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The Greatness of a President - Abraham Lincoln

by Bernard Unti

In the early 1820s, one of the students in a small Indiana
subscription school—an academy that typically operated
in winter when neither teacher nor pupils were occupied
with agricultural labor—challenged cruelty to animals on
the part of several classmates.

Then he wrote a short statement of his views on the subject
to read aloud. “Abe preached against cruelty to animals,
contending that an ant’s life was to it, as sweet as ours to
us,” his stepsister recalled.

There were no SPCAs in the United States in the 1820s—that
would take another 40 years—but the kindness-to-animals
ethic had already made it as far as the expanding frontier of a
growing nation, taken to heart by the boy who would grow up
to become our sixteenth president. The quality of sympathy
for the suffering of animals helped to define the broad
humanitarianism of the man who would steer the nation
through a cataclysmic war and wash away its most shameful
blight.

Early Lessons

Like many children of his era, it’s likely that Abraham Lincoln
first absorbed the kindness ethic from his mother or stepmother.
Women were the primary guardians of childhood morality in
antebellum America, when the household was the center of
moral instruction. In any event, Lincoln’s kindness to animals
proved to be an enduring trait—one remarked upon by many of
those who knew him throughout his life.

As a farm boy, Abe grew up with pets and other domestic animals
all around, as would be the case throughout his life. Early
playmates recalled the Lincoln dog, Honey, but Abe’s first pet
was a pig. Friends who knew him at New Salem maintained that
cats were Lincoln’s favorite animals, and his wife, Mary, once
joked that they were his main hobby.

At a time when many boys his age were active hunters and
trappers, Lincoln had no fondness for either. In an 1860
autobiography written in the third person, the presidential
candidate suggested his reluctance as a hunter. Describing an
incident of his early youth in which he shot a wild turkey, Lincoln
reported of himself that “He has never since pulled the trigger
on any larger game.”

Another acquaintance recalled Lincoln’s sharing a youthful
memory of moving from Indiana to Illinois with his family.
Abraham felt sorry for the oxen when the wagons sank into
the mire, and went to help, putting his own shoulder to the
wheel to get the wagons moving again. In crossing a stream,
the family dog was left behind, and Abraham waded back
into the icy water alone to retrieve his pet from the other bank.

Constant Compassion

Lincoln’s kindness to animals continued in adulthood. Joshua
Speed, perhaps his closest friend, told of an incident that
occurred while the two men rode in the Eighth Judicial Circuit.
Lincoln dropped behind his traveling party to restore two
nestlings the wind had blown to the ground. “Honestly,” he
remarked, “I could not have slept tonight if I had not given
those two little birds to their mother.”

Photo: Lincoln's dog Fido was a beloved family member.
© Library of Congress

As a family, the Lincolns were extremely fond of pets and other
domestic animals. In the 1850s, in Springfield, they had a dog
named Fido, who often trailed behind Lincoln in jaunts to the
local market. After his election on November 6, 1860, Lincoln
made a difficult decision. Worried that the dog might not fare
well on the long journey to Washington, Lincoln gave him to
two neighbors who promised to take care of him.

At the White House, the Lincolns had numerous pets, including
cats, a dog, goats, ponies, and a turkey, who Lincoln spared
from becoming Christmas dinner with a presidential pardon
solicited by his son Tad. The president’s security men had to
restrain him when a stable fire broke out in 1863, as Lincoln
wanted to enter the burning structure to rescue six horses
trapped within.

The historical record also shows that animals provided Lincoln
with great emotional comfort. His law partner William Herndon
observed that Lincoln’s spirits were easily and fully restored
whenever he was in the company of animals, and Rebecca
Pomroy reported that the president enjoyed taking his lunch
with Jip, the White House dog.

Secretary of State William Seward gave the president two kittens
with whom he loved to play, and Lincoln reportedly interrupted
a conference with General Grant to stoop down and caress
three stray kittens who wandered onto the scene.

Kind Legacy

Had Lincoln been able to complete his second term, he would
have been a leader in the great political challenge of Reconstruction,
and a witness to the accompanying burst of philanthropic activity
that swept the nation in the late 1860s. He would have lived to
see the formation of America’s first animal organization, the
ASPCA, in April 1866, and perhaps become a supporter. And
in 1868, his term of service concluded, he might have enjoyed
a triumphant return to Springfield, the town he loved, to a life
filled with all that he most enjoyed, including his animal friends.

Some of them were waiting for him at the end of the journey.
Old Bob, the horse who carried Lincoln in journeys across the
prairie as a circuit court lawyer, was in the slain president’s
funeral procession. Fido was present among the mourners at
Lincoln’s home that day. Along with the humans who grieved,
they too were witnesses to the fact that the hand that had
preserved the federal Union and rid it of slavery was the same
hand that had rescued dogs, petted cats, and lifted birds to
safety—little acts of kindness that made a great man greater.

Bernard Unti, Ph.D. is senior policy adviser and special assistant
to the CEO of The HSUS. He is the author of Protecting All Animals,
a history of The HSUS, and is currently writing a book on the
19th century animal protection movement.

Posted on SHARE Yahoo group - Feb. 16, 2009