“This was a speech about history.” Those were the words last night of David Brooks, the New York Times columnist who was working the PBS airwaves on election night. He was speaking of Barack Obama’s victory speech, which I frankly thought was extraordinary–much like the evening in general. Most of us in the office today are still trying to wrap our minds around what has happened. It seems surreal. The nation really just elected its first African-American president? A skinny guy with a funny name and a thin resume? Remarkable. The images from Grant Park were awe-inspiring and exhilarating, especially for a former Chicago resident like myself.
But back to Obama’s speech. We all know how eloquent he generally is, so it was no surprise that he brought that same quality to his remarks last night. But the tone that he took–sober, non-celebratory, mature–was utterly appropriate for the occasion. Smiles, laughs, gloating, and glee? We’ve had enough of that, thank you, and what with the daunting challenges facing our country on so many fronts, it was a relief to see that the man we elected was able to respond in a suitably presidential manner.
In two separate passages, Obama echoed the words of our last president from Illinois, Abraham Lincoln. Midway through his speech, he said this:
It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give $5 and $10 and $20 to this cause. It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation’s apathy; who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep; from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on the doors of perfect strangers; from the millions of Americans who volunteered and organized, and proved that more than two centuries later, a government of the people, by the people and for the people has not perished from this earth. This is your victory.
That wording in the next-t0-last sentence in that paragraph? A direct reference to Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. And then later on, he quoted Lincoln more directly:
As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, “We are not enemies, but friends… Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.” And, to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn, I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your president, too.
Those words are from Lincoln’s first inaugural address. Obama himself pointed out that Lincoln took office at a time when the country was much more divided than we are now, a telling and salient reminder that the laments about the nation’s lack of unity are perhaps overblown.
The sight of the nation’s first African American president-elect speaking to such a huge and diverse crowd, and quoting Lincoln–who led the country through the Civil War and ended slavery–was a wonder. Sometimes one has to work a bit to understand how our past has informed our present. Last night, no effort was required. The dots were easy to connect: from slavery to Lincoln to Jim Crow to Lyndon Johnson to Martin Luther King Jr. to Jesse Jackson to Barack Obama. I have a feeling that in the next four years, we’ll find ourselves continually bumping up against the past. Here’s hoping that we can all use that national history to progress to a better future.