New Common Sense: He Was Lincoln, Not a Progressive

June 25, 2013    |   Discover more at Heritage's First Principles webpage He Was Lincoln, Not a Progressive "It’s important to get Abraham Lincoln right, because that means getting contemporary America right," National Review's Rich Lowry says. Lowry discussed his new book, Lincoln Unbound, last week at The Heritage Foundation. He says that while progressives have been trying to steal Lincoln’s mantle for a century (then-Sen. Obama journeyed to Springfield to announce his presidential candidacy, for example), Lincoln was conservative and drew his philosophy from the nation’s founding documents. “To Lincoln, the pursuit of happiness involved earned success,” Lowry said. “We’ve got to keep that spirit alive." Working Up from Slavery Lincoln wasn’t alone in celebrating the value of effort. “WORK! WORK!! WORK!!! WORK!!!!” former slave Frederick Douglass told people during the Civil War era. Congress recently honored Douglass by unveiling a statue of him at the Emancipation Hall of the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center. He encouraged people to get ahead by engaging in “patient, enduring, honest, unremitting, and indefatigable work into which the whole heart is put, and which, in both temporal and spiritual affairs, is the true miracle worker.” Food For Thought Conservatives are too often defined by what we’re against. But in fact, the things we’re in favor of are far more important. Consider the Farm Bill. It failed last week in the House of Representatives, and conservatives rightfully cheered; we’re against this fundamentally flawed, $1 trillion bill. But we also have a positive agenda. Now that this bill has been swatted aside, lawmakers should consider ways to enact effective reform. For example, as Dean Bakst writes, “The first step going forward is to separate food stamps from farm policy. The second step is to reform the food stamp program and farm policy.” Quote of the Week "America is said, and not without reason, to be preeminently the home and patron of self-made men... Search where you will, there is no country on the globe where labor is so respected and the laborer so honored, as in this country." - Frederick Douglass, 1872 For more quotes, visit westillholdthesetruths.org     About The Heritage Foundation Founded in 1973, The Heritage Foundation is a research and educational institute — a think tank — whose mission is to formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense. The Heritage Foundation | 214 Massachusetts Ave NE, Washington, DC 20002 | 202.546.4400 | heritage.org