The Sonoma City Council has proclaimed the months of February and March 2009 as Abraham Lincoln months. Mick Chantler, a teacher at Sonoma Valley High School, requested the proclamation.
February marks the bicentennial of Lincoln’s birth. Over the next two months, there will be events commemorating the late president’s legacy at the Sonoma Valley Regional Library, 755 W. Napa St. which includes a series of continuing talks on different elements of Lincoln’s legacy, with discussion to follow. All are free and open to the public.
Lincoln the Man of Letters
Saturday, Feb. 28, 1 p.m.
Host: Alison Manchester
Lincoln is acknowledged by scholars to be one of the most skilled writers to occupy the White House. The frontier boy who had almost no formal education became the man who wrote such moving pieces as the Gettysburg Address, his first and second Inaugural addresses and the Cooper Union Address. This talk will examine how Lincoln crafted his speeches, often drawing on Shakespeare or the Bible for inspiration, to stir the souls of Americans from his own time to the present.
Lincoln and the Law
Wednesday, March 11, 7 p.m.
Host: Shawn Martin
Lincoln was a lawyer long before he served in Congress or became President. Most of his later political positions were rooted in his legal thinking. This talk will examine Lincoln’s understanding of constitutional history, his contentious relationship with the Supreme Court and his views on states’ rights vis a vis federal supremacy. Lincoln’s more controversial wartime initiatives such as suspending habeas corpus and establishing military tribunals will be reviewed as well.
Lincoln as Commander in Chief
Wednesday, March 25, 7 p.m.
Host: John Stephen Futini
Today people frequently use the term “commander-in-chief” as though it were synonymous with the office of the presidency, but this was not always the case. Indeed, Lincoln had almost no precedents to guide his decisions during the Civil War and he almost single-handedly defined the role of “wartime President,” greatly expanding the authority of his office. Futini will look at Lincoln’s role as a military leader and his often-exasperating relations with Generals McClellan, Hooker, Meade and Grant.
