Photo by David James, SMPSP
Given that we’re just days away from one of the most heated presidential elections in recent memory, and that our nation’s first black president was just re-elected for a second term, Steven Spielberg’s new docku-drama Lincoln couldn’t have come at a more appropriate time. Focusing on the final months of Abraham Lincoln‘s presidency (and life, for that matter), Lincoln‘s focal point is the Emancipation Proclamation and the struggle it created in a country already tearing itself apart at the height of the Civil War.
In hindsight, most of today’s American society would fervently agree that slavery is (no pun intended) one of the darkest periods of this country’s history. But at the time, that institution had become so engrained in the United States’ culture, economy and infrastructure that a sudden emancipation of an entire race of people you had previously oppressed and mistreated had to be a frightening proposition for many reasons. But Lincoln was determined to not only free the slaves, but also to end the war and reunite his country.
Though his intentions are noble, Lincoln’s somewhat manipulative proposition of simultaneously ending the war and freeing the slaves creates quite a dilemma, even for some of his closest allies and supporters. Ending the war is pretty much a given, regardless of one’s political affiliation. But what if the war ends before the proclamation (and the 13th Amendment, freeing all slaves) is passed? What if one is in favor of ending the war, but not necessarily in favor of freeing the slaves? These are the polarizing issues addressed in Lincoln.
Photo by David James, SMPSP.
Daniel Day-Lewis portrays Lincoln with both the heroism of a president whose radical thinking changed the course of this country, and the strategic plotting required of such a monumental task (he was a politician, after all). But aside from the very public battles he faces, Lincoln also shows his personal struggles with his wife (Sally Field), their son (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), his even more radical political ally Thaddeus Stevens (Tommy Lee Jones), and his own colored servants, who he treats like any other friends. As has been noted in numerous historical texts, Lincoln points out that in the year leading up to the vote to free the slaves, Lincoln appears to age ten years. While times were stressful for the entire country during the Civil War, Lincoln shows us a president unwilling to give in to that stress.
The ongoing death and destruction of the war weighs heavily on Lincoln, and having such a huge responsibility is something most of us will never understand. But Day-Lewis captures the weariness of a president whose ongoing determination to do what he feels in his heart is the right thing for his country, and humanity, means lives will continue to be lost. And Lincoln doesn’t shy away from such issues, giving the viewer reason to believe that maybe Lincoln’s approach is a little too drastic or abrupt. Of course we all know Lincoln’s steadfast resolve allowed him to achieve his goal. But we also know it cost him his life not long thereafter. And even though Lincoln shows this president’s flaws as much as his strengths, it ultimately portrays Lincoln as a man with a good heart more influenced by his own compassion than the logic of those around him.