At the center of the Gettysburg National Cemetery stands a tall white monument with four stone figures seated at its base. The figures represent History, War, Peace, and Plenty. Atop the monument proudly stands the figure of Liberty with a sword in one hand and a wreath in the other. It is called the Soldiers’ National Monument, and it marks the location where Abraham Lincoln stood on Nov. 19, 1863 and delivered one of the most famous speeches in American history.
Many remember the “Gettysburg Address” for its beautiful prose and its poignant brevity. More important, however, it is remembered for the ideas it contains. From the first line Lincoln masterfully invoked the principles of the American Founding. With the opening words “Four score and seven years ago,” Lincoln asked his audience to look back 87 years. Lincoln did not return to 1787 and the Constitution, but to 1776 and the Declaration of Independence.
He emphasized the importance of the Declaration by tying the principles it proclaimed to the present. Lincoln explained that the present is not divorced from the past, and that the brave men who died on the battlefield of Gettysburg died fighting to preserve a nation “conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” Lincoln challenged his audience to remember the past and press forward with the unfinished task of preserving a government created to protect life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address” describes the continued relevance of the Declaration, and Richard Brookhiser’s new book “Founder’s Son: A Life of Abraham Lincoln” follows a similar pattern. Brookhiser, a journalist and historian of the Founding era, takes readers back to the late 1700s and early 1800s, describing the lives of the Founding Fathers and their ideas. He explains how those ideas shaped Lincoln. Simultaneously, he presents an engaging narrative of Lincoln’s life while offering an insightful analysis of Lincoln’s actions as a statesman and his major speeches. Brookhiser’s analysis makes Lincoln’s political rhetoric accessible and easy to understand. “Founder’s Son” is a skillfully written, carefully researched biography proving an excellent addition to the library of anyone interested in American history.
If you are a student at Hillsdale College, this would not be the first book by Richard Brookhiser to join your library. Before students set foot on Hillsdale’s campus their freshman year they are introduced to Brookhiser’s work. During the months before freshman convocation and orientation, incoming students receive a list of required summer reading. The two books on the list are Aristotle’s “Nicomachean Ethics” and Brookhiser’s captivating biography, “Founding Father: Rediscovering George Washington.”
On January 25, students and visitors to the college will have the chance to meet and hear Brookhiser speak during the upcoming CCA lecture series on journalism. His lecture titled “The Press and the Founders” will take place on Sunday at 4:00 p.m.