When Abraham Lincoln won the presidency in 1860, the United States was teetering on the brink of collapse.
The Civil War that followed over the next four years took more than 700,000 lives and put the very survival of the American Republic to the test. Yet as that devastating conflict neared its end, Lincoln’s focus shifted — not just to winning, but to healing.
In his second inaugural address, Lincoln issued a challenge to the country: “Let us strive on to bind up the nation’s wounds to achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace.”
Lincoln recognized that protecting what he saw as history’s greatest experiment in self-government demanded something beyond military triumph. It called for the strength of character needed to rebuild what the war had torn apart.
Now, more than 160 years later, the latest Foundations of Freedom commentary — produced weekly by Salem Media — draws a direct line from that moment in history to the divisions Americans face today.
The commentary poses a pointed question: while disagreement among Americans is inevitable, do we still possess the wisdom and moral character necessary to heal as one nation?
