Change Through Thinking Minds

The world we have created is a product of our thinking;

it cannot be changed without changing our thinking.

~ Albert Einstein

In the sky, there is no distinction of east and west; people create distinctions out of their own minds and then believe them to be true.
~ Buddha

Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds. ~ Albert Einstein

Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be. ~ Abraham Lincoln

Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything. ~ George Bernard Shaw

People's minds are changed through observation and not through argument. ~ Will Rogers

Let us train our minds to desire what the situation demands. ~ Seneca

...And from the mind of a young boy, Mattie Stepanek, a poet, philosopher, and author who, in his nearly fourteen years of living, always had the unique ability to see life and death and our world with the wisdom of an old soul.

Unity is strength... when there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved. ~ Mattie J.T. Stepanek

~Linda

Abraham Lincoln, Barack Obama and Their Qualities

Since I came to know more about Obama prior to the election I could not help but identify and compare him with Abraham Lincoln. I wasn’t sure why I felt that but I did and even began to wonder about Obama being the reincarnation of our 16th President. Then I also became aware of Obama’s admiration for Lincoln, an admiration that many share, including my own that goes back to when I was young and in elementary school. In this video, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Presidential historian and Pulitzer-Prize winning author of the book on Abraham Lincoln and his administration, Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln mentions the kind of serenity and calm that Lincoln had, and that seems to be a trait of Barack Obama’s. I refer to it as the Zen quality of Obama that I resonate with—a coolness, a calmness, a centeredness—to see, observe—to listen. Lincoln had that, and I also like the humor and wit employed by both men.

Lincoln understood the importance of his leadership and I think our new President understands the importance and historic impact of his position in today’s world.

Abraham Lincoln has again been noted as our greatest President by 65 historians. He assumed the Presidency at a time unlike any other in the history of our country, and was able to keep our country as one. Obama faces many challenges but I believe in the long term he will be a positive force, wise leader, for making this a better country.

There is also an interesting interview with Doris Kearns Goodwin by Amazon.com on the above book page link, recorded a few days before the Inauguration.

~Linda

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Abraham Lincoln and William H. Johnson, Citizen

Today is the 200th anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln, February 12, 1809. We have begun a year long celebration of our 16th President, the man who saved the Union. On Bill Moyers Journal, Bill interviewed historian Eric Foner, editor of the book, Our Lincoln: New Perspectives on Lincoln and His World.
Until seeing this program the other night, I had not heard the story about William Johnson, Lincoln’s valet—a Black man who had gone with President Lincoln to Washington from Springfield, Illinois and became President Lincoln's part-time valet and barber, and messenger of the Treasury Department.

In November 1863, Lincoln wrote a note explaining that Johnson would travel with him to Gettysburg for the dedication of the soldiers' cemetery. Mary Lincoln did not accompany the President because their son Tad was ill with smallpox. Following the dedication, Lincoln wrote to Edward Everett who had been a speaker at the dedication, “Our sick boy, for whom you kindly enquired, we hope is past the worst." After delivery of his now famous speech, Lincoln also felt ill and on the return train trip to Washington "lay in a relaxed position with a wet towel across his head," placed there by Johnson.

Upon arrival at the White House, the president was put to bed and his doctor was called, who remarked, "Mr. Lincoln's case is not fully developed yet." With his humor which came forward so often, Lincoln said, "Now let the office-seekers come, for at last I have something I can give all of them." But it is believed he may have given small pox to his valet, or, wouldn’t it be reasonable to assume he may have contacted it when Lincoln did? Johnson died. Lincoln requested that he be buried in what is now called Arlington National Cemetery, and paid for his burial and tombstone, and even took care of a bank loan he had signed for Johnson. The tombstone says, William H. Johnson, Citizen.

It was events such as that which showed the humor, the determination, and compassion of the man who is considered to be our greatest President.

Excerpt from the PBS program:BILL MOYERS: Until I read your book, I had never heard the story of Lincoln and William Johnson. William Johnson was his valet.

ERIC FONER: Uh-huh.

BILL MOYERS: One of the few people who accompanied him from Springfield to Washington when he became president. One of the few, perhaps the only person to actually read a draft of the Gettysburg Address before it was delivered. I didn't know this, that on the way back from Gettysburg, they both came down with small pox.

Lincoln's case was not very serious. But Johnson's was. He became quite ill. During his dying, Lincoln took care of him. When he died [1864], Lincoln ordered that he be buried in Arlington Cemetery. And then he had the inscription on his tombstone read: "William Johnson, citizen."

ERIC FONER: Right. And, you know, that is a wonderful story. Johnson is a black man, of course. And, you know, to say "citizen" meant something more than in a way that one might understand today because it was only a few years before, in 1857, that the Dred Scott decision had ruled, that Chief Justice Taney had said, "No black person can be a citizen of the United States." Only white people can be citizens. So to put "citizen" on this black man's gravestone is a kind of an affirmation of something. It's not just an empty phrase. It's an affirmation that, no, black people can also be citizens.

~Linda

Bill Moyers on the Economic Crisis and the Working Man...and Washington

Bill Moyers comments on his recent show...

BILL MOYERS: I had a history professor at the University of Texas - Robert Cotter - who believed the most remarkable quality of Abraham Lincoln was his empathy for people he didn't personally know. The working man. The soldier in battle. His widow and orphans.

Ordinary folks caught in the undertow of events. We could use that kind of empathy today. As Washington obsessed all week over the fate of one nominee to the cabinet, and as we watched hearings about the failure of watchdog agencies going to sleep on the job, we heard almost nothing of the people across the country suffocating in the wreckage of their lives. Some of us born in the Depression still remember the song made famous by the Carter Family singers, called the "Worried Man Blues".

"I went across that river and I lay down to sleep. When I woke up there were shackles on my feet."

The day my father was fired from his job at Manly's Appliance Store, he came walking home as if he had shackles on his feet. I still remember the look on his face. He wasn't yet 50, but had suddenly turned old, the way a lot of people look today who are losing their jobs. Their stomachs are knotted with fear as the life they had come to expect is fading fast. Not because of their own failures but because our political and financial elites rigged the economy for their own advantage.

John F. Kennedy famously said, "Life is unfair," and so it is. But it wouldn't feel as unfair if the shackles wound up instead on the well-heeled feet of Wall Street and Washington's elect. That's the change we need, the change we can really believe in. "

**********

Worried Man Blues, Johnny Cash, Mother Maybelle Carter, June Carter, Helen and Anita.

Novel Writing, Character Flow

After completing my latest nonfiction ebook , How Thin the Veil! 150 Years of Spiritualism and the gift ebooks that go along with it, most in celebration of Lincoln’s bicentennial birthday this month, I began a new novel. I had intended to do some writing today but did not. Sunday evening is one night that I watch certain programs, my favorite being “Big Love” on HBO. The acting is tremendous on that show. Although the story line is unique, and may not seem to be approved of by many, you really learn immediately to overlook that with the incredible acting, not just by one or two of the characters but by every one on that show. My other favorite is “Brothers and Sisters.” And of course it is hard to let a Sunday night go by without watching what is happening on Wisteria Lane with those Housewives.

So tonight thanks to my DVR I was able to see the Grammy Awards and the three programs.

So, no writing tonight. I stopped late last night at page 98. I write at night for the most part as my days are too busy. I’m usually still going strong at 1:00 am or later. It seems with the writing of this story I have been getting into a character flow...where the character or characters take over the story and “write” it. As usual, I do not know where my story is going. I have this vague idea of the overall story, but that is about it. After all it is their story to tell, so hopefully it will continue to unfold at an even pace. I hope I can keep up this momentum with the manuscript. I go to bed thinking about it, have even dreamed about it. I usually listen to the radio, Coast to Coast AM, George Noory, which is on until 4:00 am. Often I fall asleep soon after going to bed, but when Coast to Coast goes off at 4, I almost always wake up about 4:10, when the infomercials are on.... special vitamins, herbal products, and there is something so irritating with the voices of the “doctor” and interviewer, and announcer for the 800 numbers. I turn the radio off and then about that time I hear the train whistle blowing.... and then I again think about my characters in my book and what they are doing next.... and sometimes have to talk myself out of getting up and going to the computer for more story telling.

So now instead of writing page 99 and more, late tonight, I decided to write this blog....and then go listen to the radio...and the rain.

~Linda

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President Lincoln and His Pet Goats at the White House

Behind the Scenes, Or, Thirty Years a Slave, and Four Years in the White House by Elizabeth Keckley is one of the first memoirs by a White House insider, published in 1868. It is considered both a vivid slave narrative and an important source for Abraham Lincoln scholars. The press criticized Keckley for her intimate portrayal of the Lincoln family, especially for publishing numerous letters Mary Lincoln had written to her.

Here is another excerpt I found of interest regarding President Lincoln’s goats in Elizabeth Keckley’s book. I thought Lincoln’s comment about manipulation of the "grand machine" and "bounty-jumpers" and the "outrageous fraud" seemed so timely with what is happening currently in Washington. I think the bailout of banks and companies, fit the bounty-jumpers' tag very well, and yes, it is an outrageous fraud being manipulated by the grand government machine.

Mr. Lincoln was fond of pets. He had two goats that knew the sound of his voice, and when he called them they would come bounding to his side. In the warm bright days, he and Tad would sometimes play in the yard with these goats, for a hour at a time. One Saturday afternoon I went to the White House to dress Mrs. Lincoln. I had nearly completed my task when the President came in. It was a bright day, and walking to the window, he looked down into the yard, smiled, and, turning to me, asked:

"Madam Elizabeth, you are fond of pets, are you not?"

"O Yes, sir," I answered.

"Well, come here and look at my two goats. I believe they are the kindest and best goats in the world. See how they sniff the clear air, and skip and play in the sunshine. Whew! what a jump," he exclaimed as one of the goats made a lofty spring. "Madam Elizabeth, did you ever before see such an active goat?"

Musing a moment, he continued: "He feeds on my bounty, and jumps with joy. Do you think we could call him a bounty-jumper? But I flatter the bounty-jumper. My goat is far above him. I would rather wear his horns and hairy coat through life, than demean myself to the level of the man who plunders the national treasury in the name of patriotism. The man who enlists into the service for a consideration, and deserts the moment he receives his money but to repeat the play, is bad enough; but the men who manipulate the grand machine and who simply make the bounty-jumper their agent in an outrageous fraud are far worse. They are beneath the worms that crawl in the dark hidden places of earth."

His lips curled with haughty scorn, and a cloud was gathering on his brow. Only a moment the shadow rested on his face. Just then both goats looked up at the window and shook their heads as if they would say "How d'ye do, old friend?"

"See, Madam Elizabeth," exclaimed the President in a tone of enthusiasm, "my pets recognize me. How earnestly they look! There they go again; what jolly fun!" and he laughed outright as the goats bounded swiftly to the other side of the yard.

Just then Mrs. Lincoln called out, "Come, Lizabeth; if I get ready to go down this evening I must finish dressing myself, or you must stop staring at those silly goats."

Mrs. Lincoln was not fond of pets, and she could not understand how Mr. Lincoln could take so much delight in his goats.

Mrs. Kackley notes that after President Lincoln’s death Mrs. Lincoln gave away the goats he loved so well.

See my Sunday Blog for another excerpt of Elizabeth Kackley’s book. Also the book is downloadable.

~Linda

Thirty Years a Slave, Four Years in the White House as a Dressmaker

With my usual interest in Abraham Lincoln, and his upcoming bicentennial birthday celebration, and my recent publication of my newest ebooks, of which Lincoln is a big part, I discovered a book published in 1868, by Elizabeth (Hobbs) Keckley, a Black woman born into slavery in 1818. She suffered various abuses from a very young age.

She became free in 1855, partly due to her dressmaking skills. She then became a White House Seamstress for Mary Todd Lincoln and also Mrs. Lincoln’s confidante over a four year period during the Civil War. What I have read of her memoir is very interesting and Robert Todd Lincoln, eldest son of the Lincoln’s whose actions I’ve always questioned, had the book withdrawn from publication. (for what period of time, I do not know). Mrs. Keckley tends to show the controversial side of her friend Mary Lincoln, along with obvious understanding of Mary Lincoln’s personality. She seems to think highly of Abraham Lincoln.

Here is an excerpt from Behind the Scenes: Or, Thirty Years a Slave, and Four Years in the White House By Elizabeth Keckley, Published by Stansil and Lee, 1868.My long-cherished hope was about to be realized, and I could not rest.

Tuesday morning, at eight o'clock, I crossed the threshold of the White House for the first time. I was shown into a waiting-room, and informed that Mrs. Lincoln was at breakfast. In the waiting-room I found no less than three mantua-makers waiting for an interview with the wife of the new President. It seems that Mrs. Lincoln had told several of her lady friends that she had urgent need for a dress-maker, and that each of these friends had sent her mantua-maker to the White House. Hope fell at once. With so many rivals for the position sought after, I regarded my chances for success as extremely doubtful. I was the last one summoned to Mrs. Lincoln's presence. All the others had a hearing, and were dismissed. I went up-stairs timidly, and entering the room with nervous step, discovered the wife of the President standing by a window, looking out, and engaged in lively conversation with a lady, Mrs. Grimsly, as I afterwards learned.

Mrs. L. came forward, and greeted me warmly. "You have come at last. Mrs. Keckley, who have you worked for in the city?"

"Among others, Mrs. Senator Davis has been one of my best patrons," was my reply.

"Mrs. Davis! So you have worked for her, have you? Of course you gave satisfaction; so far, good. Can you do my work?"

"Yes, Mrs. Lincoln. Will you have much work for me to do?"

"That, Mrs. Keckley, will depend altogether upon your prices. I trust that your terms are reasonable. I cannot afford to be extravagant. We are just from the West, and are poor. If you do not charge too much, I shall be able to give you all my work."

"I do not think there will be any difficulty about charges, Mrs. Lincoln; my terms are reasonable."

"Well, if you will work cheap, you shall have plenty to do. I can't afford to pay big prices, so I frankly tell you so in the beginning."

The terms were satisfactorily arranged, and I measured Mrs. Lincoln, took the dress with me, a bright rose-colored moire-antique, and returned the next day to fit it on her. A number of ladies were in the room, all making preparations for the levee to come off on Friday night. These ladies, I learned, were relatives of Mrs. L.'s,—Mrs. Edwards and Mrs. Kellogg, her own sisters, and Elizabeth Edwards and Julia Baker, her nieces. Mrs. Lincoln this morning was dressed in a cashmere wrapper, quilted down the front; and she wore a simple head-dress. The other ladies wore morning robes.

I was hard at work on the dress, when I was informed that the levee had been postponed from Friday night till Tuesday night. This, of course, gave me more time to complete my task. Mrs. Lincoln sent for me, and suggested some alteration in style, which was made. She also requested that I make a waist of blue watered silk for Mrs. Grimsly, as work on the dress would not require all my time.

Tuesday evening came, and I had taken the last stitches on the dress. I folded it and carried it to the White House, with the waist for Mrs. Grimsly. When I went up-stairs, I found the ladies in a terrible state of excitement. Mrs. Lincoln was protesting that she could not go down, for the reason that she had nothing to wear.

"Mrs. Keckley, you have disappointed me—deceived me. Why do you bring my dress at this late hour?"

"Because I have just finished it, and I thought I should be in time."

"But you are not in time, Mrs. Keckley; you have bitterly disappointed me. I have no time now to dress, and, what is more, I will not dress, and go down-stairs."

"I am sorry if I have disappointed you, Mrs. Lincoln, for I intended to be in time. Will you let me dress you? I can have you ready in a few minutes."

"No, I won't be dressed. I will stay in my room. Mr. Lincoln can go down with the other ladies."

"But there is plenty of time for you to dress, Mary," joined in Mrs. Grimsly and Mrs. Edwards. "Let Mrs. Keckley assist you, and she will soon have you ready."

Thus urged, she consented. I dressed her hair, and arranged the dress on her. It fitted nicely, and she was pleased. Mr. Lincoln came in, threw himself on the sofa, laughed with Willie and little Tad, and then commenced pulling on his gloves, quoting poetry all the while.

"You seem to be in a poetical mood to-night," said his wife.

"Yes, mother, these are poetical times," was his pleasant reply. "I declare, you look charming in that dress. Mrs. Keckley has met with great success." And then he proceeded to compliment the other ladies.

Mrs. Lincoln looked elegant in her rose-colored moire-antique. She wore a pearl necklace, pearl ear-rings, pearl bracelets, and red roses in her hair. Mrs. Baker was dressed in lemon-colored silk; Mrs. Kellogg in a drab silk, ashes of rose; Mrs. Edwards in a brown and black silk; Miss Edwards in crimson, and Mrs. Grimsly in blue watered silk.

Just before starting down-stairs, Mrs. Lincoln's lace handkerchief was the object of search. It had been displaced by Tad, who was mischievous, and hard to restrain. The handkerchief found, all became serene. Mrs. Lincoln took the President's arm, and with smiling face led the train below. I was surprised at her grace and composure. I had heard so much, in current and malicious report, of her low life, of her ignorance and vulgarity, that I expected to see her embarrassed on this occasion. Report, I soon saw, was wrong. Is to queen, accustomed to the usages of royalty all her life, could have comported herself with more calmness and dignity than did the wife of the President. She was confident and self-possessed, and confidence always gives grace.

This levee was a brilliant one, and the only one of the season. I became the regular modiste of Mrs. Lincoln. I made fifteen or sixteen dresses for her during the spring and early part of the summer, when she left Washington; spending the hot weather at Saratoga, Long Branch, and other places. In the mean time I was employed by Mrs. Senator Douglas, one of the loveliest ladies that I ever met, Mrs. Secretary Wells, Mrs. Secretary Stanton, and others. Mrs. Douglas always dressed in deep mourning, with excellent taste, and several of the leading ladies of Washington society were extremely jealous of her superior attractions.

MRS. LINCOLN returned to Washington in November, and again duty called me to the White House. The war was now in progress, and every day brought stirring news from the front —the front, where the Gray opposed the Blue, where flashed the bright sabre in the sunshine, where were heard the angry notes of battle, the deep roar of cannon, and the fearful rattle of musketry; where new graves were being made every day, where brother forgot a mother's early blessing and sought the life-blood of brother, and friend raised the deadly knife against friend.

Oh, the front, with its stirring battle-seer es! Oh, the front, with its ghastly heaps of dead! The life of the nation was at stake; and when the land was full of sorrow, there could not be much gayety at the capital. The days passed quietly with me. I soon learned that some people had an intense desire to penetrate the inner circle of the White House. No President and his family, heretofore occupying this mansion, ever excited so much curiosity as the present incumbents. Mr. Lincoln had grown up in the wilds of the West, and evil report had said much of him and his wife. The polite world was shocked, and the tendency to exaggerate intensified curiosity. As soon as it was known that I was the modiste of Mrs. Lincoln, parties crowded around and affected friendship for me, hoping to induce me to betray the secrets of the domestic circle. One day a woman, I will not call her a lady, drove up to my rooms, gave me an order to make a dress, and insisted on partly paying me in advance. She called on me every day, and was exceedingly kind.

When she came to take her dress away, she cautiously remarked: "Mrs. Keckley, you know Mrs. Lincoln?"

"Yes."

"You are her modiste; are you not!"

"Yes."

"You know her very well; do you not ?"

"I am with her every day or two."

"Don't you think you would have some influence with her?"

"I cannot say. Mrs. Lincoln, I presume, would listen to anything I should suggest, but whether she would be influenced by a suggestion of mine is another question."

"I am sure that you could influence her, Mrs. Keckley. Now listen; I have a proposition to make. I have a great desire to become an inmate of the White House. I have heard so much of Mr. Lincoln's goodness that I should like to be near him; and if I can enter the White House no other way, I am willing to go as a menial. My dear Mrs. Keckley, will you not recommend me to Mrs. Lincoln as a friend of yours out of employment, and ask her to take me as a chambermaid? If you will do this you shall be well rewarded. It may be worth several thousand dollars to you in time."

I looked at the woman in amazement. A bribe, and to betray the confidence of my employer! Turning to her with a glance of scorn, I said: "Madam, you are mistaken in regard to my character. Sooner than betray the trust of a friend, I would throw myself into the Potomac River. I am not so base as that. Pardon me, but there is the door, and I trust that you will never enter my room again."

She sprang to her feet in deep confusion, and passed through the door, murmuring: "Very well; you will live to regret your action today."

"Never, never!” I exclaimed, and closed the door after her with a bang. I afterwards learned that this woman was an actress, and that her object was to enter the White House as a servant, learn its secrets, and then publish a scandal to the world. I do not give her name, for such publicity would wound the sensitive feelings of friends, who would have to share her disgrace, without being responsible for her faults. I simply record the incident to show how I often was approached by unprincipled parties.

It is unnecessary to say that I indignantly refused every bribe offered.

The first public appearance of Mrs. Lincoln that winter was at the reception on New Year's Day. This reception was shortly followed by a brilliant levee. The day after the levee I went to the "White House, and while fitting a dress to Mrs. Lincoln, she said:

"Lizabeth"—she had learned to drop the E— "Lizabeth, I have an idea. These are war times, and we must be as economical as possible. You know the President is expected to give a series of State dinners every winter, and these dinners are very costly; Now I want to avoid this expense; and my idea is, that if I give three large receptions, the state dinners can be scratched from the program. What do you think, Lizabeth?"

"I think that you are right, Mrs. Lincoln."

"I am glad to hear you say so. If I can make Mr. Lincoln take the same view of the case, I shall not fail to put the idea into practice."

Before I left her room that day, Mr. Lincoln came in. She at once stated the case to him.

He pondered the question a few moments before answering. " Mother, I am afraid your plan will not work."

"But it will work, if you will only determine that it shall work."

"It is breaking in on the regular custom," he mildly replied.

"But you forget, father, these are war times, and old customs can be done away with for the once. The idea is economical, you must admit."

"Yes, mother, but we must think of something besides economy."

"I do think of something else. Public receptions are more democratic than stupid State dinners—are more in keeping with the spirit of the institutions of our country, as you would say if called upon to make a stump speech. There are a great many strangers in the city, foreigners and others, whom we can entertain at our receptions, but whom we cannot invite to our dinners."

"I believe you are right, mother. You argue the point well. I think that we shall have to decide on the receptions."

So the day was carried. The question was decided, and arrangements were made for the first reception. It now was January, and cards were issued for February.

I may post more of this as I read more of her book. Lincoln was fond of poetry and her comment about the poetry confirms what I had discovered in many writings about him. And also he apparently was always very gracious and complimentry not only to his wife but to other women.

The book is available electronically.

~Linda

Historic Inauguration of President Obama, and Vice President Biden

It was amazing to watch. Obama’s inauguration was so historic and emotional. It seems the significance of this goes much deeper than the historic event of having a bi-racial/Black President. (I loved he was sworn in on Abraham Lincoln’s Bible) I believe the bigger message or hope has been about positive change, acceptance, tolerance, diversity, and equality in all areas of life and that might be why it has hit so many of us a such a deep level...a soul level. And with that comes the emotion, the tears. I think our new President and Vice President will represent us well.

~Linda

American Prayer, written by Dave Stewart, Bono. Stewart explains why he wrote the song:
"People long for a connection-- whether it is to music, to their country, or to a big idea."

An Historic Journey by Train, Obama and Biden on the Obama Express

The Obama Express: From Philadelphia to Washington D.C., an historic journey, a duplication of part of a journey made by Abraham Lincoln to his own inauguration in 1861. Today our President-elect Barack Obama made that symbolic journey to Washington D.C. for his Tuesday inauguration, accompanied by his wife, Michelle, and their two daughters. They picked up Vice President-elect Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, and family in Wilmington, Delaware.

Here is a bit of Obama's speech at a stop in Baltimore:

"And yet while our problems may be new, what is required to overcome them is not. What is required is the same perseverance and idealism that those first patriots displayed. What is required is a new declaration of independence, not just in our nation, but in our own lives - from ideology and small thinking, prejudice and bigotry - an appeal not to our easy instincts but to our better angels."

"That is the reason I launched my campaign for the presidency nearly two years ago. I did so in the belief that the most fundamental American ideal, that a better life is in store for all those willing to work for it, was slipping out of reach. That Washington was serving the interests of the few, not the many. And that our politics had grown too small for the scale of the challenges we faced. But I also believed something else. I believed that our future is our choice, and that if we could just recognize ourselves in one another and bring everyone together - Democrats, Republicans, and Independents, north, south, east and west, black, white, Latino, Asian, and Native American, gay and straight, disabled and not - then not only would we restore hope and opportunity in places that yearned for both, but maybe, just maybe, we might perfect our union in the process."

"This is what I believed, but you made this belief real. You proved once more that people who love this country can change it. And as I prepare to leave for Washington on a trip that you made possible, know that I will not be traveling alone. I will be taking with me some of the men and women I met along the way, Americans from every corner of this country, whose hopes and heartaches were the core of our cause; whose dreams and struggles have become my own. Theirs are the voices I will carry with me every day in the White House. Theirs are the stories I will be thinking of when we deliver the changes you elected me to make. "

I surprisingly found myself with tears in listening to his words today. So hopeful, so inspirational, so energizing. I can't help but associate Obama with Lincoln. Even did so before the Lincoln theme was created for the Inauguration. This is history being made. And it is exciting.

I better keep the Kleenex handy on Tuesday, because that is the way this is hitting me, deeply.

~Linda

Photo by Richard Perry, New York Times

The Hands of History: Lincoln, Obama, Ream

From one hand on a Bible, that of Abraham Lincoln during his first Presidential inauguration in 1861, to one hand on the same Bible, that of the first inauguration of Barack Obama in 2009, almost 148 years later.

That is not only history, but history in the making. All that Lincoln strived for in our country has come to be with the choice of our President-elect by voters.

I believe it is fitting that Obama has chosen to use Lincoln’s Bible to take his oath of office. President-elect Obama will be the first president to be sworn in using this Bible since Abraham Lincoln. Presidents are not constitutionally required to be sworn in using a Bible, though most choose to do so.

The Lincoln Bible, now in the Library of Congress, is burgundy velvet with a gold-washed white metal rim around the three outside edges of both covers. All its edges are heavily gilded. In the center of the top cover is a shield of gold wash over white metal with the words "Holy Bible" chased into it. The 1,280-page Bible was published in 1853 by the Oxford University Press and was purchased in 1861 by Supreme Court Clerk William Thomas Carroll for use in Abraham Lincoln's inauguration because the president-elect's family Bible was packed away in Illinois and was en route to Washington.

Today in doing research on Lincoln for my newest series of ebooks, I discovered information I did not previously know. And that had to do with women’s rights, and position in the mid 1800’s and with another pair of hands...the hands of Vinnie Ream, the young sculptor who did a marble bust of Lincoln and then after his death was awarded the commission to sculpt the statute of Lincoln which now stands in the Capitol Rotunda.

Although I had photographed the statue on a visit to the Capitol a few years ago, I did not know the history of the sculptor. And I was surprised to learn it was a very attractive young woman. At the time Lincoln sat for the bust she sculpted, she was 18 years of age, and then at 23, commissioned to do the Lincoln statue.

Vinnie Reams’ hands left an imprint on history, also.

She wrote: “Congress appropriated money to erect a marble statue of the martyred President in the Capitol, it never occurred to me, with my youth and my inexperience, to compete for that great honor; but I was induced to place my likeness of him before the committee having the matter under consideration, and, together with many other artists--competitors for this work--I was called before this committee. I shall never forget the fear that fell upon me, as the chairman (the Hon. John H. Rice, of Maine, who had a kind heart, but a very stern manner) looked up through his glasses, from his seat at the head of the table, and questioned and cross-questioned me until I was so frightened that I could hardly reply to his questions: "How long had I been studying art?'' and had I ever made a marble statue?'' My knees trembled and I shook like an aspen, and I had not enough presence of mind even to tell him that I had made the bust from sittings from life. Seeing my dire confusion, and not being able to hear my incoherent replies, he dismissed me with a wave of his hand, and a request to Judge Marshall, of Illinois, to kindly see the young artist home! Once there, in the privacy of my own room, I wept bitter tears that I had been such an idiot as to try to compete with men, and remembering the appearance before that stern committee as a terrible ordeal before unmerciful judges, I promised myself it should be my last experience of that kind."

"Judge then of my surprise and delight when I learned that, guided by the opinion of Judge David Davis, Senator Trumbull, Marshal Lamon, Sec. O. H. Browning, Judge Dickey, and many others of President Lincoln's old friends, that I had produced the most faithful likeness of him, they had awarded the commission to me-the little western sculptor. The Committee on Mines and Mining tendered me their room in the Capitol, in which to model my statue, because it was next to the room of Judge David Davis, and he could come in daily and aid me with his friendly criticisms. His comfortable chair was kept in readiness. He came daily, and suggesting ‘a little more here--a little on there--more inclining of the bended head--more angularity of the long limbs,’ he aided me in my sacred work by his encouraging words and generous sympathy.”

She wrote this after the unveiling of the Lincoln statue in January, 1871.

“This night when the Lincoln statue was unveiled in the rotunda of the Capitol was the supreme moment of my life. I had known and loved the man! My country had loved him and cherished his memory. In tears the people had parted with him. With shouts of joy and acclamations of affection they had received his image in the marble. Upon the very spot where a few years before they had gathered in sorrow to gaze upon his lifeless body lying there in state while a nation mourned, they had gathered again to unveil his statue. ‘The marble is the resurrection,’ say the old sculptors, and now the dead had arisen to live forever in the hearts of the people whom he loved so well.”

And I like what she wrote about Washington D.C. and the Capitol, which, of course, she had a special feeling for.

“We have a country the chosen of the earth, rich in the best of gifts and prosperous beyond all expectation. Our lines are cast in pleasant places. Those of us who live in Washington are particularly blessed. The sun has never shone upon a more lovely city. Beautifully situated, with healthful and favoring airs stealing up from the sea, between the picturesque banks of the Potomac, and with beautiful buildings rising on every side.”

"The grand old Capitol, with its majestic dome, towers above them all--a star by day and a pillar of fire by night. It is truly a picture for the artist always, whether in the sun, the storm, the rain, the mist or the moonlight. The Congressional Library is a never-failing fountain of knowledge. It is receiving now a new impetus and reaching out its arms in every direction. Its growth is so rapid that the Capitol cannot much longer contain it and it must soon build a temple unto itself. A storehouse of treasures is encompassed by the picturesque walls of the Smithsonian and the new museum will eventually become a second Kensington. The portals of art have been thrown wide open by the generous hand of Mr. Corcoran and the nation will preserve with gratitude and affection his noble gift: the Corcoran Art Gallery. We who live here cannot say that we lack advantages.”

"Our country's history and the grand destiny awaiting it, inspire us to action. Our beautiful Capitol will some day lay its proud head low, the grass will grow on our bright avenues and our pictures and statues will crumble into dust, but the recollection of great and good deeds will not die. Where are now the houses and the streets which the illustrious men of the past have inhabited? They have melted away into thin air. They have vanished, but the memory of these great men remains and the heart of youth beats high with aspiration and enthusiasm when listening to the recital of their glowing deeds. Let us all try to do something and do the very best we can. Some can make of themselves great men--all can be good men. Who can say there may not be in this very assemblage some boy who, striving to be good and great, may be revered in story and in song, when the ashes of centuries shall envelope this now fair city."

Vennie Ream lived from 1847-1914.

~ Linda

Choosing A Presidential Cabinet

Should a candidate for President, once he is nominated, tell the voters who will become members of his Cabinet, if he is elected? There has been quite some discussion over this subject. Does the general opinion seem to be that as a Cabinet has so much to do with the shaping of an Administration that advance information should be given? But apparently it is not done, although there have been some elections which cast tell-tale Cabinet selection shadows before them. All in all, it seems likely that the plan of the future will be one we have always followed, but in all cases to bend our energies to the selection of candidates whose judgment is to be relied upon in the making of wise Cabinet choices. It cannot be otherwise than true that a splendid Cabinet might make a success of a weak executive’s Administration. Such things have been witnessed by men and women still living.

When the Convention nominated the young man, he had not been well known, almost an unknown outside the Midwest and had not enjoyed a wide reputation among political activities. His term in Illinois politics—the Illinois legislature, an attorney—had been rather a short time. In going over very carefully the events of his career up to that time we can find no task which called forth the skill, the patience, tact and diplomacy which he has displayed in his picking of his Cabinet at a time when the country is as divided with such internal strife as we now face.

If some writers are to be believed, he picked his Cabinet members on Election night. But the Cabinet was not selected then, nor was the task so easily disposed of as some would have us believe. It actually took several weeks to pick his team, and for those persons to accept the positions offered them.

His reasons for picking his Cabinet seemed to be to combine experience, integrity, popularity, regional, and bipartisan.

If there is ever a time when this country of ours was on tip-toes over Cabinet-making, it was when the choice for Secretary of State was an outspoken opponent and a New Yorker, but was not Hillary Clinton, as you might think. Then, in 1860, it was William H. Seward, and the President choosing his Cabinet was Abraham Lincoln.

The above had been written about Abraham Lincoln’s selection of his first Cabinet of seven men, at a time when the country was being devastated by Civil War.

Sounds familiar, though, doesn’t it? I could have added Barack Obama, our President-elect, herein, but I was writing about our 16th President. Of course, I personally see such similarity between the two men, both going into the Presidency at a time of turmoil in the country, a time of needed change and excellent leadership. With Lincoln we had a man of vision, a man of compassion, honesty, and humor, and a man dedicated to his role as President. I believe we have those same qualities in Obama, and although he faces great challenges in getting our country back on track, and respected in the world, I feel confident that he can do so, and I feel confident with his Vice President Joe Biden and with the Cabinet choices.

I am optimistically looking forward to a swinging of the pendulum which has already began its movement with the historic election of Obama.

I do hope my grandchildren appreciate the historic event that has taken place. I look forward to the day when women’s rights, gay rights, and other issues of equality are no longer a political issue used by the Republican party. We’ve come a long way, but we still have a ways to go to achieve what every citizen deserves. And let’s hope years upon years do not have to go by before diversity and equality for all is accepted by all citizens of this country.

~Linda

“I happen temporarily to occupy this big White House. I am living witness that any one of your children may look to come here as my father's child has." ~Abraham Lincoln