Lincoln's Bicentennial: A legacy of liberty Published May 1, 2009 By Cathy Gastineau 19th Airlift Wing LITTLE ROCK AIR FORCE BASE, Ark. -- On Feb. 3, 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower proclaimed May 1 as Law Day. Today, we celebrate the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln's birth in 1809 and honor him with the theme "A Legacy of Liberty - Celebrating Lincoln's Bicentennial." Although best known for his presidency during a difficult time in American history, President Abraham Lincoln was also known as a compassionate attorney who demanded and exuded respect with his fellow man and the law. Lincoln's most common nickname of 'Honest Abe' personified his reputation for being a strong ally of truth. In 1850 Lincoln wrote "Notes for a Law Lecture" in which he penned "the leading rule for the lawyer, as for the man, of every calling, is diligence. Leave nothing for tomorrow, which can be done today. Let no young man, choosing the law for a calling, for a moment yield to the popular belief that lawyers are necessarily dishonest. Resolve to be honest at all events; and if, in your own judgment, you cannot be an honest lawyer, resolve to be honest without being a lawyer." Fellow lawyers, as well as businessmen, proclaimed that President Lincoln needed to believe in a case to be effective. He was a cautious attorney and acted as a peacemaker and broker, always sensitive to what was at stake. He understood the law and had a deep respect as to the liberties of his fellow man. Courteous to the court, fair to his opponent and modest and restrained in his assertions, he was a model lawyer. President Lincoln strongly believed in freedom and liberty for all and carried this belief with him as president. On Jan. 1, 1863, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation that declared forever free all slaves and their descendents. President Lincoln reminded the world that those who fought to preserve the Union fought not only to abolish slavery, but to ensure a new birth of freedom. This he stated most movingly in dedicating the military cemetery at Gettysburg: "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." President Lincoln best summarized his sense of liberty in such a manner as to ring as true today as it did in his time: "The world has never had a good definition of the word liberty, and the American people, just now, are much in want of one. We all declare for liberty; but in using the same word we do not all mean the same thing. With some the word liberty may mean for each man to do as he pleases with himself, and the product of his labor; while with others the same word may mean for some men to do as they please with other men, and the product of other men's labor. Here are two, not only different, but incompatible things, called by the same name, liberty. And it follows that each of the things is, by the respective parties, called by two different and incompatible names, liberty and tyranny." It is imperative that we, as a nation, learn to embrace our own freedoms and liberties without trampling on the freedom and liberties of others. The spirit that guided President Lincoln can be found in his second inaugural address, now inscribed on one wall of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington: "With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds..." For more information about Law Day go to www.lawday.org.