Abraham Lincoln: Logician, Orator, and President

Presented by Upper School, Grades 7-12

Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809 in Hardin County, Kentucky. Did you know that by the time Lincoln became the 16th President of the United States, he had already worked as a farm hand, a rail splitter, a store clerk and shop assistant known for making exact change, a flatboatman on the Mississippi River, the postmaster of New Salem, Illinois, a self-trained land surveyor, a militia member, and a state legislator- even without having been formally trained in law!

Lincoln noticed that often his arguments lacked a tight, logical structure, so he began studying. Reverend John Gulliver recalled meeting Lincoln on a train in 1860. “As the pair took their seats in the carriage, Gulliver asked Lincoln about his remarkable oratory skill: “I want very much to know how you got this unusual power of ‘putting things.’ ” According to Gulliver, Lincoln said it wasn’t a matter of formal education. “I never went to school more than six months in my life.” But he did find training elsewhere. “In the course of my law-reading I constantly came upon the word demonstrate,” Lincoln said. “I thought, at first, that I understood its meaning, but soon became satisfied that I did not.” Resolving to understand it better, he went to his father’s house and “staid there till I could give any propositions in the six books of Euclid at sight.”

Lincoln was referring to the first six books of Euclid’s Elements. Written around 300 B.C., Euclid contains the foundations of geometry and mathematics, emphasizing the importance of definitions, proofs, and axioms- self-evident, universal truths. Euclid’s work influenced mathematics, Western science and art, and politics for thousands of years. And, his work influenced the logical structure of Lincoln’s most famous speeches.

Lincoln applied what he learned from Euclid in the famous Lincoln-Douglas debates about slavery. The strength of Lincoln’s anti-slavery arguments was based in logic and not solely emotional appeals. He essentially argued that since all men are created equal, and enslaved people are men, it follows logically that enslaving men violates equality.

You can also see Euclid’s influence in The Gettysburg Address. First, Lincoln defines what the nation is, a “new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition” or universal truth, “that all men are created equal.” He then acknowledges that “it is altogether fitting and proper” that the sacrifices of “the brave men, living and dead” who struggled for the preservation of this new nation should be recognized. Finally, Lincoln builds to show what we, “the living rather” should do going forward.

“It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us – that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion – that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain – that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom – and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

Lincoln’s vision of a “government of the people, by the people, and for the people” is still so intellectually and morally powerful because of the Euclidian logic and universal truth upon which it stands. Lincoln wrote that the principles Jefferson laid out in the Declaration of Independence are “the definitions and axioms of free society.” May we be humble enough to seek truth through logic and emotion, as Abraham Lincoln did.

By Mrs. Cortney Carman

Director of Curriculum

Following this historical thought, Grammar School students presented the poem "A Nation's Life" by Clarence Flynn.

We were also delighted to hear our Lower Choir sing "Peace Like a River," arranged and directed by Ms. Ballard.

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This historical thought was delivered by our Upper School students at devotional on 2/12/2026. Each week one class leads the student body in prayer, the Pledge of Allegiance, scripture recitation, a meditation, and an historical thought. Belmont family and friends are welcome, Thursdays 8:30-9:05 am.

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