I shall not look upon his like again.

When I started to write A Memorable Honor, I intended to write a book about Shakespeare and leadership.  That’s what the book is ultimately about, but during the process of drafting the manuscript, something surprising happened.  Almost immediately, another figure (in addition to Shakespeare) began to dominate the narrative:  Abraham Lincoln. 

President Lincoln was a devoted fan of Shakespeare and could quote long passages from memory.  Indeed, he often subjected his friends, cabinet and personal secretaries to recitations of speeches from the plays, frequently to their chagrin.  (I don’t share much in common with a man as great as Lincoln, but I do have the ability to annoy people now and then with quotations from the Bard.  Just ask my wife.)  In Doris Kearns Goodwin’s book A Team of Rivals, she noted that the theater generally, and Shakespeare in particular, provided Lincoln with a “respite” from the burdens of his office during the Civil War.

Lincoln grew up with Shakespeare.  As a young man in rural America, he may have owned only two texts:  The Bible and Shakespeare’s plays.  One of the more charming stories I include in my book is about a young Lincoln and a “vagabond poet” named Jack Kelso fishing together while quoting Shakespeare and criticizing each other’s performance.

Lincoln found something in his love of Shakespeare that carried him through the darkest days of the Civil War.  He saw in Shakespeare’s characters humanity’s capacity for evil, weakness and dishonesty, but also its capacity for wisdom, courage and honor. 

I found that I could not keep Abe out of my writing even if I tried.  Perhaps that comes from being an American; in the words of the inscription above his statue in the Lincoln Memorial, his memory is “enshrined” in the hearts of the American people forever. 

In a different way, Shakespeare is also enshrined in the American character.  The United States is Shakespeare’s second home – I would guess that at least one of Shakespeare’s plays is probably playing somewhere in America almost every day of the year.  From the nation’s founding to today, he is part of our make-up in ways we sometimes don’t fully understand. 

But Lincoln understood.  If Shakespeare is the most important Englishman in history, then Lincoln is the most important American.  Lincoln left the nation transformed, freed from the curse of slavery and the threat of disunion and, in the most unexpected way, made possible the fulfilment of the nation’s founding creed.  His was the greatest act of leadership in our history.  And he learned extraordinarily important lessons that made him a better leader through his devotion to Shakespeare.

Especially this year, the 250th anniversary of our nation’s founding, it seemed fitting that a book about William Shakespeare and leadership should also center on Abraham Lincoln.  That’s why he joins Shakespeare on the cover of A Memorable Honor. 

Thanks for reading!

Frank

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