Abraham Lincoln

For several days, I have been reading Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin. I finally finished all 754 pages. Some parts are too long for my taste. The detailed biographies and character sketches of each of Lincoln's rivals, who became cabinet members, were often very repetitive. However, I learned a great deal about the civil war and about the greatness and skilled leadership of Lincoln. One character trait he displayed is not often mentioned in modern pols: his kindness.

It's amusing to read about the 1860 Republican Presidential nominating process and convention while watching the current Democratic Convention in process. Embedded in the rituals of this week's selection process is clearly a slight pretense of doubt. Historic precedent seems to overwhelm common sense in this day when every delegate, every commentator, and every TV watcher knows what will happen. Also, modern communication has rendered much of the give and take of an old convention irrelevant. If anyone is making deals, it doesn't show.

During the conventions that nominated Lincoln for his two terms, he was not present at all. In 1860, he was at his home in Springfield while the convention was in Chicago, waiting impatiently for the results because he was definitely not at the top of anyone's list of winners-to-be. In 1864, he was in Washington; the convention was in Baltimore. Candidates didn't attend the convention until some time in the 20th century. Lincoln spent part of the nominating day in 1864 waiting at the telegraph office, as he often did when waiting for war news -- there was no telegraph in the White House.

Obama last night appeared by remote video -- another example of how technology has changed everything about the process. Not to mention amplification of speeches, also invented long after Lincoln.