Ubiquitous wrote:
“I shall try to correct errors when shown to be errors; and I shall

adopt new views so fast as they shall appear to be true views.” —
Abraham Lincoln, Letter to Horace Greeley (1862)

In A Nutshell

Abraham Lincoln is widely accepted as one of the United States’

best

presidents. But while in office, many of the American people not

only

thought he was doing a horrible job but also considered him to be a

complete fool. It wasn’t until his tragic assassination that he

rose to

the ubiquitous popularity he has today.

The Whole Bushel

When Lincoln took office in March 1861, he was entering a

presidency he

had won with only 39.8 percent of the popular vote. Reactions from

the

public were so negative that on the eve of his inauguration he had

to

be smuggled into the capital during the dead of night in a

disguise. He

was looked down upon for everything from his humble beginnings and

lack

of education to his awkward appearance and high voice. Even the
commanding general of his armies, George McClellan, called him the
“original gorilla.” (Gives a whole new meaning to to term “OG.”)

In 1861, Lincoln inherited a nation in crisis. With the United

States

on the brink of civil war, the American public was on edge and

blamed

Lincoln for everything going wrong in the country. Of course,
Southerners hated him for trying to change the way of life they’d

known

for years. They resented him for trying to abolish slavery and

declared

their secession from the Union on February 4, 1861. But Northerners

weren’t fond of him either, unimpressed with his slow start at the presidency. They expected him to being doing more and to be doing

it

sooner.

People even hated his speeches. The Gettysburg Address—now revered

as

one of the greatest speeches of all time and memorized by school
children across the nation—was panned by many. One Chicago Times

writer

said: “The cheek of every American must tingle with shame as he

reads

the silly flat dishwatery utterances of a man who has to be pointed

out

to intelligent foreigners as the President of the United States.”

Ouch.

Lincoln’s wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, said the constant deluge of

insults

wore on the president’s feelings, and Lincoln himself reportedly

said,

“I would rather be dead than, as President, thus abused in the

house of

my friends.” But he refused to take his criticisms too much to

heart.

Lincoln went on to win the reelection in 1864, and he led the North

to

victory when General Robert E. Lee surrendered and ended the Civil

War

on April 9, 1865. Lincoln was, of course, tragically shot by John
Wilkes Booth just six days later.

Of course, Lincoln also had his supporters during his presidency,

and

his death was mourned by millions. But it wasn’t until his
assassination that he had a true surge in popularity, sending him

to

the beloved status he has today. It was only then, as Edwin Stanton

said, that he was relinquished to the ages.

Show Me The Proof

The Atlantic: ‘Idiot,’ ‘Yahoo,’ ‘Original Gorilla’: How Lincoln Was

Dissed in His Day
Civil War Trust: Evidence for The Unpopular Lincoln
Smithsonian: My Great-Great-Grandfather Hated the Gettysburg

Address.

150 Years Later, He’s Famous For It.

--
Democrats and the liberal media hate President Trump more than they

love this country.

It's not a surprise that happened to
Abraham Lincoln. He fought for ending slavery and issued the
Emancipation Proclamation. That alone will attract hatred from all the
nobles back then.


This is a response to the post seen at: http://www.jlaforums.com/viewtopic.php?p=575527284#575527284

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