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Join Me for the Lincoln: The Fire of Genius Book Launch, Tuesday, September 13

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Tue, September 13

Maggiano’s Little Italy Restaurant

Lincoln: The Fire of Genius. Book Launch and Presentation by David J. Kent

The Lincoln Group of DC proudly supports President David J. Kent with his latest research and scholarship. Be part of the fun and experience the launch of a new book about a little studied aspect of our 16th president.

Time

Sep 13, 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM EDT

Maggiano’s Little Italy Restaurant, 5333 Wisconsin Ave NW, Washington, DC 20015, USA

About the Event

The Lincoln Group of DC is hosting the official launch for President David J. Kent’s new book, Lincoln, The Fire of Genius: How Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America. Lincoln had a lifelong fascination with science and technology, a fascination that would help institutionalize science, win the Civil War, and propel the nation into the modern age. Readers will learn through Lincoln, The Fire of Genius how science and technology gradually infiltrated Lincoln’s remarkable life and influenced his growing desire to improve the condition of all people. The book traces his progression from a simple farm boy to a president who changed the world.

Every dinner attendee will receive a swag bag full of Lincoln Group and Fire of Genius giveaways and raffles.

Kent is both a career scientist and a published Lincoln historian. His presentation will follow the thread of science and technology that wove through Lincoln’s life. His interest in the science of farming led to his advocacy for technological advancement, and then to his becoming the “go-to” western lawyer for patent and technology cases. As president, Lincoln was tireless in his efforts to institutionalize science. Kent’s presentation will touch on Lincoln’s insistence on high-tech weaponry and strategic use of technology during the Civil War.

Copies of Lincoln: The Fire of Genius will be available for sale for $25 each. Please bring cash, check, or pay via PayPal.

I’ll also have copies of my previous Lincoln book, Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America. Get it for $5 if you buy both books, $10 for this one book alone.

More information on the Lincoln Group of DC website: https://www.lincolnian.org/event-details/lincoln-the-fire-of-genius-book-launch-and-presentation-by-david-kent

RSVP Now!

Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America was released on September 1, 2022.

The book is available for purchase at all bookseller outlets. Limited signed copies are available via this website. The book also listed on Goodreads, the database where I keep track of my reading. Click on the “Want to Read” button to put it on your reading list.

You also follow my author page on Facebook.

David J. Kent is President of the Lincoln Group of DC and the author of Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America and Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America.

His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

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GivingTuesday Fundraiser for the Lincoln Group of DC

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The Lincoln Group of the District of Columbia is an incredibly active group supporting the study and dissemination of information on the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. Regularly chosen as the most admired and best President in national polls, with both current major political parties claiming the mantle of Lincoln.

LGDC banner

Which is why on this #GivingTuesday I’m raising money on Facebook for The Lincoln Group of the District of Columbia and your contribution will make an impact, whether you donate $5 or $500. Every little bit helps. And on GivingTuesday Dec 3, Facebook will match a total of $7 million in donations first come, first served.

You can donate via this link. Thank you for your support.

The Lincoln Group brings in noted Abraham Lincoln scholars to present on their work. The Group also sponsors public events at the National Archives and Ford’s Theatre, tours of local Civil War battlefields and Lincoln sites, and helps fund scholarships for teachers to learn about how best to teach Lincoln and the Civil War to their students. We’re currently planning a program to fund student participation in educational events.

Today, in fact, I’m attending a lecture by the world’s foremost expert on the Lincoln assassination, Dr. Ed Steers. He’ll be talking about “Getting Right With Lincoln: Challenging Misconceptions About Our Greatest President.” If you’re in Washington, DC this morning, come on up to the Friendship Heights Metro stop and join us.

More on the Lincoln Group of the District of Columbia FB page and website: http://lincolngroup.org/ 

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

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If It’s Tuesday…Revisiting Belgium

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The Atomium, Brussels, BelgiumAn old post popped into my feed recently and it reminded me of when I lived in Brussels. At the time I began a travelogue of sorts on a now defunct social media writing site. I’ve posted a few updated snippets here on Science Traveler. As I wrote in my introductory post:

In 1969 there was a movie by this title (“If it’s Tuesday, This Must be Belgium“) starring Suzanne Pleshette. It was a comedy about Americans experiencing Europe for the first time. Not long ago I had a chance to live out the idea behind the movie – the company I worked for at the time traded me from Washington DC to their office in Brussels (presumably for a scientist to be named later). I lived in Brussels for three years.

More posts covered my first visit to Brussels before the move, dealing with all my stuff (much of which was sold off, donated, or trashed because it would never fit), networking to get my bearings, and all the hoops I had to jump through to get a work permit.

In addition to offloading a lot of my accumulated personal debris for the move (the rest of which would be shipped to Brussels and then back three years later), I had to filter through years of file folders at work. I was staying with the same company so needed to bring current project work, but since I usually had dozens of projects running at any given time – and any number of old projects that might resurface – I had to bring several cabinets of paper. All of this got me thinking I need to streamline.

The day I moved was Earth Day, so I dutifully recycled what appears to be several trees worth of paper. This experience has taught me that I need to take advantage of my new presence in Europe to adopt the European tendency to minimize resource use.

So, upon my arrival I vowed the following:

1) To seek the ideal of a paperless office.  Okay, so I knew that ideal was unattainable. But I did reconsider all the emails I printed out (which thereby defeats the purpose of “electronic-mail”). I resolved not to print the huge documents that often sat unread on my desk…and when I did need to print them I did so double-sided to save paper.

2) To go car-less. My plan was to not own a car during my 3-year stay in Brussels. I walked to the office, about 3/4-mile from my office…or on lazy or lousy weather days, I took the tram that ran near my apartment. I also used public transportation to get around Brussels (luckily they had an excellent tram and subway system). I was able to walk to the grocery store and bicycled around town on errands whenever possible (though I occasionally begged rides from friends for longer trips). I took the train to visit locations out of town whenever possible (the train system in Europe is phenomenal).

3) To become more energy efficient. I adjusted my life style and habits to reduce my energy footprint. That included something as simple as using the sleep and hibernate modes on my computer wisely, as well as reducing lights, using energy efficient lamps, and not having a television. [I dumped my television in 2008 because it wouldn’t work in Europe; I haven’t had television service since then.]

4) To eat healthier. As long as I was being conscientious, I resolved to increase my natural and fresh food intake and reduce my use of processed and canned foods. [One could argue that I did accomplish the “eating more fresh food” part, but I also fell into the European trap of eating cheese and drinking wine. My net was anything but more healthy, but more on that in my memoirs.]

So with these resolutions in mind I went back to my Washington,DC office destruction program. I arrived in Brussels the following Monday morning, which meant the next “If It’s Tuesday…” piece was written from Belgium.  Woo hoo!

I enjoyed my three years in Brussels and learned a lot, both good and bad. The experience was something I have never regretted even though it was in Brussels where I realized my time with the firm that sent me would need to change, or end, after my return. But that’s a long story in itself.

P.S. The photo is me in front of The Atomium, built for the 1958 World’s Fair. In keeping with my Science Traveler theme, it represents an iron crystal.

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

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Ask Me Anything #AuthorsAMA Tuesday Night 8 pm

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Ask Me Anything!Ask Me Anything at #AuthorsAMA!

Join me tomorrow night, Tuesday, January 23rd at 8 pm for an Ask Me Anything Q&A. At that time you can ask questions and get answers on  Abraham Lincoln, Nikola Tesla, or Thomas Edison, the topics of my three biographies.

Need question ideas?

Nikola Tesla was a brilliant but eccentric scientist. Thomas Edison was a chief rival and talented inventor in his own right. Abraham Lincoln saved America. Each is fascinating in their own way, and I’ve written highly illustrated biographies on all of them.Ask Me Anything about all three. Was Tesla really a genius? Did Edison steal all the inventions he got credit for? How on Earth did an poorly educated country lawyer save America?

But you don’t have to wait until the 23rd – you can ask your questions now! Just sign up on the AMA site and jot down your questions. I’ll be able to see them and respond in depth. Then on January 23rd the answers will go live and I’ll respond to additional questions as they come up. You can also “up vote” questions from others to give them higher priority in the Q&A period. [Better yet – get your friends to join in and convince them to “up vote” your question.

So join the page now and leave a question. Then come back on Tuesday, January 23rd at 8 pm for a rapid pace Q&A. Remember, you can ask me anything about Abraham Lincoln, Nikola Tesla, or Thomas Edison.

Join the site here.

And if you missed me on C-SPAN, you can find the link here.

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, now available. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (both Fall River Press). He has also written two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

Follow me by subscribing by email on the home page. Share with your friends using the buttons below.

#AMA #AuthorsAMA

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If It’s Tuesday…The Saga Continues

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BrusselsI’ve been writing periodic posts cataloguing my previous three-year secondment to Brussels. Check out the series here. It’s been a while since I’ve posted but the saga of jumping through hoops to work in Europe continues.

At this point, I had been running around town fulfilling the fantasies of bureaucrats.  Over a few days I had:

1) Gotten a medical exam from the only doctor in Washington DC approved by the Belgian government for “official” exams (there are only 7 in the entire US). The odd thing was the doctor seemed like he was old enough to be in medical school around the turn of the century – the LAST century (1900).  I literally was reviewing CPR procedures in my head while he was examining me in case he were to suddenly keel over. It was a close call but both of us escaped from the room upright.

2) Gotten a chest X-ray at a separate medical office to prove I didn’t have anything I was going to spread to the Belgians. A blood sample went to a third lab for analysis. Apparently they don’t want my deadly germs spreading to “the old countries.” Perhaps they remember Columbus.

3) Returned two days later to the doctor to pick up my signed and stamped medical certificate, which I then had to run up to the Belgian Embassy (one of the benefits of working in DC is that just about everything needed is right here). Given that the Embassy was only 3/4 mile from the nearest Metro stop (and the fact that all the taxis were on strike that day), I decided to walk there and back. Naturally it started to rain just as I left and continued until just after I returned….and I hadn’t brought along an umbrella because there wasn’t any rain in the forecast.  Oh well. I was a bit damp but the trek was successful.

4) Running out again to the now defunct Ritz Camera to get two ID photos taken for my passport visa. I’m not particularly photogenic and the photographers seem to capture that deficiency well.

5) Sending all of this along with my CV, copies of my college diplomas, copies of every single page (even the blank ones) of my passport, and a few other pieces of paper to the Brussels office so I can get a work permit. [Of course, I still couldn’t get that until the FBI ran a background check on the fingerprints I had taken a couple of weeks before.]

Once the work permit was issued I had to take that up to the Belgian Embassy again to get my visa. Once I (finally) got to Brussels I had more paperwork to do in order to get a residency card. That excruciating process that had to be repeated every year for my three years there. Anyone who thinks America’s bureaucracy is burdensome needs to live in Europe to appreciate just how easy we have it in the states.

I began to see why some immigrants to my own country choose to take their chances bypassing the official procedures….you could grow old waiting for all the paperwork to be filed. And I’m only going over for a few years. And I was working for the same firm, just changing offices.

But it was worth it.

More to come.

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, now available. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (both Fall River Press). He has also written two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

Follow me by subscribing by email on the home page. Share with your friends using the buttons below.

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If It’s Tuesday – Networking, Networking, Networking

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Brussels, Belgium, TuesdayNetworking is your best friend!

In real estate they say “location, location, location.”

When moving to another country they say “network, network, network.”

In the continuing saga of my three-year long working life in Brussels (based on the movie, If It’s Tuesday, This Must be Belgium), one of my first concerns was the fact that I would not know anyone. How would I find a place to live? How would I deal with the foreign language? Buying groceries? The foreboding bureaucracy?

Who could I call on to help? After much thought and a whole lot of asking around, this is what I came up with to give me a hand as I prepared my international adventure.

1) The company office in Brussels: The obvious first stop was the European office of the company I worked for at the time. After all, company business was the reason I was getting this opportunity. I had met a few of my soon-to-be office mates when I attended a conference the year before, so had high hopes that they would be dragging me along to pubs and parties. That didn’t quite work out the way I anticipated (most had families and the requisite attention to those families), but they became a great resource for me.

2) Ex-Pat connections: No, these are not people who are no longer Patriot fans, but expatriates, who are people who live outside their native countries. Because Brussels is the capital of the European Union, there are networks of Americans (and Canadians and Aussies and Brits, etc) living and working in the city. While in the end I spent less time with native-English speakers than with other expats, it was nice to be able to sit in an Irish pub occasionally and hear mostly English-ish. A useful website to help locate expats is expat.com. [More below the photo]

Brussels, Belgium, Tuesday

3) Friends who have friends: Because of the global nature of many businesses these days, I’ve had a chance to meet people who work for multinational companies, international government agencies, and nongovernmental organizations. These groups were a great help in linking me with colleagues and friends in Brussels in particular or in Europe in general. Added to my own European friends, colleagues, and acquaintances, I started off this venture in pretty good shape. Or at least that’s what I thought.

4) Colleagues who have lived there: The firm I worked for had several partners who temporarily relocated from the Washington, DC to the Brussels office. Each of them in succession stayed only one year (I was there for three) and lived in a company-rented apartment (I needed to find and pay for my own apartment), but their experiences did give them wonderful insights, which they happily passed along to me.

5) Scientific organizations: I belong to, and have been active in, two major international scientific organizations. Both have European divisions, and the Executive Directors have helped introduce me to key folks in Europe. I had also been president of the regional chapters of both organizations, which helped my build a network of contacts, many of whom offered advice and strategies. [Others were simply envious of my opportunity and promptly invited themselves to stay with me at their earliest convenience.]

6) Social media: You guys! The assistance, support, and insights I received from online connections was invaluable. At the time I was active on a now-defunct posting and comment site called Gather, and the online friendships I had built all offered amazing support and suggestions. That site is gone but a large number of the people I formerly interacted with on Gather are now active connections on Facebook. I felt truly privileged to have “met” so many people who were willing to offer their experiences, travels, and passions to this project.

[Click and scroll for more in the If It’s Tuesday, This Must be Belgium series. More coming soon.]

Meanwhile, check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

David J. Kent is the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, scheduled for release in summer 2017. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (both Fall River Press). He has also written two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Follow me by subscribing by email on the home page.  And feel free to “Like” my Facebook author’s page and connect on LinkedIn.  Share with your friends using the buttons below.

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If It’s Tuesday – Whose Stuff is This, Anyway?

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In the continuing saga relating my three-year long working life in Brussels (based on the movie, If It’s Tuesday, This Must be Belgium), just getting there was a chore. I’ve mentioned the bureaucratic process I had to go through before they would let me move, but when the actual move got closer I realized that all my townhouse stuff was in no way going to fit into whatever apartment I might find in Brussels. This revelation led me to wonder:

Whose stuff is this anyway?

Stuff

I blame all of my stuff on my parents (which is some sort of Freudian thing I’m sure).  My mother was one of 9 children, and my dad was one of 12 children. They were both born during hard times into blue collar families (assuming that a 2-acre subsistence farm serving 14 people even rises to the level of blue collar). Growing up in families the size of small Midwestern towns led to the tendency to hoard everything passing their way. And in positive proof that clutter is hereditary, I followed suit…or at least it seems that way at this moment as my eyes scan the mountain of stuff on which I have to make “keep” or “go” decisions.

Keeping in mind that I have a decent sized 3 bedroom townhouse full of “American male” furniture (i.e., big) that likely won’t fit into the tiny European-sized apartments, it seems that my first step is to separate stuff into several categories:

1)     Stuff that I should have thrown out ages ago (old magazines, holey clothes, and anything left behind by old girlfriends)

2)     Stuff that can be donated to charity or given away to friends (perfectly good clothes from the back of the closet that “I know I will fit into again some day”)

3)     Stuff that can be freecycled or sold on eBay or Craigslist (books, records, chachkas)

4)     Stuff that I want to keep but can’t take with me due to lack of room and so will likely have to put into storage (king size bed set with dressers and side tables, couches, my Abraham Lincoln book collection)

5)     Stuff that my company will ship to Europe for me (some furniture, some books, PhD stuff, and of course all my work stuff)

The hard part is deciding what fits into the first category – stuff to be thrown out.  It’s hard for me to throw out things because I see it as wasteful…surely someone can find a good use for each (seemingly) precious item.

So how do I let go of all my “valuable” stuff?  I addressed this problem in a recent post called “The Minimalist” on my writing blog, Hot White Snow. I’ll have more on how to deal with stuff in later posts.

David J. Kent is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (both Fall River Press). He has also written two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate. His next book, Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, is scheduled for release in summer 2017.

Follow me by subscribing by email on the home page.  And feel free to “Like” my Facebook author’s page and connect on LinkedIn.  Share with your friends using the buttons below.

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If it’s Tuesday…A Quick Look At Brussels

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As my “If it’s Tuesday, This Must be Brussels” adventure memory continues to unfold (see here for an explanation), the first step was to get orientated and find housing. That required a trip a month before the actual transfer would take place. Unless you have a place to stay for a while (like, say, two months), you’ll need to take this step.

Others from my company had made short visits prior to my transfer, so there was already an arrangement to stay in a “hotel” used many times before. The place was less of a hotel than a converted old European townhouse with a restaurant on the first floor and single apartments (two room suites) on each of the other two floors. A tiny elevator, when it worked, brought me to the third level where I took up temporary residence for several days. More on this hotel in later posts.

Brussels Office

Then, despite the rather unwelcoming weather (which I would soon find to be the norm), it was off to find the office about a quarter mile down Avenue Louise toward the Bois de la Cambre, a sort of mini-Central Park stretching south away from the “central” part of city. A nine story building with just enough glass to offer a “city view” – check! Desk and chair and spot for my computer – check! A few phone calls and some work not finished on the flight over – check! Now to explore the neighborhood.

Brussels Tram

Good. A tram line runs the length of Avenue Louise, with a junction in front of my new office. That will give me options as I look for a place to live. I also liked the fact that there are many statues and original artwork dressing up the streets. I’ll see a lot more of this in Europe.

Getting off the main avenue I traipse through the gardens of the Abbeye de la Cambre and follow the quiet road past the two ponds of Ixelles and into Flagey, a square and neighborhood featuring a large church.

Church in Flagey

More about Flagey in the future; let’s go back to the ponds. I looked at an apartment, really a garret, in an old house overlooking the pond. The view was beautiful. The ceilings were low. And by low I mean low enough to cause me to involuntarily duck, and low enough to knock out my rental agent when he didn’t duck. Once he regained consciousness, even he admired the lush greenery around the ponds.

Ponds in Ixelles Brussels

From Flagey I would head back across the main road, check out the Chatelain area, and then follow Avenue Louise down to the office. Not bad. This initial exploration was helpful. I got a feel for the area and the limits of how far I wanted to live away from the office. Eventually I would choose a place on the Rue du Magistrat, about 1.2 kilometers (0.75 miles) from the office, which I could walk or hop on the tram. But that is getting ahead of ourselves. There is so much more to do before making the move.

[This is part of a series on living and working in Brussels, but also some hints on how to do it the right way if you’re considering such a big career move. Keep checking back here for more articles, all of which are included in a category called “Tuesday.”]

David J. Kent is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity (2013) and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (2016) (both Fall River Press). He has also written two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate. His next book, Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, is scheduled for release in summer 2017.

Follow me by subscribing by email on the home page.  And feel free to “Like” my Facebook author’s page and connect on LinkedIn.  Share with your friends using the buttons below.

 

 

 

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If it’s Tuesday, This Must be Belgium

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In 1969 there was a movie by this title (“If it’s Tuesday, This Must be Belgium“) starring Suzanne Pleshette. It was a comedy about Americans experiencing Europe for the first time. Not long ago I had a chance to live out the idea behind the movie – the company I worked for at the time traded me from Washington DC to their office in Brussels (presumably for a scientist to be named later). I lived in Brussels for three years.

During that time I traveled as much as I could squeeze in between a heavy work load and limited finances. While in retrospect I wish I had traveled even more, I treasure every second of the time spent hopping from one country to the next.

Flower carpet in Grand Place

In future posts I’ll talk more about specific places I visited. And, of course, I’ll also be talking about some of the cool science experienced on these travels. My base of Brussels was well positioned as a starting point. Most of Europe is within two or three hours by plane and the train system in Europe is tremendous, so it’s very easy to get around. Over my three years I took train trips, driving trips, flying trips, and even an occasional boat (though no long boat trips).

Brussels is not only the capital of Belgium, it’s the capital of the European Union. The former is reflected in its “old town” central square called Grand Place (pronounced with a French accent, n’est-ce pas?), while the latter is reflected in the tall steel and glass buildings more familiar to modern cities. The site of the 1958 World’s Fair, Brussels proudly shows off one of its most famous attractions – the Atomium, whose nine spheres form the shape of an iron crystal (see, I told you there would be science).

Atomium, Brussels

 

Bizarrely, Brussels’ other most famous attraction is the Mannekin Pis, which everyone rushes to see, then wonders what all the hubbub is about. I’ll talk about that later, as well as have much more on Brussels and my European adventures in future posts. Meanwhile, I’m planning my next European adventure (along with a few south of the equator). Back soon.

David J. Kent has been a scientist for over thirty years, is an avid science traveler, and an independent Abraham Lincoln historian. He is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and the e-book Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time. He is currently writing a book on Thomas Edison.

Follow me by subscribing by email on the home page.  And feel free to “Like” my Facebook author’s page and connect on LinkedIn.  Share with your friends using the buttons below.

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We cannot have free government without elections – A. Lincoln

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Abraham LincolnDuring the U.S. Civil War, there were some who advised Abraham Lincoln to postpone the 1864 election. He refused to do so, saying:

We cannot have free government without elections; and if the rebellion could force us to forego, or postpone a national election, it might fairly claim to have already conquered and ruined us.

Lincoln forged ahead in 1864 despite his belief that he would lose the upcoming presidential election in November; he insisted the democratic process was what they were fighting for, and that the election would continue as planned.

Lincoln was so convinced he would lose reelection that on August 23, 1864, he wrote what has become known as the “blind memorandum:”

This morning, as for some days past, it seems exceedingly probable that this Administration will not be re-elected. Then it will be my duty to so co-operate with the President elect, as to save the Union between the election and the inauguration; as he will have secured his election on such ground that he cannot possibly save it afterward.

He folded the memorandum in half, asked each member of his perplexed cabinet to sign the back without reading it, then put it away for safekeeping.

The election went ahead as planned. Thousands of troops were able to vote, some by being allowed to return to their home states to cast a ballot, while some were able to vote for the first time in the field (in a sense, the first “mail-in” ballots). In the end, Lincoln won 55 percent of the popular vote (with only northern states voting, of course) to 45 percent for McClellan. The electoral vote was even more decisive: 212 for Lincoln and 21 for McClellan. Lincoln won 22 of the 25 northern states and was reelected in a landslide.

And yet, consider the fact that 45% of the Union voted for the party that was calling the war a failure, would immediately declare “peace,” dismember the Union, and perpetuate slavery. In short, a party treasonous to the Constitution and to the people of the nation. Nearly half the country voted against the country.

As I write this, the United States is only a few days from election day in the 2024 presidential election. Early voting has started and over 60 million people have cast their ballots. On Tuesday, millions more will vote. Voting is a responsibility that all Americans must take seriously. Everyone has both the right and the obligation to vote. We must vote.

As in 1864, the 2024 election again pits those who would protect the Constitution and the Union versus those who promise to violate the Constitution and have done so repeatedly in the past. This election is for those who believe the Constitution applies to ALL Americans, against those who believe it only applies to some of us. One party works to address issues through policy discussion, the other denies reality and spews falsehoods, insults, and violence. The choice is clear. Americanism or Fascism.

We don’t all have to agree on policy proposals. Real parties – and real Americans – acknowledge realities and work to find solutions. If we don’t like a proposal, we counter-propose and work toward solving the problem. Voting for saving democracy gives us the opportunity to negotiate the path forward. Voting to save democracy ensures the freedoms of all Americans. Conversely, voting to elevate authoritarianism and government of, by, and for a handful of billionaires is destroying democracy. It’s destroying America.

I voted early for Kamala Harris. It is the only choice to ensure the continuation of what Abraham Lincoln – and George Washington – fought so hard to create and defend.

Lincoln reminded us that:

“we cannot escape history. We…will be remembered in spite of ourselves…The fiery trial through which we pass will light us down in honor or dishonor to the latest generation.”

Vote for honor. Vote for Democracy.

 

Fire of Genius

Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America is available at booksellers nationwide.

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David J. Kent is Immediate Past President of the Lincoln Group of DC and the author of Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America and Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America.

His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity andEdison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.