The Parallels Between Trump and Lincoln | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's note: BCN welcomes Contributor Ryan Case, who, along with BCN Contributor Austin Goss, publishes a growing journal, The Liberty Fix, already steeped in information of a growing wisdom.

    That title may need some clarification. Donald Trump and Abraham Lincoln are two vastly different characters of different upbringings and different demeanors. Lincoln was famous for his soaring rhetoric and eloquence, Trump is better known for his hard-nosed bluntness. Lincoln grew up through the rigors of hard labor and poverty, Trump was brought up in wealth. Lincoln was a voracious reader throughout his life, and Trump is more of a twitter guy. When it comes to each man's vision for America, however, there are glaring similarities.

    In Rich Lowry's wonderful book Lincoln Unbound, he takes a look at Lincoln's political principles and how they could be applied to the modern Republican party to widen its base. Oddly enough, Trump was the Republican who seemed to pick up on some of these Lincolnian ideas most genuinely. For example, one of Lincoln's primary focuses throughout his entire career was on building and improving infrastructure. He saw infrastructure as an essential factor in both economic and social development, as better roads and waterways allowed for both the smooth movement of goods and easier travel. Proposals for these types of improvements happen to be near the top of President Trump's agenda and were a staple in his campaign rhetoric, which is something of an oddity for Republicans. As Trump reaffirmed in his powerful joint address last week, he sees internal improvements as a necessity to improving social conditions in our major cities as well as a potential job creator. While relying on infrastructure as a jobs program often leads to unnecessary pork projects and reckless public spending, the United States is past due for some internal improvement and an initiative in this area led primarily by state governments could provide enormous benefits.

    Moreover, one of my favorite Lincoln quotes, and one that is often misused in the pursuit of portraying Lincoln as an early progressive, is the following: "Whatever is calculated to advance the condition of the honest, struggling laboring man, so far as my judgement will enable me to judge of a correct thing, I am for that thing." This message is identical to the one that drove Trump to the presidency. Trump made workers who had been punished by globalization and the massive influx of low-skilled immigrant laborers, as well as the small business owners struggling to cope with the onus of the regulatory state and exorbitant tax rates, the primary focus of his campaign. Similarly to Lincoln, the solutions that Trump sees as best to help these people have nothing to do with creating dependency or expanding the welfare state. Instead, the key is social mobility and fostering opportunity. As Lincoln's letters and writings show, he was a strong believer in the value of hard work and enterprise, and famously gave a young aspiring lawyer the simple advice to, "Work, work, work." As many of Trump's books on business make clear, he views the world through a similar lens.

    Furthermore, just as Lincoln did, Trump places a strong emphasis on technology and innovation. In Trump's joint address, he spent some time discussing the celebration of America's 100th birthday in 1876, where "the country's builders and artists and inventors showed off their wonderful creations." He spoke of Alexander Graham Bell's telephone, the Remington typewriter and Edison's "automatic telegraph and electric pen." Trump expressed his desires for something similar on America's 250th birthday, and Lincoln would have loved this. Lincoln pushed extremely hard for American industrialization, as he sought for the citizens of his country to reach the peak of human capacity. He had no use for the agrarian economics of John C. Calhoun and similar thinkers, instead his ideas were based upon technological advancement. Trump's pronouncements that, "Cures to the illnesses that have always plagued us are not too much to hope. American footprints on distant worlds are not too big a dream," may seem like fluffy rhetoric, but this sort of drive is what built America into the world's greatest power in the first place. Moreover, Trump's focus on innovation and advancement is a breath of fresh air in the Republican party, and something that should become a more consistent staple in the party's message.

    In a letter written roughly five years before his ascension to the presidency, Lincoln lamented, "we are not what we have been." He saw an America in decline. In Lincoln's eyes, the nation was becoming lazier, less enterprising and less devoted to the principles of liberty and democracy. The excitement of the founding generation, and to some extent the Jacksonian period, had faded. Lincoln saw the need for a national resurgence based on the principles set forth in the Declaration of Independence that he so adored, and that he often cited in his arguments against slavery. Similarly, Trump entered the Republican primary field because he saw his country falling in a downward spiral, with a dismal labor force participation rate and a weaker footing on the global stage. The point is this: Trump's brand of Republicanism is not all that different from the one espoused by our 16th president. Their ideas about the proper role of the federal government merge in many ways, including those beyond the few policy areas mentioned above. Both of these men, although polar opposites in style, entered office with some common principles and the goal of making America great again. Lincoln was able to do it through the nation's darkest hours. Trump faces a much easier task. If he is able to execute his vision half as well as Lincoln, we'll be on the right track.

poll#101

In regards to the Russia Election Tampering matter: Is President Trump being treated fairly by core Democrats and the Mainstream Media?

  Yes, the new president is guilty until proven innocent.

  No, President Trump's treatment is dictated by the usual Democrat double standard.

  Don't care; there are more important issues facing America.

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