The Obama-Lincoln Connection 
Paper delivered Feb. 6, 2009 at the College of Charleston, Halsey Institute Conference on Abraham Lincoln in Contemporary American Culture.
The recent campaign, election, and inauguration of President Barack Obama included repeated references to the person and presidency of Abraham Lincoln. These references became pervasive enough to capture the attention of political commentators and have come to constitute what might be termed the "Lincoln-Obama phenomenon." Some have found the phenomenon excessive, a misuse of history, and/or indicative of the new president’s ego. While I share a few of their misgivings, as a scholar interested in how historical memory gets put to use in American politics, the phenomenon is fascinating. Read the full paper here. View the images here.