February 3
Father Abraham
As a father of two wonderful children, I know there are few roles I’ve ever played that more define who I am. I am proud to be the son to my parents, brother to my sister, and husband to my wife. I’ve also been proud to be teacher, coach, mentor, advisor, principal, and superintendent, but my favorite role to have ever played is to be “Dad.” I certainly hope that my parents, wife, and sister will understand, but it’s pretty awesome to be a Dad. You can fail at everything else you’ve ever done, but if your kids are successful and you had anything at all to do with it, then that may just be good enough.
Given the difficulties that Lincoln endured throughout his lifetime, perhaps he too, most relished his role as Dad. As though Lincoln wasn’t experiencing enough stress in his role as Commander in Chief during the only war fought entirely on American soil with Americans fighting former Americans, it was during his time in office that he lost his second of his four sons ( Edward in 1850 and Willie in 1862). For most parents, the thought of ever losing one child is incomprehensible. To lose two, worse, and there is no word for that.
In Daniel Day Lewis’ portrayal of Lincoln (Spielberg, 2012) Joseph Gordon-Leavitt plays Robert Lincoln, the eldest son of Mary Todd and Abraham Lincoln. Robert desperately wants to make his mark by fighting in the Civil War, but repeatedly battles with his parents regarding his enlistment. By this point, the Lincolns have lost two of their four sons to tuberculosis, and the willfill Mary forbids her eldest son to enlist. Though Lincoln doesn’t want Robert to enlist, his bigger fear is having to deal with Mrs. Lincoln’s volatile temper should her husband acquiesce to the junior Lincoln’s desires.
Daniel Day-Lewis’s portrayal in this movie seems consistent with the recorded accounts of Lincoln’s character, and the manner in which Lincoln loved his sons. Though Robert challenged Lincoln’s authority, there doesn’t seem to be much doubt in any representation of Lincoln that he took his role as father quite seriously and delighted in his son’s and deeply mourned the losses of both Edward and Willie. Lincoln’s son Tad (Thomas) would pass in 1871 leaving only Robert surviving before Mary’s death in 1882 at the age of 63. Tragically, between the loss of two of his sons to disease, the struggles with his wife’s mental illness, and Robert’s independence, Lincoln was not afforded some of the many joys most of us Dad’s get to experience. In the many roles Lincoln played throughout his lifetime, few were more important to him than that of “father” and just as the fleeing peace had eluded him, so too did a long-lasting, happy relationship with his sons.
Saxton's Educational Musings 