Whenever I find myself in a lull with regards to examining The United States and its current policies, I always return to Ken Burns famed documentary The Civil War. If you have never seen it, it is not only one of the most quintessential examinations of the war itself, but also of the solidification of the American ideal. Despite the fact that it took place over one hundred and fourty years ago, it remains the most crucial event in American history, one that, more than any other, altered the nation’s perception of itself.
More Americans died during the Civil War than all other wars that the United States has been involved in combined. While the post WW2 era is often sited as birthing American militarism, I would argue that it only expounded on a psyche that was created during the Civil War. It was, I believe, that impacting an event.
Every time I watch it I am always rendered speechless by the wisdoms of men such as Frederick Douglas and Abraham Lincoln. Obviously, both were men that were forces during that period, and both remain two of the most important American political figures in US history. But what is always renewed whenever I revisit the series is just how different things might have been were such individuals not to have sacrificed themselves for their beliefs.
During his first term, and while the country was at war, Lincoln lost a son. Unable to truly grieve, he worked 17 hour days, was disliked by numerous men around him that thought him incompetent, and was not guiltless of using emancipation as a way to alter the direction of the conflict, especially as it was perceived by foreign powers. He was, in many ways, and despite his personal beliefs, tardy with respect to the abolitionist cause. Then again, he was trying to save the Union and, as is well documented, claimed the cause of Union to be of principle import above all other considerations. While a politically masterful move, the Emancipation Proclamation was a reversal of his original policy, but one that resulted in changing not only the course of the war, but the United States forever. He was a man, and President, with faults, but one intelligent enough to realize that they humbled his strengths in such a way as to expose the power and truth of his wisdom.
I often wonder how his legacy could have been so short lived with regards to influencing those that followed. His name has been evoked enough, it’s a shame that his character hasn’t.
While surfing around this evening I came across the second half of Al Gore’s recent interview with Keith Olbermann on Crooks And Liars. I must admit that if Gore doesn’t run in 2008, even as an independent, I will be somewhat disappointed. Were there ever a man who is the right man in his time for the task that the next President of the United States must face, it is, I believe, Al Gore.
