Evening star. [volume], February 04, 1962, Page 9, Image 129

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
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This Week ad
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1 • "I
A Lincoln
Were Alive Today...
A unique interview. Five Lincoln experts tell you how
the great President of a century ago would have felt
and acted if confronted with the problems of our time
What would abraham Lincoln do if he were
alive today? Thousands of people have asked that
question, and more perhaps are asking it this year
than ever before. A hundred years ago Lincoln was
facing and mastering the terrific problems of his own
day. How would he have attacked the problems that
confront this country in the age of space and mis
siles? Would he have approved of most of the poli
cies our leaders have been following, or would he
have struck out in radically different directions?
We’ve undertaken to find out by interviewing
five of the most distinguished authorities on
Lincoln and his times: poet-biographer Cart Sand
burg, who will discuss Lincoln on "CBS Reports ’
next Thursday; Bruce Cation, editor of "American
Heritage” and author of "This Hallowed Ground,
etc.; T. Harry William*. professor of history at
Louisiana State University and author of "Lincoln
And His Generals”; Ralph C. \evniM, editor of
"Lincoln For The Ages,” and Lenoir Chamber*,
recently retired editor of "The Norfolk Virginian-
Pilot” and Gvil War historian.
Below, in question and answer form, is our
interview with the Lincoln experts. the editors
Q. Would Lincoln be a Republican or a Demo
crat today?
A. We took this question to all five of our experts.
Here's what they said: Lincoln today would make his
home in the liberal wing of the Republican Party.
Bruce Cotton: "Lincoln would have been a
Republican not a hidebound, ultra-conservative,
but a liberal, experimental Republican, feeling he
could carry out any reforms he wanted within the
framework of the Republican Party provided he
could get willing co-operation from the Democrats
as well.”
Carl Sandburg pointed out that in Lincoln’s
last campaign in 1864 he ran on the ticket of the
National Union Party. "Lincoln wanted a party to
which all Union men would belong, whether for
merly Republican or Democrat,” said Mr. Sandburg.
"President Lincoln was first of all a Union man and
only incidentally a Republican Party man.”
T. Harry William* thought Lincoln would be
a "liberal Republican” or perhaps a "conservative
Democrat.” Lincoln, Professor Williams com
mented, "was essentially a pragmatist, recognizing
the limits of human nature and believing in the
right changes at the right time.”
Ralph Newman thought Lincoln would be a
Republican of the type of Senator Margaret Chase
Smith of Maine or Senator Gifford Case of New
Jersey.
Lenoir Chamber*, noting that Lincoln came
from "Republican territory,” commented that given
the same geographic background today he would
doubtless be a Republican still. But Mr. Chambers
agreed with the other experts that Lincoln would
not be an extreme conservative.
Q. WomML/wcolh *«ve dropped aromie
on Japan?
A. Carl Sandburg: There is a
school of thought which holds that
the Emperor and war lords of
Japan could have been notified of a
demonstration to be made on some
mountain or valley showing the
terrible power of the atomic bomb
in human slaughter on a wide area. There are
reputable Army and Navy men who hold this view
point. However, let us permit our imagination to
conceive of Lincoln free of his Springfield tomb and
resident in the White House, as Chief Executive, in
the year 1945, and before him the reports from the
War Department on the estimated casualties of
500,000 to be expected in an invasion of Japan. For
myself, I believe Lincoln would probably have made
the same decision as President Harry Truman.
In a short autobiography, he wrote that as a boy
he had shot and killed a wild turkey, and "I have
not pulled trigger on bigger game since.” An Indiana
man at the White House heard him say, "Voorhees,
don’t it seem strange to you that I, who could never
so much as cut off the head of a chicken, should be
elected, or selected, into the midst of all this
blood?” While the war was on he was photo
graphed many times, and his face at all times had
the look of a sad man. Having the look of a man
familiar wit h sorrow, continued on page 19
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