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In recent months we've all read commentary from people
who say I oppose going to war with Iraq, but I support
our troops.
We have also read commentary which says
that this a preposterous position, an attempt to straddle a
fence that shouldn't be straddled.
Whatever it is, this position does have an impeccable political pedigree, for as nearly as I can tell, it was invented by Abraham Lincoln.
The story can start in 1836, when Texas declared its independence from Mexico. One reason was that Mexico had outlawed slavery, and the gallant defenders of the Alamo wanted to keep their chattels.
The United States recognized the Republic of Texas; Mexico did not, but eventually agreed to accept Texas independence (with a disputed boundary) as long as Texas stayed out of the United States. But in 1844, the United States began to annex Texas.
That led to war in 1846, when the United States was
anything but united. There were two major American
political parties: the Whigs and the Democrats. President
James Knox Polk was a Democrat; the party's political base
was the Solid South,
which generally supported the
war.
Many Whigs, and others, opposed it. Henry David Thoreau
spent a night in jail for refusing to pay his taxes to a
government that endorsed slavery and waged an imperialist
war,
as one biographer put it.
Ulysses S. Grant, then a young lieutenant, fought with
distinction, but wrote that the war was a conspiracy to
acquire territory out which slave states might be formed
for the American Union.
as well as one of the most
unjust ever waged by a stronger against a weaker
nation.
One could argue that Grant opposed the war but supported the soldiers. However, he was not in political life in 1846, and the words come from his memoirs, written nearly 40 years later.
Abraham Lincoln was in political life then. After several terms in his state legislature, the Whig lawyer was elected to Congress in 1846.
Like Grant, he believed that the United States had tried to provoke Mexico into firing the first shots by marching into the disputed territory between the Nueces River and the Rio Grande. Lincoln demanded to know the exact location of the spot where the first blood was shed.
President Polk, the dominant congressional Democrats and
the national newspapers all ignored Spotty Lincoln.
Back home in Illinois, though, he got plenty of attention
for his opposition. A Springfield newspaper predicted that
Lincoln would be repudiated by the great mass of people
who voted for him,
and that he would have a fearful
account to settle
with veterans when they got home.
At a public meeting, Lincoln was denounced as the
Benedict Arnold of our district
who had launched a
base, dastardly, and treasonable assault upon President
Polk.
Even Lincoln's law partner and fellow Whig, Billy
Herndon, was alarmed by Lincoln's opposition. Instead of
attacking Pres. Polk, Herndon wrote, Lincoln should argue
that if it shall become necessary to repel invasion, the
President may, without violation of the Constitution, cross
the line, and invade the territory of another
country.
Lincoln refused to accept that argument. Allow the
president to invade ... whenever he shall deem it necessary
... and you allow him to make war at pleasure,
which
would put our President where kings have always
stood,
he replied.
Further, Lincoln pointed out, he had every intention of voting for appropriations to supply the soldiers in the field, even if he didn't think they had any business being there.
There were political risks in this position. One
prominent Chicago Whig, Justin Butterfield, refused to
condemn the Mexican War. That was a surprise, since he had
opposed the War of 1812. But as he explained, I opposed
one war, and it ruined me. From now on I am for war,
pestilence and famine.
Opposing the Mexican War hurt Lincoln's political career, no matter how much he protested that he supported the troops. He did not get another term in 1848. Even though he campaigned hard for the successful Whig presidential ticket that fall, he did not get a patronage appointment, and had to go back to his law practice.
Eventually he did attain some political success. After the Whigs fell apart in the 1850s, he joined the new Republican party, and became its first president. Rural Republicans celebrate him with annual Lincoln Day dinners. I have attended some of these, but I have never heard anyone propose to honor Abraham Lincoln for inventing one of the most enduring positions -- oppose the war but support the troops -- in American political history.
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