Lincoln: enduring images

 

The BBC has an article by Jane O'Brien about Lincoln:

When John Wilkes Booth crept into the presidential box at Ford's Theater in Washington, DC and shot Abraham Lincoln on 14 April 1865, he had no trouble recognizing the man he had come to kill. That was thanks to photography, a technology then in its infancy, that would come to dominate the way all politicians have presented themselves ever since.
"Lincoln was the first president born in the photographic era," says Paul Tetreault, director of Ford's Theater. "He was very aware of the importance of photography. But unlike our public figures today, who have the seven-hundred-dollar haircut and the right suit, I don't think Lincoln cared about that. He was very conscious of his shortcomings in the looks department, and he didn't shy away from that."
On 27 February 1860, Lincoln addressed a large audience in New York City, where he was photographed by Mathew Brady, a pioneer of American photography. Brady pulled up Lincoln's collar to improve his appearance and the image (photo, top) was subsequently reproduced and copied by newspapers and magazines.
"That photograph established Lincoln, not as a hayseed or bumpkin, but as a sober, respectable, powerful intellectual who could become president," says David Ward, senior historian at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery. "Lincoln said that it was the photograph that made him president."
Brady and his colleague Alexander Gardner went on to photograph Lincoln many times, and their images endure today. The Civil War was coming to an end and the enormous toll taken by four years of conflict is etched into the lines of Lincoln's craggy face . His eyes are sunken, his hairline has receded and he has grown a beard, which also makes him appear older. "He looks exhausted," says Ward. "In fact, people frequently think the second one is a death mask, because he looks so exhausted."
Lincoln himself didn't think he'd survive his second term because of his failing strength.
By 1865, Abraham Lincoln looked older and tired in photographs (photo, bottom).
Paul Tetreault says Lincoln is second only to Jesus Christ in the number of books written about him. Lincoln's image is still being re-interpreted and analysed. Even the life mask at the National Portrait Gallery is a 1917 rendering from Volk's 1860 cast, which is kept at the National Museum of American History in Washington, DC. "People want to reach out to try to understand, who was this guy? Who was this man who by sheer force of his own power held this country together?" says Tetreault. "We all find some connection to him, and that's why I think the image of Lincoln will last forever."

Rico says he's on the penny and the five-dollar bill; that'll last for awhile...