Remembering Lincoln

Last weekend, Kris and I went to the movies to see "Lincoln," the biopic directed by Stephen Spielberg, with Daniel Day-Lewis and Sally Fields as the title couple. The movie focuses on the last three months of Abraham Lincoln's life and his fight to get the proposed Thirteenth Amendment through the House of Representatives. In addition, the Lincoln's had to confront the desire of their oldest son, Robert, to enlist in the Union army.

Much of the material for the movie comes from Doris Kearns Goodwin's massive history of Lincoln, Team of Rivals. Principal among the erstwhile rivals was William Seward, played in the movie by David  Strathairn. Early in the Lincoln presidency, Seward had learned that Lincoln was a superior politician, and by 1865 had developed an important but subservient role in the president's administration. In the movie, he is Lincoln's foil, giving sensible advice that Lincoln considers but rejects in order to pursue longer range objectives.

By January 1865, the Civil War was moving towards its end. Confederate forces in Virginia were greatly outnumbered and pinned to the trenches before Richmond and Petersburg. What forces the rebel nation could still muster in South and North  Carolina were nearly overwhelmed by the army of William Tecumseh Sherman. Still, to win a final victory would be the work of who knew how long and cost who knew how many lives.

And there hung one of Lincoln's problems. The Lincolns had produced four children in their marriage, all boys. One son, Edward, died as an adolescent in the 1850's and another, Willie, passed away after a short illness, possibly cholera, in February, 1862. Both parents were devastated by the loss. Now Robert would be risking his life, and Mary  pulls no punches telling Lincoln that she could not survive his loss, and that as president he had to prevent Robert's enlistment.

Could Lincoln use his powers as president to keep his own son from danger when so many other sons were serving in the front lines, or had already been killed or  injured? Although the movie doesn't say so explicitly, we know, and it shows, that Lincoln found a place for Robert on General Grant's staff.

In other words, Lincoln compromised. Robert was not entirely out of danger, but was not among the assault forces that finally shattered the Confederate lines in April 1865.

This was a subplot, though. The main plot line of the film dealt with Lincoln's efforts to get the proposed Thirteenth Amendment passed. Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation had freed all slaves in areas of the country in rebellion, but Lincoln could not be sure the Supreme Court would uphold his action once the war was over. (In fact, secession and the Confederate government were the death blow to slavery, in my opinion. Part of the absurdity of secession was that it was undertaken to preserve the "southern way of life," including slavery, but the black Americans themselves would never have stood for the "peculiar institution" if they knew they could escape to the north without any threat of being captured there.)

Almost all the Democrats and a few Republicans in the House were opposed to the Amendment. (Remember, a measure must pass both houses of Congress by a two-thirds vote and be ratified by the state legislatures of three-fourths of the states to become an amendment.) In January 1865 Lincoln and his aids judged they were twenty votes short in the House. A number of Representatives had been defeated in the 1864 elections and would be out of Congress by the end of 1865, but were still serving at the beginning of the year. Most of these were Democrats, so the logical question, posed to the president by Seward, was, why not wait for the new Congress with more Republicans, when passage would be much easier?

Lincoln decided he could not wait. If the war ended in 1865 and a measure of normality was restored, there would be endless delays in Congress. So, the horse-trading began. Lame duck congressmen were looking for jobs, and Lincoln had jobs to give. Gradually, the deficit in votes was reduced, but still Lincoln didn't have enough votes as the time for the crucial tally neared. Lincoln inserted himself directly into the process, quietly meeting reluctant congressmen to urge passage, but was rebuffed on more than one occasion.

Finally, Lincoln had to deal with Thaddeus Stevens (Tommy Lee Jones), congressman from Pennsylvania, who wanted to use the amendment as a springboard, to produce real racial equality in America. Lincoln knew he could never win the support of the nervous Democrats unless the amendment focused solely on the political status of black Americans, not their social status, so Stevens had to be muzzled.

Eventually, Lincoln won. He kept his own Republican party together by restricting - at least in public - the scope of the amendment, and won over enough Democrats by a combination of his persuasive powers and a little political grease. He is able to tell a delegation from the southern states that the amendment will win ratification and that slavery is ended once and for all.

There is a little postscript or epilogue. Lincoln's second inaugural is seen and Lincoln says his wonderful closing sentences, "With malice towards none, with charity for all, let us bind up the nation's wounds." A month later, he and Mary go to Ford's Theater for a pleasant evening out.

The acting performances were superb. The costuming really evoked the 1860's. Spielberg, who is known for the dazzling light effects in his movies, uses all natural light, or candle and lantern power, which adds to the feel of a bygone time. Last, I think they stayed true to the facts of the time, telling a complicated story with grace, and letting Lincoln's humor - often of the barnyard variety - show through.

Go see it. You'll be glad you did. (By the way, it's a sad commentary on our times that the vampire movie "Twilight" has been running about seven times the gate receipts of "Lincoln.")