Ambassador's opinion

Two American Heroes

Every year, on a Monday in mid- February, Americans celebrate “President’s Day,” a Federal holiday to honor the forty-three men that have held that office since 1789.  Not every one of them distinguished himself.  In fact, several failed in many ways and quite a few others did little more than occupy the office.  But all were elected democratically.  All governed subject to the Constitution.   And those that were defeated for re-election left voluntarily.  Never have Americans had to call out the army, or resort to the courts, to remove someone from the highest office. 

Two of America’s greatest presidents, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, were born in February, and the current holiday derives from our desire to recognize them.  Washington established the tone for the presidency when he insisted on being addressed simply as “President,” refusing the offer of a more regal title, and then returning to his farm after serving two terms.  He has been called, and rightly so, the “American Cincinnatus.”

Modest in manner and physically imposing, Washington did not have the restless intellect of Jefferson, the homey wisdom of Franklin, or the rigid self-discipline of Adams, his talented contemporaries and national leaders in their own right.  But he did have their trust and admiration, and that of many others.  He was a man of towering integrity and conspicuous charisma.  Whenever the young nation found itself in peril or distress – the War for Independence, the fractious Constitutional Convention, the first years of the Republic – all turned to him to lead. 

In his letters, especially to his beloved wife Martha, Washington wrote of the burdens of command and his desire to lead an anonymous life, dedicated to family and farming.  But the demands of the times rarely allowed him to pursue those ends.  Rather, they required that he spend years away from home, endure privations of every sort, risk life and fortune, and dedicate himself to lofty causes – independence, freedom, and democracy.

When he died, a couple of years after leaving office, he had spent the better part of his last three decades in service to his nation and its people.  In the process, he had become the model statesman.  He had never sought to benefit from office and had, in fact, spent much of his personal wealth to sustain the cause of liberty and democracy.  His behavior set the example for modesty in manner and tolerance in tone for those who have followed him as president.  After his funeral, a friend wrote of him:  “Washington was first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.”

Whereas Washington confronted a series of existential challenges, Lincoln had to contend with the greatest crisis in America’s history – the disintegration of the union.  Born on what was then the frontier, largely self taught, humble in appearance and melancholic by disposition, Lincoln was an unlikely hero. 

Yet when confronted by the threat of secession, he made perhaps the most difficult decision any American has ever made:  he went to war to preserve the union.   In the course of this bloody and bitter struggle, which pitted brother against brother and North against South, he enlarged the war’s purpose to embrace the elimination of slavery, elevating a battle for national survival to a crusade for freedom and justice. 

In so doing, Lincoln gave substance to Jefferson’s noble sentiments, expressed in the Declaration of Independence, that “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”   Following closely on Lincoln’s victory in the Civil War, Congress ratified amendments to the Constitution that abolished slavery, expanded personal liberties, and guaranteed the rights of racial minorities.

The ordeal of governing took a terrible physical toll on Lincoln, who was gaunt and pallid as he rose to speak at his second inaugural on a gray day in March of 1865.  Just as he stepped to the podium, the clouds parted and a brilliant sun burst forth.  In his address, which lasted a few short minutes, he promised to end the struggle “with malice toward none; with charity for all” and to achieve “a just and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.”   The war would come to an end in a little over a month and an assassin would kill Lincoln shortly thereafter. 

The fame of Washington and Lincoln, the esteem in which Americans hold them, rests only in part on what they achieved.  In equal measure their example, the values they held and fought for, their courage and their integrity contribute to their image, to their mystique.  Both were flawed men.  Both had known failure during their lives:  Washington lost more battles than he won; Lincoln was defeated in his only bid to become a senator.  Yet in moments of greatest peril, in times of deepest despair, they met the challenges forthrightly and emerged stronger and more confident.

They also understood explicitly that the judgment of history, and not the fleeting opinion of friends and foes, was the ultimate verdict on a man’s character and the final reckoning of his performance. 

Americans have passed their judgment on Washington and Lincoln and now call them heroes.  For that reason, we celebrate today, on President’s Day, their lives and legacies.