by David H. Leroy, Chairman, The Idaho Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission
"THERE IS A VAGUE, POPULAR BELIEF THAT LAWYERS ARE NECESSARILY DISHONEST. I SAY VAGUE, BECAUSE WHEN WE CONSIDER TO WHAT EXTENT CONFIDENCE AND HONORS ARE REPOSED IN AND CONFERRED UPON LAWYERS BY THE PEOPLE, IT APPEARS IMPROBABLE THAT THEIR IMPRESSION OF DISHONESTY IS VERY DISTINCT AND VIVID."
So wrote Abraham Lincoln in 1850, at age 41, after practicing law for over a decade. Thirteen years later he would create Idaho Territory.
On February 12th, 2009, America will celebrate the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln's birth. The United States and the states of Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana and New York, among others, have established Commissions to plan and present appropriate civic tributes leading up to and on the occasion.
In fact, Idaho is a more direct political descendent of Lincoln than any of those four states. He lived in Kentucky from birth to age seven, resided in Indiana fourteen years to age twenty one, and of course spent his adulthood in Illinois, serving in state office only as a deputy surveyor and four term legislator. Lincoln merely traveled in New York on five occasions.
The Western U.S. and Idaho connection to President Lincoln which should be recognized and emphasized, is much more compelling! During the Civil War, Lincoln created Arizona (Feb. 24th, 1863) Idaho (March 3rd, 1863) and Montana (May 26th, 1864) Territories. He signed two Statehood Bills: Nebraska (April 19th, 1864) and Nevada (May 21st, 1864). To help save the Union, Lincoln needed loyal Western governments opposed to slavery.
But in the case of Idaho, Lincoln was particularly personally involved. In 1849, he had been offered the Governorship of Oregon Territory by President Tyler, which then included the land mass of what later became our state. Lincoln personally lobbied Congress to pass the Idaho Bill and was present at the meeting when the name for the new territory was selected. He stayed up until 4:00 a.m. on the last night of the 38th Congress to sign the Idaho bill in the Capitol Building. A week later he appointed several of his closest legal friends and political allies to be our first Territorial officers.
Lincoln mentioned Idaho in both his 1863 and 1864 State of the Union messages to Congress and was visited by our Delegate to Congress William Wallace on April 14th, 1865, at the White House. Wallace sought to fill a vacancy on the Idaho Supreme Court. Amazingly, Lincoln invited Governor and Mrs. Wallace to attend the play at Ford's Theater that night as members of the presidential party. They could not go as Mrs Wallace was ill....
"I AM NOT AN ACCOMPLISHED LAWYER. I FIND QUITE AS MUCH MATERIAL FOR A LECTURE IN THOSE POINTS WHEREIN I HAVE FAILED, AS IN THOSE WHEREIN I HAVE BEEN MODERATELY SUCCESSFUL," Lincoln noted once in preparing a lecture on the law.
"THE LEADING RULE FOR THE LAWYER, AS FOR THE MAN OF EVERY OTHER CALLING, IS DILIGENCE," he wrote.
The diligent Idaho Bar will soon have a superb opportunity to recognize our Lincoln heritage. On April 28th, 2006, Governor Dirk Kempthorne signed an Executive Order, to accomplish the following:
1. There shall be established an Idaho Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission.
2. The purpose of the Commission shall be to:
a. Plan for a statewide recognition and celebration of the 200th anniversary of Lincoln's birth;
b. To educate the people of Idaho and Nation about the unique relationship between the Idaho Territory and the sixteenth President of the United States;
c. To encourage and coordinate the activities of local historical societies, civic groups, public schools, institutions of higher education, chambers of commerce and other entities to celebrate the Lincoln Bicentennial;
d. To coordinate and establish a liaison with the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission of the United States and its Advisory Committee and those commissions established by other states;
e. To seek volunteer assistance, monetary donations, public and private grants, and legislative appropriations in support of its mission;
f. To support research, publications, historical analysis and exploration, the acquisition and preservation of artifacts and displays appropriate to the presentation and explanation of the career and contributions of Abraham Lincoln to the Unites States and Idaho;
g. To issue such interim and final reports and periodicals as shall advance the Commission's work."
After several meetings since 2006, the 19 member Idaho Lincoln Commission is well on its way to planning a kick off event in February of 2008, to start the year long portion of the recognition leading up to the February 12, 2009 bicentennial birthdate.
"DISCOURAGE LITIGATION. PERSUADE YOUR NEIGHBORS TO COMPROMISE WHENEVER YOU CAN. POINT OUT TO THEM HOW THE NOMINAL WINNER IS OFTEN A REAL LOSER IN FEES, EXPENSES AND WASTE OF TIME. AS A PEACEMAKER, THE LAWYER HAS A SUPERIOR OPPORTUNITY OF BEING A GOOD MAN," Lincoln counseled.
The largest fee ever earned by lawyer Lincoln was $4,800 for representing the Illinois Central Railroad in the trial and appeal of a corporate tax exemption case. The matter was referred to him by his friend, the chief counsel for the Railroad, Mason Brayman. Brayman came to Illinois in 1842 to practice law. When Lincoln went to Congress in 1848, Brayman rented the house in Springfield for most of the months that the Lincoln family was away. During Lincoln's travels to New York City in 1860 to give his notable address at the Cooper Institute, his friend Mason Brayman welcomed him at his hotel.
As Lincoln made his address in the Cooper's Union hall, he arranged for Brayman to sit in the back of the auditorium, with instructions to raise his tall hat on a cane if the speaker's voice was not sufficiently audible. Thus, no man was in a better position to see, or hear, Lincoln's improbable, meteoric rise to the presidency in 1860 than Mason Brayman.
As he had during the 1840's and '50's, Brayman kept up his contacts with President Lincoln through correspondence as a General of the Illinois volunteers during the Civil War. In 1876 President Ulysses Grant appointed Mason Brayman, Lincoln's fellow lawyer to the governorship of Idaho Territory.
Other lawyers who "politicked" or rode the circuit in Illinois with Lincoln, became a Judge of our Territorial Supreme Court, unsuccessfully sought to become governor here, or sent their sons to serve in Idaho as Indian Agent, Congressman and U.S. Senator. Early Idaho was well connected to lawyer Lincoln.
"EXTEMPORANEOUS SPEAKING SHOULD BE PRACTICED AND CULTIVATED. IT IS THE LAWYER'S AVENUE TO THE PUBLIC. HOWEVER ABLE AND FAITHFUL HE MAY BE IN OTHER RESPECTS, PEOPLE ARE SLOW TO BRING HIM BUSINESS IF HE CAN NOT MAKE A SPEECH", opined Lincoln.
Many artifacts held here still attest to Idaho's special relation to Abraham Lincoln, the lawyer and President. The oldest statue of Lincoln in the Western United States resides on the grounds of the Veterans Home in Boise. The Idaho Supreme Court and the Idaho Historical Society have among their collections original commissions signed by Lincoln in 1863. Civil War-era buildings still stand in all comers of our State. A private collector here holds a desk which Lincoln used. Another has a lock of his hair.
"RESOLVE TO BE HONEST AT ALL EVENTS; AND IF IN YOUR OWN JUDGMENT YOU CANNOT BE AN HONEST LAWYER, RESOLVE TO BE HONEST WITHOUT BEING A LAWYER."
Lincoln's counsel to attorneys has a timeless quality that reaches across the years. Through the Idaho Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, all Idaho counsel will have a wonderful opportunity to participate in recognizing the two hundred years since "Honest Abe" was born and to emphasize the legacy he leaves us as lawyers.
David H. Leroy is a former Ada County Prosecutor, Idaho Attorney General and Lt. Governor. He practices trial law in Boise, and is a Lincoln scholar, author and collector. To contact the Idaho Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission write P.O. Box 122, Boise, Idaho 83701, or call Leroy at (208) 342-0000. Donations, volunteers and ideas for the Lincoln Bicentennial recognition are welcomed.