OF A GOLDEN AGE

Writing about Abraham Lincoln the other day brought it to my attention that this is really the year of Lincoln. His 200th birthday is approaching fast and Barack Obama clearly has an epic head-of-state crush on him. This means that for me, a notorious Lincolnphile with a head-of-state crush of my own, these are times ripe for the picking. Here are some examples.

• The New York Times story I posted the other day (“From Books, New President Found Voice”).

• This interactive feature, also from the Times, by which you may compare inaugural addresses from Washington to the present. Lincoln was one of the few presidents to prominently feature the word “constitution” in his speech.

• “Why Doesn’t Every President Use the Lincoln Bible?” from Slate describes an upcoming Library of Congress exhibition of “Lincolniana,” a word that makes me want to hurl regardless of my Lincolnphile status.

• My otherwise-terrible hometown has a beautiful statue of Lincoln, and once hosted him as an overnight guest following a speech. The site of the speech is marked by an engraved rock, while the inn where he stayed tries to utilize this connection. Too bad Oregon is still shitty!

• The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum opened in 2005. I still have not been, and this is really a travesty. Of course, I’ll have to lock myself in and never leave, a la From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.

I’ve decided to write a series of posts on my favorite things. They will be issued as I get the itch to describe things and why I love them.

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