Abraham Lincoln - Salon.com

How would Lincoln vote today?

By Michael Lind — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 03:02:00 PST

Everyone, from President Obama to the GOP, wants a piece of Honest Abe on his bicentennial. Here's where Abraham Lincoln really stood on the issues.

No more "wars of choice"

By Michael Lind — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 03:02:00 PST

If the Democrats will stop trying to out-hawk the Republicans, the Obama administration can begin rebuilding America's economy and military -- and international image.

The Next American System

By Michael Lind — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 03:02:00 PST

We need a New Contract with the American people, starting with a sweeping program of modernization that echoes Lincoln and FDR.

John F. Kennedy, plagiarist?

By Jerome Doolittle — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 03:02:00 PST

If Barack Obama borrowed from Deval Patrick, so what? Creative "borrowing" is part of speechwriting, as Kennedy knew, and as I learned while working for Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale.

Chicago is Barack Obama's kind of town

By Edward McClelland — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 03:02:00 PST

The city has a unique history of launching the careers of powerful black politicians -- which is part of the reason Obama moved there.

Imperial presidency declared null and void

By Sidney Blumenthal — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 03:02:00 PST

Bush may ignore the 4th Circuit's stinging rebuke of his war paradigm. But his policies are losing the cloak of legality.

You, sir, are no Abe Lincoln

By Garrett Epps — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 03:02:00 PST

Bush may wish he measured up to the Great Emancipator. But he does stack up quite nicely against Andrew Johnson.

A deluded king and his court lickspittles

By Sidney Blumenthal — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 03:02:00 PST

Cut off from reality and surrounded by flatterers like Rice and Cheney, Bush clings to grandiose illusions of heroism.

"Greedy weirdos and good-hearted men"

By Christopher Walla — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 03:02:00 PST

Writer and radio personality Sarah Vowell tells Death Cab for Cutie's Christopher Walla about the ghosts haunting her new book, "Assassination Vacation," and why life is brighter since her turn in "The Incredibles"

Tell it to the slaves

By Tim Grieve — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 03:02:00 PST

A Republican senator says his home state hasn't quite gotten "over" Abraham Lincoln yet.

The sexual life of Abraham Lincoln

By Andrew O'Hehir — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 03:02:00 PST

After reading C.A. Tripp's highly anticipated study of Abe's alleged homosexuality, we still don't know if he was gay. Does it matter?

Old times there are not forgotten

By David Talbot — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 03:02:00 PST

John Wilkes Booth, the South's romantic villain, refused to accept the triumph of Northern values. Some things never change.

A night to remember

By Sidney Blumenthal — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 03:02:00 PST

On Day 2, Democratic convention speakers celebrate America as a nation of immigrants, emphasizing inclusion and legacy.

What would Abe say?

By Mary Jacoby — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 03:02:00 PST

Former Gov. Mario Cuomo, author of a book on the "wisest" president, speculates about what Lincoln's position would have been on preemptive war, stem cell research, restriction of civil liberties.

Judging Bush

By Alan Wolfe — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 03:02:00 PST

The president's determination in the face of opposition proves his courage. But our greatest leaders also had wisdom.

Yes, I bid on Abe Lincoln's hair

By Keith Olbermann — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 03:02:00 PST

When I collected baseball cards, you had to buy them from other humans. Now you can get almost anything you want, anonymously, on the Internet -- and people want ever-stranger things.

Better than a saint

By Laura Miller — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 03:02:00 PST

A new biography removes Abraham Lincoln's halo, revealing a man whose sheer human goodness remains mysterious.

Honest Abe and Earnest Al

By Sarah Vowell — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 03:02:00 PST

Reciting Lincoln's words, Gore -- the geek candidate who cares about climate change in 10th century Mexico -- confronts America's most famous presidential ghost.

"Abe: A Novel of the Young Lincoln" by Richard Slotkin

By Laura Miller — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 03:02:00 PST

A splendid piece of mythmaking views the young hero's coming of age through the lens of Huckleberry Finn.

The 7 vices of highly creative people

By D.A. Blyler — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 03:02:00 PST

If you go through life free of bad habits, you won't live forever, but it will feel like it.

Goodnight, Irene

By Debra Dickerson — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 03:02:00 PST

Blacks have voted overwhelmingly Democratic for years, but now they seem to be rethinking their political allegiances.

Mr. Smith flips off Washington

By Jake Tapper — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 03:02:00 PST

Sen. Bob Smith deserts the GOP in the middle of his long-shot bid for the presidency.

Letters to the Editor

Letters to the Editor — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 03:02:00 PST

If Lincoln was gay, prove it; Croatia and Serbia need democratic opposition.

Real America?

By Joan Walsh — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 03:02:00 PST

Alan Dershowitz blasts Clinton critic Rep. Bob Barr for a speech to white supremacists.

Mr. Lincoln's neighborhood

By Jan Morris — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 03:02:00 PST

Jan Morris discovers that the inspiring spirit of Abe Lincoln lives still in the streets of Springfield, Ill.