by Brett Manero
This past summer, while driving west from the east coast to Colorado, I stopped in Springfield, Illinois to finally visit the tomb of America’s sixteenth President: Abraham Lincoln. Located in Oak Ridge Cemetery, just a few minutes away from downtown Springfield, the tomb is easily accessible by the public, completely free, and well worth the trip.
Visiting the tomb is something of a religious experience. The cemetery itself has several Catholic statues, and while the tomb of President Lincoln is not overtly religious (Lincoln’s actual views on the matter are vague), one cannot help but feel something spiritual while visiting.
Upon entering into Oak Ridge Cemetery, one walks straight ahead for roughly five minutes, easily spotting the tomb. With a statue of the sixteenth President out front, one cannot miss it. Upon entering, one gets a sense of entering into sacred space, and why not? If the human person is sacred, then the burial place of this great man – along with his wife and three of his four sons – is likewise holy. I was deeply impressed by the staff who worked there. I remarked to one of them as I exited, “This is a special place,” to which she replied, “Yes it is,” with genuineness in her voice.
One of the most fascinating things about Lincoln is that he is well-photographed. That might sound strange, but photography was in its early years when Lincoln was President from 1861-1865. There are earlier photographs of him from the 1840’s as well, when he was a young congressman representing Illinois. It is incredible to me that we have photographs of people who were born in the early 1800’s, only twenty-five years after the American Revolution. Photography and later film are modern miracles.
Although we do indeed have genuine pictures of Lincoln and his family, they are classic examples of nineteenth-century photography: somewhat haunting and even grim. Such was the style of photography at the time. To stand some twenty feet away from the remains of Abraham Lincoln is pretty amazing: that man whom one sees in those haunting old photographs is laid to rest – until the end of time – in that very spot. To be in the presence of history is a surreal experience.
One also stands in the presence of Abraham’s wife, Mary Todd Lincoln. They had a stormy relationship, calling off their initial engagement and being reunited by friends about a year later. They lost two of their sons – Edward and William, who are also buried there, along with Tad Lincoln (Robert Todd Lincoln, their eldest, is buried in Arlington National Cemetery). William died during the height of the Civil War, and it is said that Mary’s cries were heard all throughout the White House. Poor Mary suffered from mental illness for much of her life, made all the worse by the deaths of her sons and of course, the horrific assassination of Abraham in 1865. Despite all of their pain, they endured as a couple.
Lincoln, as we know, was assassinated in Ford’s Theater by the murderous John Wilkes Booth in April of 1865, only days after the surrender of General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. The War was over, and Lincoln could look forward to a second term that focused on rebuilding the South, providing aid and protection to the former slaves, and reuniting the nation. But this was not to be. The assassination of Lincoln remains – in my opinion, anyway – the worst political assassination in the history of the United States. The killing of President John F. Kennedy was likewise horrific, as was the killing of Martin Luther King, Jr. But the killing of Lincoln begs the question: what would his second term have been like? Would reconstruction have gone smoother under his leadership? Would the nation have enjoyed a greater reunion under him? The Radical Republicans of Congress did much to help and protect former slaves, and President Ulysses S. Grant did much to help them as well, but it will always be a mystery as to how the second term of Abraham Lincoln would have changed America.
Yesterday, in Utah, another political assassination took place. This time, it was against a thirty-one year old political activist, Charlie Kirk. I admit that I wasn’t familiar with Kirk until yesterday, but I was deeply impressed by his personality and by his willingness to listen to the other side. Leaving behind a wife and two children, his life was cut way too short by an assassin’s bullet as he spoke on a college campus. Many disliked him due to his conservative politics, but as one watches videos of him, one cannot help but be amazed by his openness to dialogue with others. He himself also decried political violence and believed in free speech, and the ability of citizens to be able to disagree without demonizing the other or using violence against the other. Many leaders and pundits, from former Presidents George W. Bush to Barack Obama and Joe Biden, graciously offered sympathy to Kirk’s family and decried political violence. It was a horrific day for America, just as the assassination of Lincoln was in 1865.
Lincoln became a martyr for the United States. Some have called him a tyrant, an invader of the South, and an abuser of the Constitution. But his leadership preserved the Union and allowed the United States to continue as a nation, free from slavery and united from north to south. His killing was truly a crime. One can disagree with Charlie Kirk and his views, but to murder him is also a crime. Some have suggested that the killing of Kirk may be a turning point, when the all-too-often heated political rhetoric may finally calm down, but time will tell.
That is my hope, anyway.