Abraham Lincoln is proof that genius can be entirely self taught: with no formal education, Lincoln read law, and practiced law; he read the great writers of the English language, from Chaucer to Shakespeare, from Washington Irving to Nathaniel Hawthorne, and it shows in his writing. How succinct, how poignant, how precise his words are in the Gettysburg address; the economy of words, the depth of meaning, sincerity, honesty; he had an incredible talent for the written word! Both inaugural speeches are also masterpieces; the second shows how his genius and craft evolved during the four moving years of the Civil War. Abraham Lincoln is my favorite American President, and through his vision of what America should be, unified, one, without the institution of slavery, equal, made America what it now is. No assassin's bullet can take him away from us. To quote his friend Stanton, "He now belongs to the Ages". --James Zaworski, 2009

Posted by James Zaworski on January 5,2009 | 10:39 AM



http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/man-of-his-words.html