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Abraham Lincoln and the Enlightened Heart
By Stephen Proskauer MD | February 18, 2008
Today we are celebrating Lincoln’s birthday, and this very day I happened to finish reading a fascinating study of Lincoln’s genius, Team of Rivals by the historian Doris Goodwin. What stands out most strongly in this account, along with his amazing political savvy, is Lincoln’s limitless good will toward even his most bitter foes, including all his political rivals and the Southern Confederacy itself. The central focus of the book has to do with the adroit way Lincoln drew his defeated and contentious rivals for the Presidency into his cabinet and made use of their talents for the service of the country, while constantly working to keep the peace between them. Even when Lincoln knew a political rival in his cabinet was attacking and undermining him behind his back in an effort to win the Presidency away from him in the next election, Lincoln maintained his genial disposition. A generosity of heart emerges that speaks not only of political shrewdness (giving his opponents enough rope to hang themselves) but beyond that a degree of egolessness that enabled him not to be so personally offended that he would counterattack or angrily expel the traitor from his administration. He never seemed to use his position of power to bolster his ego. Over and over again, political observers mistook his generosity and egolessness for weakness or even stupidity. Lincoln combined his freedom from personal ego with an uncanny capacity to be moved by whomever he encountered, were it wounded soldier or office seeker or grieving family pleading with him for a convicted loved one to be pardoned. He could go from shared pain to shared mirth in an instant, telling endless stories that seemed to reflect everyone and everything around him like a vast mirror. It is so rare to find such spaciousness of heart and mind in a politician. He comes as close as we have had in this country to a universally revered and beloved icon of enlightenment.
Topics: Abraham Lincoln, Enlightenment, Uncategorized |