The Great Debate: Was Lincoln Liberal or Conservative

Was Lincoln a political conservative or a liberal?

Our debate and discussion, featuring two of our scholarly members on a Zoom-only program, will try to get beyond the political labels to discuss Lincoln's underlying political philosophy and how he viewed the  role of government in America life. This is the second debate our group has held, following one last year on the issue of whether Lincoln was a visionary or a pragmatic leader.

Arguing for the position that Lincoln was a liberal will be Dr. Tom Peet, a longtime educator in Ohio and co-author with David Keck of the voluminous Reading Lincoln: An Annotated Bibliography, a book that gives thumbnail reviews of hundreds of books about the 16th president. Taking the side that Lincoln was a conservative will be Lincoln Group board member and journalist Ed Epstein. Ed has presented on Stephen Douglas and has originated our informative debates format.  

The program will work as follows: The moderator will state the question and everyone on the Zoom call can vote to take one side of the question or the other. Tom and Ed will then each get up to 10 minutes to make their case and then the program will be thrown open to everyone for questions to the debaters or comments. There will then be a concluding vote to see if any minds were changed by all the discussion.

This is a free Zoom-only event.  Please RSVP and use the link at the top of this event page.  Look forward to seeing you on October 18.