Hey! Wasn't Abe a Republican?
Upon Lincoln’s election, the Memphis Daily Appeal wrote on November 13, 1860:
"Within 90 days from the time Lincoln is inaugurated, the Republican Party will be utterly ruined and destroyed. His path is environed with so many difficulties, that even if he had the ability of Jefferson and the energy of Jackson, he would fail, but he is a weak and inexperienced man, and his administration will be doomed from the commencement.
Just as President Trump rails against "fake news," President Lincoln felt that a significant front in his war to preserve the Union was against the news media. This made Lincoln highly critical and skeptical of the media.According a reporter who had regular access to the president, Lincoln often said "the worst feature about newspapers was that they were so sure to be 'ahead of the hounds,' outrunning events, and exciting expectations which were sure to be disappointed."
Lincoln, who was embroiled in a Civil War in which the very survival of the country was at stake, was also much tougher and more aggressive with the media than anyone could imagine in the modern era. This included shutting down newspapers and imprisoning journalists who supported secession from the Union.
Be still, my heart!
You decide whether attacks on President Trump's hair or attacks on Lincoln's intelligence are more demeaning.
President Lincoln was a very different man facing a radically more dangerous situation than President Trump. Yet each president represents a direct threat to a national establishment by an outsider.