vigorous stock or favorable environment. He reflects that Lincoln remained, in a sense, permanently unknowable: despite the many biographies and intimate reminiscences written by his associates, no writer, in Wilson's view, truly penetrated to the heart of Lincoln's solitary, brooding spirit. Lincoln is portrayed as a man who comprehended others fully while remaining apart from them, carrying alone the "very holy and very terrible isolation" required of anyone who must discern duty and destiny for a nation. Wilson insists that the true test of an American is not where he stands in life but what he is in character, and that Lincoln's constancy of spirit — equally at home in a log cabin or the White House — exemplifies this. He closes by casting the birthplace memorial as an "altar" or "shrine" at which the "vestal fire of democracy" may be perpetually rekindled, but warns that ideals of liberty cannot survive on words, constitutions, or codes alone; they require the living self-sacrifice of each generation. The address ends as a call to duty, urging that visitors to the shrine must themselves act as genuine servants of democracy and mankind. The volume then presents a second, related address, "Abraham Lincoln," delivered by former President Theodore Roosevelt at the laying of the cornerstone of the Lincoln Memorial at the same Hodgenville birthplace on February 12, 1909, the centennial of Lincoln's birth. Roosevelt eulogizes Lincoln as one of the two or three greatest men in world history, tracing his rise from frontier poverty through repeated failure to the "stupendous world-task" of preserving the Union. Roosevelt emphasizes the costs of Lincoln's power — care without ease, success without happiness — and the burden of directing a war that demanded the blood of the young and the grief of women left behind. Roosevelt pairs Lincoln with Washington as the two greatest American public men, arguing that despite their contrasting backgrounds — Virginia gentry versus Kentucky backwoods — both combined lofty ideals with hardheaded common sense, courage in adversity, humility in triumph, and gentleness paired with strength. He praises Lincoln's rare fusion of visionary imagination with practical judgment, noting that Lincoln pursued reform steadily and cautiously, incurring attacks from both radical abolitionists (who denounced him as insufficiently zealous) and conservative reactionaries (who deemed him dangerously extreme), yet never wavering from his core commitments to the Union and to ending slavery. The centerpiece of Roosevelt's tribute is Lincoln's capacity, even amid the ferocity of civil war, to oppose what he believed wrong without hating those who opposed him — extending sympathy and respect to Confederate adversaries even in the hour of Union triumph. Roosevelt frames this magnanimity, and Lincoln's refusal to indulge vindictiveness even at the war's end, as Lincoln's supreme achievement, one that allowed later generations, North and South alike, to take pride jointly in the valor of soldiers who wore both blue and gray. Roosevelt closes by naming Lincoln as the man whose blood was given both for the Union of his people and for the freedom of an enslaved race. Following these two commemorative addresses, the compilation shifts register entirely, presenting instructional matter framed as a "silent reading lesson" for elementary schoolchildren. A note "To the Teacher" explains that these lessons are designed to supplement, not replace, standard classroom readers, aiming to expose children to literary, historical, and geographical material not otherwise readily available to them. The note stresses minimal teacher intervention: pupils are meant to read the booklet independently, complete assigned work, and lead their own class discussions, with the material especially suited to advanced readers who have outgrown ordinary reading lessons and can be excused from routine drills to pursue this more challenging content. A companion note "To the Pupil" employs the image of a rock thrown into a still pond, its ripples spreading outward, as a metaphor for what a good reading lesson should accomplish: rather than being read merely as an exercise, it should expand the reader's thoughts toward related persons, places, and events, building a store of mental imagery — invoking Wordsworth's "inward eye" from "Daffodils" — upon which memory and imagination can draw for lasting inspiration. Taken together, the work functions as a pedagogical anthology built around Lincoln's mythic biography: two presidential addresses celebrating his humble birth, moral character, and reconciling magnanimity are followed by editorial framing instructing young readers and their teachers on how to engage independently and reflectively with such texts, using Lincoln's life as the exemplary occasion for cultivating both civic reverence and active, self-directed literacy.

By Woodrow Wilson · First published 1916 · Genre: Political Speech, Eulogy, Historical Non-fiction · 3,958 words

First lines

Address by Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States, on the occasion of the acceptance by the War Department of a deed of gift to the Nation by the Lincoln Farm Association of the Lincoln birthplace farm at Hodgenville, Ky. Here, over the log cabin where Abraham Lincoln was born, destined to preserve the Nation and to free the slave, a grateful people have dedicated this memorial to unity, peace, and brotherhood among these States.

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Abraham Lincoln is listed on Textopian as a speech by Woodrow Wilson, dated 1916 CE.

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Work type: Speech
Author: Woodrow Wilson
Date: 1916 CE
Language: English
Genres: Political Speech, Eulogy, Historical Non-fiction, Biographical Essay, Political Philosophy
Length: 3,958 words
Structure: 1 section, 22 paragraphs
Reading fit: Fairly Difficult (10th-12th Grade)

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Genres

Political Speech — The work comprises formal presidential addresses delivered at official ceremonies, representing the dominant and primary form of the text.
Eulogy — Both speeches explicitly commemorate and praise Lincoln's character, achievements, and legacy at ceremonial occasions dedicated to his honor and memory.
Historical Non-fiction — Extensive discussion of verifiable historical events including Lincoln's presidency, the Civil War, and their transformative significance in American history.
Biographical Essay — Both addresses trace Lincoln's life from humble frontier origins through his rise to the presidency, examining his formative experiences and personal development.