While the
Golden Globes may not have honored the genius of Stephen Spielberg’s direction
of the movie Lincoln, I hope and
believe the Oscar voters will. As anyone
who has a feel for history will, I think, agree, Lincoln is a uniquely moving portrait of Abraham Lincoln and the
late part of the Civil War.
Much of
Spielberg’s movie is based on Team of
Rivals: The Political Genius of
Abraham Lincoln, the wonderfully researched and written book by
Doris Kearns Goodwin.
For those who
have not read it, Goodwin tells the story of “Lincoln’s political genius
revealed through his extraordinary array of personal qualities that enabled him
to form friendships with men who had previously opposed him, to repair injured
feelings that, left unattended, might have escalated into permanent hostility;
to assume responsibility for the failures of subordinates, to share credit with
ease; and to learn from mistakes.”
The movie makes
the people and politics of the lame duck Congress in late 1864 and early 1865
understandable to viewers of today. Before
watching the movie I had doubts that the director and Daniel Day-Lewis, the
actor who plays Lincoln, could make this iconic figure into a living, breathing
human being. There is no doubt they succeeded.
The movie shows
how Abraham Lincoln was different from other leaders, then and now. Goodwin
writes that his “decency, morality, kindness, sensitivity, compassion, honesty
and empathy” were “impressive political resources.” Lincoln may have said : “I
destroy my enemies when I make them my friends.” We saw him doing that in this
movie.
Abraham Lincoln
was a lawyer – apparent in the movie – and that was a critically important part
of his career; it helped shape who he was. He was famously quoted as advising
attorneys to “Discourage litigation. Persuade your neighbors to compromise
whenever you can. As a peacemaker the
lawyer has superior opportunity of being a good man. There will still be business
enough.”
