Holzer spoke about Lincoln's influence as the most imitated and admired American president and about the tendency of both Republican and Democratic political figures to align themselves with the 16th president in the lecture, titled "Why Lincoln Matters: To Presidents, to History and to Us."
Lincoln became a canonized political figure the moment he was assassinated, and conservatives and liberals alike have fought to claim him as their own, according to Holzer. Since 1865, Lincoln has been used to back a wide variety of policies and actions by presidents ranging from Theodore Roosevelt to Barack Obama, but only some of whose policies align with what Lincoln actually supported, Holzer said.
People across the nation likened Lincoln to a "second-coming messiah" or "latter-day Moses," a detail highlighted by his death on Good Friday, Holzer said. Republicans seized Lincoln's image immediately after his death in an attempt to win votes in the years following the Emancipation Proclamation, when the Democrats held the South, according to Holzer.
"It was a miraculous elevation for someone who was one of the most controversial and severely criticized politicians," Holzer said.
Not until the dawn of the 20th century did the Democrats begin to embrace Lincoln, according to Holzer. William Jennings Bryan was the first to "expand his niche," and Presidents William Howard Taft and Woodrow Wilson both associated themselves with Lincoln in the 1912 election.
Wilson used Lincoln's legacy to justify World War I and published war bonds that featured Lincoln's face. Holzer emphasized the irony in the use of the "Great Emancipator's" image by a man who re-segregated the federal bureaucracy.
Almost every president has tied himself to Lincoln, according to Holzer. During World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt compared European dictatorship to slavery during the Civil War in an attempt to emulate Lincoln, Holzer said. Presidents Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon perceived themselves as "heirs to the legacy of hunkering down and fighting on," Holzer said.
"The association with Lincoln is something that happens to every president," he said. "It's personal and deeply felt."
Of all of the heads of state, Obama has emphasized and been rewarded the most by the public for his similarities to Lincoln, according to Holzer. The president has mentioned Lincoln by name 82 times since 2009, Holzer said.
Holzer said he does not expect the historic fascination with Lincoln to diminish in the coming months and years. While critics may fault the continued Lincoln discourse, Holzer suggested that historians' and politicians' interest lies in the belief that "the view of the future [is] inflected on the past," he said.
Kelsey Heinen '13, who attended Holzer's lecture, said she was interested to discover the bipartisan nature of interest in Lincoln's legacy over time.
Peter Gilbert '76, executive director of the Vermont Humanities Council, said he chose Holzer as a speaker due to his prominence as a Lincoln historian. The lecture was co-sponsored by the history department and the Vermont Humanities Council as part of the Nachman Fund in History and the "First Wednesdays" lecture series.
