What advice might old Abe offer today’s candidates?

You know the world is an entertaining place to navigate for sure, and American politics is much better theater maybe than the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus.

Politics is often fairly humorous, too, if it didn’t have such serious ramifications to consider.

For instance, former President Donald Trump during a debate with Joe Biden in 2020 said that "nobody has done more for the black community than Donald Trump … with the exception of Abraham Lincoln." More recently, in May 2024, at a campaign stop before the National Rifle Association conference, Trump seemed to compare himself to Lincoln.

I was just now wondering how much Donald Trump really knows about old Abe.

And as an equal opportunity writer, I, too, wonder just how much President Biden knows about President Lincoln as well.

I can almost guarantee you there is no way Abe Lincoln would try to "buy" 43.2 million votes like President Biden has done these days by attempting to forgive those student loan debts.

This political ploy for certain is a most obvious form of "deceptiveness" used by any present politician.

So, for sure, politics has been a "cloak and dagger" sort of business since its conception, and the actors seem to be getting better at their trade as our time capsule moves on.

Whenever Abe Lincoln’s name is mentioned or one views politics and all those problems associated with the American political scene as it has evolved, one must wonder what might come next.

I, too, have been most fond of reading stories and that history of Abe Lincoln.

On April 14, 1865 (Good Friday) at approximately 10:20 p.m., Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth at the Ford theater while watching the play "Our American Cousin." Lincoln would die the next morning.

Many, many years ago, I took my family to the Ford theater as a historical lesson, the place where Lincoln was shot. After the president fell in his balcony seat seriously wounded, doctors had soldiers carry the president across the street to the "Peterson house." I visited there.

Dr. Stone, from excerpts recorded, examined the president and discovered a gunshot to the back part of the left side of his head; he informed others in attendance that the case was a hopeless one. Lincoln would soon succumb to his wound.

When people mention Abe Lincoln’s name and make comparisons, I must wonder how well they have read the history books.

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On that day of my visit to this historical part of Washington, D.C., I was mesmerized by a poster with Lincoln’s picture with the title "Rules of Conduct;" this poster has hung on my den’s wall for 40 years.

Trump and Biden might benefit from Lincoln’s rules of conduct.

May I share a few with you?

“Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.”

Perhaps Trump and Biden both have difficulty being silent.

“The fact is truth is your truest friend, no matter what the circumstances are.”

I am wondering out loud here, does either one of our 2024 presidential candidates really embrace Lincoln’s position that "truth is your truest friend;" just imagine both candidates' reaction to this one.

Another Lincoln reminder:

“Leave nothing for tomorrow which can be done today.”

Wouldn’t it be nice if every presidential candidate would embrace this concept?

Would Trump or Biden either one pledge to this next one?

“Quarrel not at all. No man resolved to make the most of himself can spare time for personal contention.”

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Is it any wonder that not much of anything gets done because of all the disagreements and quarreling among politicians these days?

Abe Lincoln, in my humble opinion, was one of the greatest American presidents to serve this country, and perhaps one of the wisest.

He offered many pieces of advice for those American presidents that followed who would listen.

Abe had one of the most difficult crises to confront. That issue of slavery and those circumstances surrounding the division of our country was an epic challenge.

Some 620,000 American deaths would cover the countryside with blood before this matter was resolved. Lincoln would offer up his own life as a consequence.

Lincoln came from a humble background; he was a meticulous man of reading great books; presidents today seem to avoid reading any books at all.

Once elected, Lincoln invited his political opponents to be in his cabinet to help him manage the war between the states.

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In my review of history, Lincoln provided a most wise example of leadership. Presidents Trump and Biden might both benefit from a true history lesson.

And embrace Lincoln’s advice.

Pete Waters is a Sharpsburg resident who writes for The Herald-Mail.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: What advice might old Abe offer today’s candidates?