As the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary in 2026, there is no more time to study the great men and women who have built, protected and improved the country. Many Historuns lens Abraham Lincoln as America’s biggest president for good reason. Lincoln repaired a broken America, wrote an Emancipation Declaration, and submitted to the most influential speech in American history. Econtalk hosts Russ Roberts and Diana show their commitment to the principles of Lincoln’s founding and a vision for a more freer, more unified future. Lincoln did so during the civil war.
Lincoln’s three biggest speeches are Gettysburg’s speech, his stubborn speech, and the lesser known address for Lyceum. Schaub highlights Lincoln’s ability to blend America’s past, present and future in order to address threats to freedom and democracy, along with the framework set by its founders.
This is noteworthy in the discussion of Schaub and Roberts’ lyceum addresses. Lincoln praises the founders for providing a system of Republican government and individual freedom, explaining how its generation continues to protect that system. Lincoln’s speech journey covers establishment, potential separation, permanent reconciliation, and provides an early preview of the power that will lead America into the Civil War.
You can see it quickly. Lincoln is young. But it is an understanding of nature, especially dangers and threats, to democratic governments. So it’s really a variety of comprehensive political reflections. I talked about establishment. He is well versed in the possibility of destruction. And suggests the possibility of saving the Republic and what it takes to save the Republic… He is against the Democrats, but he doesn’t attack Andrew Jackson or Stepton Douglas in particular. But it’s like the background. So instead of making it very clearly partisan, what he shows is a fundamental threat to a deeper democracy that may take a partisan form.
What are the threats to Lincoln’s freedom and democracy? Lincoln saw the rapid rise in mob violence and fanaticism in the 1830s as a signal of vigilance, populism and the burgeoning rejection of institutions supporting Demagogallie. Shaub argues that maintaining a republic is more difficult than establishing it, and she identifies consistent challenges to democracy in individual channeling ambitions. Lincoln made clear how the passion for greatness that helped build America led to separation.
Lincoln’s speech not only leads to the danger of vigilance towards individual freedom, but also the ability of those who are not involved in mob violence to the institution’s democratic and legal institutions to promote justice and security. This opens the door for the dictator.
So I say that mentally it is actually lawless. And the more Werry effects are: What about good citizens? What effect does this have on them? And HESY: When you see the government breaking down like this and not binding people to the law, they are marginalized from the government. He said: This alienation can lead to alienation not only from certain governments and certain governments, but from scholarships that are marginalized from the very form of government. In other words, they give up on popular governments. What they want is safety and calm, and security of people and property. And when they see this happening around them, they may turn to Strongman, a demagogue who promises to get things back.
The second first Lincoln showed a deep commitment to principles. Shaub and Roberts examined how Lincoln won elections during the war and issued the Emancipation Declaration not from his own abolitionism, but for his belief that liberation was in trouble to save the union. In these examples, Lincoln’s compliance with institutions is clear, especially democracy and the rule of law. Lincoln used his rights to speak and gather and emphasized unfair laws to democratically change, and warned that breaking the law would reduce respect and undermine the legitimacy of democratic secrets.
All men are made equally, and there are natural rulers, so the only way we can rule is through government consent. We are bound by the majority decisions. As I say, that doesn’t mean that the majority are always right. They are wrong, but we have a democratic mechanism that has reached laws that have arrived democratically. Lincoln says, “You have to use your speech.” Free Press, Free Speech, Right to Meetings, Right to Petition. So we have all sorts of paths to reach our fellow citizens and convince them that they are wrong and that things need to change. But Lincoln says that is the only way tolerance. To go outside of it is actually to deny the majority rule and the principle of equality that the majority rule is based on. So he stresses this: Civil disobedience destroys civil government.
The last key point of the podcast was about the impact of rhetoric on the character of the nation. Roberts feels that America’s current political rhetoric is far below Lincoln’s standards (Schaub Adds) warns the dangers of rhetoric. Rhetoric becomes a powerful weapon in the hands of tyrants and demagogues. Schaub’s solution is a Lincoln reference. We need to study the blueprint of past American leaders as patriotic and democratic rhetoric. This blueprint is in the founding document, discussed by various speeches Schaub and Roberts. This is key to carrying out Lincoln’s project to build an American pillar of autonomy, freedom and equality that reaffirms and protects the theme of its establishment.
My only solution is that we still have a political rhetoric age. It was shaped into a great writer like Lincoln, and it is always possible for people to go back to it and immerse themselves in it. There must be people out there who can do that, and we must be able to understand what will become like rhetoric for our moments and our democratic audiences.
Related econtalk episodes:
Fraud and “Letters from Birmingham Prison” (with Dwayne Betts)
Meskita’s Bruce Buena on Democracy and Dictorship
Bruce Bueno of Meskita on the looting of war
Nationalism, populism and the American Jill Repore
How the Constitution unites us (with Yuval Levin)
Related Liberty Fund Network content:
Lincoln’s Lessons for a Turbulent Era, Carson Holloway, by Law and Freedom
Understanding the basic principles of Lincoln by Tyler McQueen, Law and Freedom
Lawrence Reed at Adam Smith Works, Best And Work American Presidents, The Great Antidote Podcast
Arnold Kling’s prominent goal of political stability at Econrib
How was the civil rights movement liberan? Brian Kaplan with Econrib
