OPINION
Obama needs to emulate Roosevelt's optimism in the face of deep crisis
Washington Post Nov 18, 08 8:16 AM CST
(Newser)
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Barack Obama keeps saying he wants to emulate Abraham Lincoln but he’s lucky that he more closely resembles Franklin D. Roosevelt, Richard Cohen writes in the Washington Post . Lincoln faced the massive challenge of reuniting the Union but knew just how to do it, while FDR, like Obama, confronted an economic crisis that stumped all the experts.
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ANALYSIS
Doris Kearns Goodwin's tome provides unexpected insight into next administration
Guardian (UK) Nov 17, 08 2:55 PM CST
(Newser)
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“Team of rivals” is the post-campaign buzzphrase, Graeme Allister writes in the Guardian , replacing the lipsticked pigs and pitbulls. The term refers to Barack Obama’s strategy of filling Cabinet positions with Republicans and political enemies (ie, Hillary Clinton), and comes from a 2005 book by Doris Kearns Goodwin chronicling similar maneuvers by Abraham Lincoln almost 150 years ago.
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OPINION
Obama can restore the capital's brilliance, writes Times columnist
New York Times Nov 6, 08 8:11 AM CST
(Newser)
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For Maureen Dowd, the election of Barack Obama means more than just an end to the Bush years; it's a chance for Washington itself to regain its moral standing. Outside the White House on election night—"there was no U-Haul in the driveway"—the New York Times columnist considers the monuments of her hometown, which "have lost their luminescence in recent years," and what an Obama-led capital would look like.
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Not George or Abe, but Andy Jackson started today's political culture
Newsweek Nov 2, 08 4:54 PM CST
(Newser)
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Most people probably remember Andrew Jackson as an Indian-fighter, if at all, but Abraham Lincoln looked to him for inspiration, and so should we, writes Jon Meacham in Newsweek . Jackson had a hand in making America what it is, for better and for worse—the legacy of this uneducated orphan is vividly visible in today's Washington.
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ANALYSIS
Dirty campaigning has always been a feature of American democracy
Washington Post Oct 13, 08 3:23 PM CDT
(Newser)
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The 2008 presidential race is getting rough, but the combatants look well-mannered compared to mudslingers of the 19th century. Thomas Jefferson was called an “infidel” and an “unbeliever,” while John Adams was accused of possessing a “hideous hermaphroditical character.” Although “everybody always assumes there was a golden age of presidential campaigning,” one historian tells the Washington Post, US politics have always been dirty.
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Commemorative issue marks Lincoln's 200th birthday, and the coin's 100th
CNNMoney Sep 22, 08 1:40 PM CDT
(Newser)
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The US Mint today unveiled four new designs that will adorn the back of the Lincoln penny next year to commemorate the bicentennial of Honest Abe’s birth, CNNMoney reports. The classic portrait of the 16th president will remain on the heads side. The reverse will depict scenes from Lincoln’s life, from his humble beginnings to service as an Illinois state senator.
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State group a finalist
to take control of
Fort Wayne collection
Fort Wayne Journal Gazette Jul 17, 08 7:46 PM CDT
(Newser)
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A prized collection of Abraham Lincoln artifacts and memorabilia may not leave his boyhood home of Indiana after all. A coalition of state groups, including the Allen County Public Library and the Indiana State Museum, is one of the three finalists to take control of the collection housed by the recently closed Lincoln Museum in Fort Wayne, the News-Sentinel reports. A decision is expected in January.
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Literary critic sees an
eye for the universal, shades of Lincoln
New Republic Jul 8, 08 2:37 PM CDT
(Newser)
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If it's true that the style is the man, then it makes sense, literary critic Andrew Delbanco writes in the New Republic , to take the measure of Barack Obama from his memoirs. Taking a tour of Dreams From My Father and The Audacity of Hope , Delbanco finds a bit of overwriting, a propensity for cinematic flourishes, a sensitivity to the complexities of character, and an ability to use local details to "open out into universal experience."
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OPINION
Take a closer look at policies candidates are changing minds about
Washington Post Jul 2, 08 10:34 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Flip-flops are an easy summer target for media covering the presidential campaign, Ruth Marcus writes in the Washington Post . But, she notes, it's important to remember that the issues are more important than the candidates' changing views on them. "We in the media risk becoming the enablers of inanity by acting as if all flip-flops are created equal, and equally bad."
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Opinion
Politicians must learn to face their flaws,
not exult in strengths
New York Times Jun 6, 08 7:58 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Abraham Lincoln had his dark days. For a while, Lincoln was mercury-pill-popping, sleep-deprived wreck who briefly considered suicide. “Lincoln went Crazy,” wrote friend Joshua Speed. “It was horrible.” Lincoln, of course, grew out of it, facing his flaws in a way today’s leaders ought to emulate, writes David Brooks in the New York Times.
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Face-to-face showdowns could echo Lincoln-Douglas, Obama adviser suggests
Time Jun 4, 08 3:00 PM CDT
(Newser)
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John McCain challenged Barack Obama today to fight mano a mano in a series of 10 intimate town-hall meetings between now and the Democratic primary in late August. The Republican's invitation, delivered in a speech and said to be modeled on a proposed Kennedy-Goldwater series, would be “free from the regimented trappings, rules, and spectacle of formal debates.”
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As bicentennial nears, an industry springs up around Honest Abe
Newsweek May 19, 08 4:36 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Honest Abe may be gone, but an industry of books, debates, and a Spielberg biopic are all alive and well. With Abraham Lincoln's bicentennial coming next year, all three White House hopefuls have invoked his name, and the US Mint is issuing pennies to honor states where he lived. "He changed America's views through his verbiage and thoughts," one expert said.
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ANALYSIS
But 'fickle' Internet could 'stall his agenda as president'
Atlantic Monthly May 17, 08 4:12 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Lincoln, FDR, JFK... Obama? So runs the line of US leaders who have ruled by harnessing new communication technologies. Obama's mastery of the Web echoes Lincoln's use of newspapers, FDR's use of radio and JFK's use of television. Obama vows to put the Oval Office online if he wins, but Marc Ambinder warns in the Atlantic that he may find the Internet "unruly and fickle."
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