We, then mounting the stage of existence, found ourselves the legal inheritors of these fundamental blessings. Tis ours only to transmit these to the latest generation that fate shall permit the world to know. Gratitude to our fathers, justice to ourselves, duty to posterity, and love for our species in general all imperatively require us faithfully to perform this task. Well, that was his sense of passing these things on. And in thinking about this transitional role, as the principles and history of our nation are passed on from one generation to another, I think it is interesting to examine the parallels between Lincoln's leadership and things that are happening in our own time.
Several examples come to mind.
When Ronald Reagan was elected, as Larry said, in 1980, there were pundits and politics in the press who regarded him only as a gun-slinging, former actor from the wild west, as many of them regarded California. Well, if you go back 120 years to Lincoln's election as President and look at the way he was viewed, such as is described in the words of Donald Phillips, who wrote the book, Lincoln and Leadership , those were the ways in which the eastern establishment regarded Lincoln. Well, I suspect that both presidents benefited greatly by being underestimated by their adversaries, as well as by the establishment of their respective times. Well, I would suggest to you that we can see other parallels in applying Lincoln's advice to situations with which we are all familiar today. Clarence Thomas has told of how he overcame the malicious and the unfair criticism simply by not reading the newspapers or watching television.