Abraham Lincoln [politics]

Calvin

Welcome to Headstones and Microphones where we use AI to step into the past through a researched, first-person simulation of history's most interesting people. I am your host, Calvin. While we’ve added some creative storytelling, our goal is to inspire your own study of these fascinating lives. Now, let’s meet our guest.

Calvin

I am sitting here with a man who truly defined a nation. He’s on the five-dollar bill, the penny, and in every history book ever written. But for those who may somehow not know who you are... who are you?

White Male Guest

Well, hello there, Calvin. I am Abraham Lincoln! Most folks remember me as the 16th President of the United States, or maybe just that tall fella who wore a stovepipe hat and tried his best to keep the Union together during its darkest hour.

Calvin

It is such an honor. Let’s go back to your roots. When and where were you born?

White Male Guest

I was born on February 12, 1809. My first glimpse of the world was from a one-room log cabin in Hardin County, Kentucky—a place called Sinking Spring Farm.

Calvin

What was your given name at birth?

White Male Guest

Abraham Lincoln. I was named after my grandfather, who had been a pioneer in Kentucky.

Calvin

Is there a story behind your birth name?

White Male Guest

My grandfather Abraham was a brave man who moved his family to the frontier, but he met a tragic end at the hands of a raiding party while working in his fields. Giving me his name was a way for my father to honor the legacy of the man who brought our family to the West.

Calvin

What was your hometown like growing up, and what was your family life like?

White Male Guest

Oh, it was the definition of "the frontier." We moved from Kentucky to Indiana when I was seven. It was all thick woods and wild animals. My family life was full of hard work and, unfortunately, a fair bit of sorrow. I lost my mother, Nancy, when I was only nine years old. That was a heavy blow. But my father, Thomas, eventually married Sarah Bush Johnston, and she was a wonderful "angel mother" to me. She encouraged my mind when others thought I was just being lazy with a book.

Calvin

What kind of kid were you?

White Male Guest

I was a bit of an odd duck! I was gangly and tall, and while I could swing an axe with the best of them—my father saw to that—my heart wasn't in the physical labor. I’d much rather be reading a book or practicing a speech to the trees. I was known for being a bit of a storyteller even then, always trying to make the other farmhands laugh.

Calvin

What did you dream of becoming as a child?

White Male Guest

I didn't have a specific title in mind, but I knew I wanted to "get on" in the world. I didn't want to just be a subsistence farmer. I had a hunger for knowledge. I used to say that my best friend was the man who’d get me a book I ain’t read yet!

Calvin

What were some of your favorite activities in school?

White Male Guest

Truth be told, I didn't have much formal schooling—maybe a year in total, "by littles," as we said. But I loved the "blab schools" where we’d all recite our lessons out loud. My favorite thing was definitely reading and writing. I’d practice my letters in the dirt or on the back of a wooden shovel with a piece of charcoal.

Calvin

What was your first job?

White Male Guest

Aside from the endless rail-splitting and farm work for my father, my first real job away from home was taking a flatboat down the Mississippi River to New Orleans. I was about nineteen. It was a long, slow trip, but seeing that big city was a real eye-opener for a country boy.

Calvin

Was there a moment where you realized you were different from everyone else?

White Male Guest

I suppose it was when I realized I could use words to move people. I’d stand on a stump and repeat sermons or political speeches I’d heard, and folks would actually stop their work to listen. I realized that a good story or a clear argument was more powerful than a strong arm.

Calvin

What’s a decision that changed everything for you, but felt small at the time?

White Male Guest

Deciding to move to New Salem, Illinois, after another flatboat trip. I just stayed there. I didn't have a penny to my name, but I started clerking in a store, made friends, and that’s where I first decided to run for the state legislature. If I hadn't stayed in that little village, I might never have entered public life.

Calvin

What was your biggest break?

White Male Guest

Being invited to give a speech at the Cooper Union in New York City in 1860. I was a Westerner, a "rail-splitter," and many of those sophisticated Easterners didn't know what to make of me. But that speech showed them I had the intellectual mettle to lead the Republican Party.

Calvin

What were your biggest struggles before success?

White Male Guest

I had my fair share of failures! I went broke running a store, and it took me years to pay off what I called my "National Debt." I lost several elections early on, and I struggled deeply with what I called "the hypo"—long bouts of melancholy or sadness that would cloud my spirit.

Calvin

Did you ever consider quitting?

White Male Guest

Many times. After I served one term in Congress in the 1840s, I went back to Springfield to just be a lawyer. I thought my political career was over and done with. But the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the spread of slavery woke me up and brought me back into the fight.

Calvin

Were there any specific daily habits or routines that you feel are essential to your success?

White Male Guest

I was a persistent reader of newspapers. I wanted to know what everyone was saying, especially my opponents. And I always made time for a good story. Even in the middle of the war, I’d tell a joke to break the tension. If I couldn't laugh, I would have died.

Calvin

What job would you have had if fame never happened?

White Male Guest

I’d likely have been a circuit-riding lawyer in Illinois. I loved the camaraderie of the court, traveling from town to town, and helping folks settle their squabbles. It was a good life.

Calvin

What was your life like before fame?

White Male Guest

Busy and humble. I was a lawyer with a messy office, a husband to Mary, and a father to four boys who I’m afraid I spoiled terribly! We had a nice frame house in Springfield, and I was just "Old Abe" to my neighbors.

Calvin

How did relationships change after success?

White Male Guest

It got lonely at the top. Suddenly, everyone wanted something from me—a job, a favor, a pardon. It was hard to know who was a true friend and who was just looking for an opportunity.

Calvin

Did fame bring happiness?

White Male Guest

No, I can't say it did. Fame brought a heavy burden of responsibility. Happiness for me was seeing my boys play or sitting quietly with a book. The presidency was a "duty" more than a joy.

Calvin

What was the downside of becoming famous?

White Male Guest

The constant criticism and the threats. People wrote the most terrible things about me in the papers—calling me a baboon, an idiot, a tyrant. It takes a thick skin to be a public man.

Calvin

What misconceptions did people have about you?

White Male Guest

A lot of folks thought I was a simpleton because of my jokes and my backwoods accent. They didn't realize that every story I told usually had a very sharp point behind it.

Calvin

Tell me about a time when everything went wrong and how did you handle it?

White Male Guest

The early years of the Civil War were a disaster. We were losing battles, and I couldn't find a general who would actually fight. I handled it by being patient, by studying military strategy books myself, and by never losing sight of the goal: saving the Union.

Calvin

Who had the biggest influence on your life?

White Male Guest

My stepmother, Sarah. She was the one who saw that I had a spark and made sure I had the space to let it grow.

Calvin

What was life like in your final years?

White Male Guest

Those last years were entirely consumed by the war. I lived in a state of constant exhaustion. But toward the very end, there was a sense of relief—the war was ending, and the Union was preserved.

Calvin

What were you working on in your career before you passed away?

White Male Guest

I was focused on Reconstruction—how to bring the Southern states back into the Union with "malice toward none" and "charity for all." I wanted to bind up the nation's wounds.

Calvin

When and where did you pass away?

White Male Guest

It was April 15, 1865, in Washington, D.C., at the Petersen House, across the street from Ford's Theatre.

Calvin

What happened?

White Male Guest

I was attending a play, "Our American Cousin," to have a rare night of relaxation. I was shot by a man named John Wilkes Booth, and I never regained consciousness.

Calvin

What’s a random fact about you most people have never heard?

White Male Guest

I am the only U.S. President to ever hold a patent! I invented a device to help boats get over shoals in a river using inflatable bellows. I was also a champion wrestler in my youth—only lost one match out of about three hundred!

Calvin

What was your most unique habit?

White Male Guest

I used to keep important papers inside my hat! My stovepipe hat served as a portable filing cabinet.

Calvin

What was your favorite food?

White Male Guest

I wasn't a big eater, but I did love apples. And I had a real weakness for bacon and corn cakes.

Calvin

What was your favorite book?

White Male Guest

Aside from the Bible, which I read deeply, I loved the works of William Shakespeare and Robert Burns. I could recite whole scenes of "Macbeth" or "Hamlet" from memory.

Calvin

Did you have any known rivalries?

White Male Guest

Stephen Douglas! We spent years debating each other across Illinois. We were political opposites, but I respected the man’s ability to argue.

Calvin

Tell us a story nobody talks about.

White Male Guest

Once, when I was a young man in New Salem, I walked several miles just to return a few cents to a woman I had accidentally overcharged at the store. Folks started calling me "Honest Abe" after that. I didn't do it for the nickname; I just couldn't sleep knowing I had money that wasn't mine.

Calvin

Did you ever prank someone?

White Male Guest

I was more of a wit than a prankster, but I did once write some anonymous satirical letters to a newspaper about a political rival named James Shields. It almost led to a duel with broadswords! I learned my lesson about pranks after that—stick to jokes that don't end in swordfights!

Calvin

What advice would you give people chasing success?

White Male Guest

"Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other." Don't wait for luck. Work hard, stay honest, and when you fall down, get back up and try again.

Calvin

Mr. Lincoln, this has been incredible. Do you have any closing remarks about the interview or the stories you shared today that you would like to share with our listeners before we sign off?

White Male Guest

Just that I hope folks remember that I was an ordinary man placed in extraordinary circumstances. I did the best I knew how, and I stayed true to the principles of liberty. It was a joy to share these stories with you, Calvin. Thank you for the kindness of this second interview.

Calvin

It was truly my pleasure. A president, a wrestler, a patent-holder, and a man of immense integrity. Hearing about the "National Debt" of his corner store and his love for a good book really brings the legend down to earth. Thank you, Mr. Lincoln, for joining us.

Calvin

And that wraps up another conversation from beyond the grave. Thanks for joining us on The Headstones and Microphones Podcast. Remember—legends may die, but their stories never do. Please help spread the word by sharing and following the pod.