George W. Bush

“ And as he sent legions of men to death and sacrifice, Lincoln's own burden began to show in a lined and tired face. Without really knowing, the American people had chosen perhaps the only man who could preserve our unity and assure our future as a great nation. ”

“ Citizens enlisted Lincoln's principles in the fight to bring the vote to women and to end Jim Crow laws. When Martin Luther King, Jr. called America to redeem the promissory note of the Declaration, he stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial — and Lincoln was behind him in more ways than one. From the lunch counter to the school house door to the Army barracks, President Lincoln has continued to hold this nation to its promises. And we will never relent — we will never rest until those promises are met.
The convictions that have guided our history are also at issue in our world. ”

“ In all this, Lincoln has taken on the elements of myth. And in this case, the myth is true. In the character and convictions of this one man, we see all that America hopes to be.
Lincoln's career and contributions were founded on a single argument: That there are no exceptions to the ringing promises of the Declaration of Independence; that all of us who share the human race are created equal. At a campaign stop in Chicago, Lincoln said, "If that Declaration is not the truth, let us get out the statute book, in which we find it and tear it out. Who is so bold as to do it? ”

“ Sometimes the progress of liberty comes gradually, like water that cuts through stone. Sometimes progress comes like a wildfire, kindled by example and courage. We see that example and courage today in Afghanistan and Kyrgystan, Ukraine, Georgia and Iraq. We believe that people in Zimbabwe and Iran and Lebanon and beyond have the same hopes, the same rights, and the same future of self-government. ”

“ As a state legislator in Springfield, a congressman, and a debater on the stump, Lincoln embodied the democratic ideal — that leadership and even genius are found among the people themselves, and sometimes in the most unlikely places. ”

“ Our interests are served when former enemies become democratic partners — because free governments do not support terror or seek to conquer their neighbors. Our interests are served by the spread of democratic societies — because free societies reward the hopes of their citizens, instead of feeding the hatreds that lead to violence. Our deepest values are also served when we take our part in freedom's advance — when the chains of millions are broken and the captives are set free, because we are honored to serve the cause that gave us birth. ”

“ Days before his death in April, 1865, Lincoln spoke from a White House window and declared that the right to vote should be extended to some freed men and African Americans who had fought for the Union. ”