Abraham
Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
was born in Kentucky in 1809, became a lawyer, a politician, and finally our 16th
President. While in office, he led his country though the wrenching division of
civil war, he granted freedom to the slaves, and he was assassinated by John
Wilkes Booth while attending a play in Ford’s Theatre in Washington on Good
Friday of 1865.
For most of his life Lincoln lived on the frontier—in Kentucky, Indiana, and
Illinois. In the village of New Salem, Illinois young Lincoln began to make a
mark, running for public office and beginning the study of law. He eventually
moved to the growing city and soon-to-be capital of Springfield, Illinois. Here
Lincoln came into his own as a politician, lawyer, writer, and public speaker.
His debates with Senator Stephen Douglas over the spread of slavery brought him
national attention and led to his election as President in 1860.
Abraham Lincoln was an imposing man, seeming much taller in person than one would expect. He was a man of legendary physical strength. His formal schooling was minimal—a total of about one year. Yet he wrote two pieces—the Gettysburg Address and the Second Inaugural Address—that scholars consider perhaps the finest words ever written in the English language.
A man of great contradictions, he could be unyielding on some occasions, yet amazingly flexible and willing to compromise at other times. Seemingly lost in some sad reverie, moments later he might regale listeners with hilarious stories and jokes. He is known to have owned a book of jokes, some of which he adapted to his own purposes.
Abraham Lincoln was the ultimate high achiever. This is the man of whom the famous newspaperman Horace Greeley wrote: “He was not a born king of men…but a child of the common people. He gladly profited by the teachings of events and circumstances, no matter how adverse or unwelcome…. There was probably no year of his life that he was not a wiser, cooler, better man than he had been the year preceding.”
Lincoln liked to describe himself as an ordinary man who set out to make the most of himself. His own accomplishments should be incentives for common people everywhere, Lincoln believed. High achievement was not just for the privileged few. When a regiment of Ohio soldiers passed through Washington, Lincoln made a little speech for them that included this telling remark: “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.”
About this presentation The script for this presentation includes Lincoln’s actual words, along with the words that Lincoln might use if he were to speak to an audience today. There are jokes that Lincoln told as well as jokes that he might have told. We know that Lincoln adapted traditional stories to specific situations, and even owned a joke book.
Obviously, we cannot know with certainty what Lincoln’s behavior would be if he were here today. But we can use the tools that historians, sociologists, psychologists, political scientists, and actors regularly use to understand historical figures. This presentation is not a Lincoln reenactment, which is limited to his actual words. Instead, Lincoln is brought back to life to teach us lessons to live by. The goal of this presentation is to hear Lincoln speak to us today.
Gene Griessman, Ph.D. For over a decade Gene Griessman interviewed celebrities for his prime-time show “Up Close” on TBS—Ted Turner’s SuperStation, as well as for national publications, including The New York Times and USA Today. He is author of Time Tactics Of Very Successful People, now in its 28th printing, and The Words Lincoln Lived By, in its 10th printing. He has produced the audio book “Lincoln’s Wisdom” and “Lincoln On Communication,” a highly acclaimed training video. His latest book is Lincoln Speaks To Leaders.
Dr. Griessman has taught at the College of William and Mary, North Carolina State University, Auburn University, Tuskegee University, and Georgia Tech. He was a Fulbright Professor at the national graduate university of Pakistan. This play has been performed at Ford’s Theatre, the Lincoln Memorial, aboard the USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN, at the Georgia Dome, and at hundreds of conventions, annual meetings, schools and universities.
Griessman’s work has won the Benjamin Franklin Award. He has been named a fellow of the American Anthropological Association, and is a member of the Television Academy. He has been listed in Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who in the World.
Information about Gene Griessman’s presentations, books, posters, CDs, and DVDs can be obtained at www.presidentlincoln.com; gene@presidentlincoln.com; 404-256-5927