Lincoln's Fathers

Abraham Lincoln looked to the founding fathers — George Washington, Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson — all his life for inspiration and for guidance in self-expression and politics. But two other fathers also preoccupied him: his biological father, Thomas Lincoln, and — especially as the Civil War ground on — God the father.

The ASU School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership welcomed Richard Brookhiser in our second annual Constitution Day Address, "Lincoln's Fathers," in which he discussed the many ways in which Abraham Lincoln's predecessors and paternal figures influenced his personal and public life.

About the Speaker

Richard Brookhiser is an American journalist, biographer and historian. He has been writing about the American founding for over 20 years. He is a senior editor of National Review and a columnist for American History.

"I wrote about Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton, Iowa caucuses and national conventions, Philip Larkin and Bobby Short, the collapse of communism and 9/11. Ronald Reagan laughed at one of my jokes; Margaret Thatcher repeated it. I shook Fidel Castro’s hand. I had a close, sometimes tumultuous relationship with William F. Buckley Jr. — which is the subject of "Right Time, Right Place". I curated “Alexander Hamilton: The Man Who Made Modern America,” an exhibition at the New York Historical Society; and I wrote and hosted “Rediscovering George Washington” and “Rediscovering Alexander Hamilton,” films by Michael Pack, which aired on PBS. I am currently a columnist for American History. In 2008, I was awarded the National Medal of the Humanities. In 2011, I was awarded a Guggenheim fellowship.