Levin Jack E. - Malice toward none: Abraham Lincolns second inaugural address

JACK E. LEVIN is the author of Abraham Lincolns Gettysburg Address Illustrated . An artist whose portrait of Ronald Reagan hangs in the Reagan Library, he is also a small-businessman and the owner of a Philadelphia area art gallery. He lives in Florida with his wife of sixty-two years, Norma.

MARK R. LEVIN is the author of the #1 New York Times bestsellers Ameritopia and Liberty and Tyranny . He is a nationally syndicated talk-radio host and president of Landmark Legal Foundation.

Visit www.marklevinshow.com.

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To my beautiful wife, Norma Thank you for sixty-three years of wonderful marriage.

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Copyright 2014 by Jack E. Levin

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First Threshold Editions hardcover edition September 2014

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Jacket art and design by Alan Dingman

Author photograph courtesy of the Levin family

ISBN 978-1-4767-8426-7

ISBN 978-1-4767-8427-4 (ebook)

L ast year, on my visit to Florida to see my parents, Jack and Norma, I found my father spending a goodly amount of time working at his artists easel. It is actually more like a well-worn easel desk. It is located toward the back of their modest but comfortable home in a tranquil area, where the sun shines most of the day and a light breeze can usually be felt through the screened porch. This is where my father has conceived and designed much of his artwork and books during his later years, including his beautiful editions Abraham Lincolns Gettysburg AddressIllustrated and George WashingtonThe Crossing . It is also where he painted his magnificent portrait of President Ronald Reagan, which is displayed prominently today in the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley, California.

As my father was leaning over his easel desk, surrounded by history books and with magazines and photographs at hand, maneuvering his X-ACTO knife across the desk with the exactitude of a surgeon, I asked him, Dad, what are you working on? My next book, he said. I walked to where he was sitting and leaned over his shoulder. As he was diligently cutting and arranging lettering under a dramatic Civil Warera graphic, he began talking about the historical importance and modern-day relevance of Abraham Lincolns second inaugural address. He explained that it was a seminal address intended to foster the national healing process and preach reconciliation as the devastation of Americas most costly war was coming to an end. He reminded me that the celebrated phrase With malice toward none, with charity for all... was delivered by Lincoln at that speech, and Lincoln relied heavily on references to and inferences from faith and the Bible.

As my father explains and illustrates in his book, in myriad ways Lincolns second inaugural address is considered his finest speech. Lincoln was enormously proud of it, although during the short time he remained alive after his second swearing-in he wondered how it would be accepted over the ages.

Just as the nation had tired of war, it had taken a heavy toll on Lincoln as well. After the address was delivered and Lincoln made his way back to the White House, Walt

Not until April 26, 1865, about seven weeks after Lincolns March 4, 1865, second inaugural address, did the last of the Confederate forces finally surrender. The scale of the casualties and the scope of the destruction were inconceivable. My father reminds me that nearly 750,000 died during the Civil War, the equivalent of about 7,000,000 today.

It is no accident that my father, a vigorous nearly ninety-year-old patriot born only sixty years after the end of the Civil War and a young volunteer when World War II broke out, is dedicated to highlighting some of Americas most significant historical events and bringing them to life through his knowledge of the countrys heritage and his creative artistic talents. As he mentioned to me several years ago, despite constant efforts to demean the remarkable qualities of our nation or ignore them altogether, his purpose in authoring his book series is to remind his fellow citizens, especially young people, how blessed we are to live in such a fantastic place. He has often said that this country is built on the unparalleled sacrifices, wisdom, courage, and spirit of the extraordinary men and women who came before us, both the prominent and the nameless. It is a profoundly distinctive legacy we must commemorate and preserve by passing it on to our children and grandchildren, just as it was passed on to us by our ancestors.

Malice Toward NoneAbraham Lincolns Second Inaugural Address is the latest volume in my fathers trilogy of illustrated historical books. Why did he choose this subject? As he explained to me, America faces many difficult and complicated challenges, both at home and abroad. Some days it may seem like the future is bleak or even hopeless. Now is a good time to remember that the nations past is one of unthinkable and perilous trials, all of which we have surmounted. We are a people defined by amazing triumphs. No speech, and perhaps no occasion, better exemplifies this truth than Lincolns second inaugural address.

My father never attempts or even presumes to improve upon the majestic words of a great statesman like Lincoln. Such a pursuit would be an egoists folly. Instead, after the passing of 150 years, he sets the speech and surrounding events in a masterful visual display of period photographs and drawings, as if to bring history into the present and make it accessible to everyone. And I am proud to say he has outdone himself. Malice Toward NoneAbraham Lincolns Second Inaugural Address is an exquisite book.

Finally, there is no better place and time to mention my mother, Norma, about whom I am often asked. After all, she has always been the most loving and influential force behind the four men in our family. For my brothers, Doug and Robert, and for me, it is impossible to think of my father without thinking of my mother. Our parents have been married for more than sixty-three years and have been inseparable since they first met. They are real-life partners. They have always worked together and have never traveled apart. Alongside my father, my mother has worked very hard throughout her lifefrom starting and running a private nursery school and day camp and subsequently a small retail shop outside of Philadelphia. And no one has been more supportive of my fathers creative and artistic endeavors than my mother. Malice Toward NoneAbraham Lincolns Second Inaugural Address and my fathers other wonderful works would not have been possible without her encouragement.