WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 11
LOOKING FOR LINCOLN
Exposing the Man Behind the Myth
In American history, there is perhaps no figure more studied than Abraham Lincoln – 14,000 biographies written about him are merely the tip of the iceberg.
And, yet, Lincoln is easily one of the most misunderstood or under-understood historical figures. He is, more than anything, a mythical figure portrayed as the freer of slaves and, of course, the first president to be assassinated.
Tonight on PBS, the real Lincoln, the once-living ordinary man whose accomplishments were extraordinary, is uncovered in Looking for Lincoln.
Myths give way to truth; glossed-over human frailties such as severe depression and sexual yearnings are pulled out from the darkness.
Clashing interpretations of the man – white supremacist, radical slave sympathizer – are pitted against one another.
None of which is necessarily what some of us want to hear. A historical interpreter (an actor in a historic village) sums up this concern when she says: “The truth may be the truth. But I don’t need to hear certain aspects of it.”
But, if Looking for Lincoln proves anything, it’s that real, flawed humans are infinitely more fascinating and more deserving of our respect than a whitewashed mythical figure.
Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, early into Lincoln, says: “The real man is even more extraordinary than the myth.”
Later, historian James Horton says: “As you learn more about the human Lincoln, you start to respect him more.”
Looking for Lincoln is in no way a breezy bio of Abraham Lincoln.
Hosted and produced by Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., it’s instead a thorough, scholarly examination of Lincoln.
Looking for Lincoln premieres tonight on PBS at 9pm et/pt. Watch a preview in Video Clips or the full episode here: www.pbs.org/wnet/lookingforlincoln/video/watch-looking-for-lincoln/290/.
