By the 1920s, Abraham Lincoln had transcended the lingering
controversies of the Civil War to become a secular saint, honored in
North and South alike for his steadfast leadership in crisis. Throughout
the Great Depression and World War II, Lincoln was invoked countless
times as a reminder of America's strength and wisdom, a commanding ideal
against which weary citizens could see their own hardships in
perspective. But as Barry Schwartz reveals in Abraham Lincoln in the
Post-Heroic Era, those years represent the apogee of Lincoln's
prestige. The decades following World War II brought radical changes to
American culture, changes that led to the diminishing of all
heroes--Lincoln not least among them. As Schwartz explains, growing
sympathy for the plight of racial minorities, disenchantment with the
American state, the lessening of patriotism in the wake of the Vietnam
War, and an intensifying celebration of diversity, all contributed to a
culture in which neither Lincoln nor any single person could be a heroic
symbol for all Americans. Paradoxically, however, the very culture that
made Lincoln an object of indifference, questioning, criticism, and even
ridicule was a culture of unprecedented beneficence and inclusion, where
racial, ethnic, and religious groups treated one another more fairly and
justly than ever before. Thus, as the prestige of the Great Emancipator
shrank, his legacy of equality continued to flourish. Drawing on a
stunning range of sources--including films, cartoons, advertisements,
surveys, shrine visitations, public commemorations, and more--Schwartz
documents the decline of Lincoln's public standing, asking throughout
whether there is any path back from this post-heroic era. Can a new
generation of Americans embrace again their epic past, including great
leaders whom they know to be flawed? As the 2009 Lincoln Bicentennial
approaches, readers will discover here a stirring reminder that Lincoln,
as a man, still has much to say to us--about our past, our present, and
our possible futures.
