Sean Wilentz

Sean Wilentz is a history professor at Princeton University whose books include The Rise of American Democracy: Jefferson to Lincoln and The Age of Reagan: A History, 1974-2008. He is a contributing editor at The New Republic, and historian-in residence at Bob Dylan's official website.

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History Professor at Princeton University, Music Expert, and Contributing Editor at The New Republic

Lincoln's second inauguration speech is one of my favorites because it raised the difficult truth that God's intentions and men's might not be the same. And because it came to terms with slavery as no president had—and none would, really, until Lyndon Johnson.

10:56 am, Jan 25, 2009

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Inauguration, Lyndon Johnson, Lincoln, Sean Wilentz

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exploora

I would suspect, things that lead to life, birth, rebirth, and reflect the creative process, are more pleasing than the things that lead to premature death and reflect the destructive process.

I suspect too, God does not like to be blamed, for man's deeds, and alternatively, prefers to be thanked for the glory of the unexplained, which is found all around us, than to have mere mortals take credit for it.

I also wonder if God likes the words "in God we trust" printed on the greenback. He might. I have no idea. I would never risk the outcome of claiming having a direct link to God's thoughts, and finding the opposite to be true, which I think often can and does happen when such claims are being made.

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5:11 pm, Jan 20, 2009

maninabox

Here is a different way to experience the Lincoln's Second...as a flow:

http://www.textflows.com/flow/1001

It is slower than the speech itself, but you see the whole thing newly.

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5:49 pm, Jan 21, 2009

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