Misquoting the Presidents

To the Editor:

For a number of generations, many Americans, especially those who resided in states outside the old Confederacy of the old South, celebrated Abraham Lincoln's birthday on Feb. 12 and George Washington's birthday on Feb 22.

While in recent years New York state de-emphasized the remembrance of Lincoln's birthday, and federal legislation moved the Washington's birthday holiday to the third Monday of February, the critical importance of these two great American leaders to this country's existence cannot be over emphasized.

Although these two presidents did a great deal to build, to protect and to preserve the United States, fewer and fewer Americans seem to know or remember these men's words or actions.

Many of the issues they spoke and wrote about are still important to people today in this country and even to people around the world. For example, both Lincoln and Washington spoke of faith, slavery and freedom.

In regards to faith Washington said that, "It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and Bible." While Lincoln said, "I am much indebted to the good Christian people of this country for their constant prayers and consolations."

It is important to remember these two outstanding American presidents not because their birthdays are remembered as holidays or some store sales are named after them, but because their leadership, their lives and their words were a very critical part of this country's history and it's survival.

Robert

I almost abridged today's letter, because let's face it, 80 percent of it is unnecessary. The whole letter appears to serve no purpose outside of providing a long-winded frame for the two quotes, both of which are horribly out of context. I think it's rather inappropriate to misuse the words of two great leaders, the greatest accomplishments of both stemming from their successes in uniting the nation, to underhandedly promote a shift away from the secular government that Washington helped create and Lincoln protected. In the end, I included the letter in its entirety only to illustrate exactly how much space was wasted to get these quotes printed.

Does anyone really argue that the importance of Washington or Lincoln has been exaggerated? How many birthdays of American leaders do we celebrate on a national level? There have been 43 presidents in the nation's history, and only two of them are remembered by a national holiday. Washington and Lincoln are both covered extensively in high school history classes. The argument that these two men are fading into history holds about as much water as a plastic sieve. If anything, they are over exalted, their actual accomplishments overshadowed by legend and mythology that raises them from mere mortals of the highest caliber to omnipotent, flawless American deities. If fewer and fewer Americans remember the histories of these two men, it reflects more on the educational failures of American culture than it does on the relative importance of the men themselves. Frankly, nobody needs Robert to tell them that George Washington and Abraham Lincoln were very important American leaders, so one wonders why he employed so many words to do just that.

Well, one wonders until one gets to the fifth paragraph. Washington's quote is not presented as an adage on faith, despite the awkward segue; instead, without context, it appears that George Washington was calling for a government based on Christianity. Never mind that Washington was a member of the convention that drafted the constitution without so much as one contextual reference to religion or God, and was one of the drafters of the Treaty of Tripoli that clearly stated the American government was in no way rooted in the Christian religion. In fact, the quote is bogus, and has never been successfully tracked down in any of Washington’s speeches or writings. One will find that while this quote is quite often attributed to Washington, it is never done so to include a source. It is most probably a misquotation of Washington’s official proclamation, "… it is in an especial manner our duty as a people, with devout reverence and affectionate gratitude, to acknowledge our many and great obligations to Almighty God and to implore Him to continue and confirm the blessings we experience." While still a statement of faith, the actual quote is not nearly as sectarian or severe. Washington also believed that religion was a deeply personal thing, and in fact never spoke openly about his own beliefs. He was not a churchgoer, nor did he follow any organized Christian denomination. Interestingly, despite being a man of faith, the policies advocated by Washington are in sharp contrast with those forwarded by today's Religious Right, as Washington believed in limited government role in social issues and a policy of global isolationism. One need only refer to Washington's farewell speech in which he warns of the dangers of "foreign entanglements" to realize his was not the Christianity of global crusades.

As for Lincoln, the quote is not at all out for character for the man, though again, out of context, it represents a sense of Christian exceptionalism that I do not believe Lincoln held. Lincoln was a deeply spiritual man, and it was in his religion that he found his dedication and strength at a time when this nation needed strong leadership more than it ever had previously or ever has since. One can point out that Lincoln saw religion as a framework for good character and not a yardstick with which to measure others. It was in part because of this that Lincoln was not popular with the most fervent of Christians in his own day, and in fact Lincoln himself refused to join a church or participate in organized religion at all. When this was leveled against him in 1846, Lincoln replied by saying, "That I am not a member of any Christian Church, is true; but I have never denied the truth of the Scriptures; and I have never spoken with intentional disrespect of religion in general, or any denomination of Christians in particular." Of particular note was Lincoln’s belief that with faith came enormous responsibility and deep humility, something often missing from the arrogance of politicians who evoke the name of God today. Of the American Civil War, he once said, "Sir my concern is not whether God is on our side. My great concern is to be on God's side." This is quite a departure from leaders today who seem able to claim without reservation that God sides with America in all of her endeavors.

In both cases, we have great American leaders who were men of faith, but men of quiet, respectful faith. Neither ever called for any church or religion to have a deeper root in American government. If nothing else, the Religious Right would do well to study these two men, able to project staunch faith without appealing to the basest emotions, and to carry themselves with both reverence and respect for others.

"The blessed Religion revealed in the word of God will remain an eternal and awful monument to prove that the best Institutions may be abused by human depravity; and that they may even, in some instances be made subservient to the vilest of purposes." – George Washington, Proposed Address to Congress, April 1789