am War with student deferments.
Each of the situations related to a different war, though the Civil War and the Vietnam War were arguably the two most divisive episodes in American history. Of course, the Civil War divided the country literally, with North against South, brother against brother, while the War in Vietnam divided the country ideologically and emotionally in terms of whether or not different groups thought the war should be fought at all. Lincoln was very much a symbol of the Civil War to both sides, a symbol of strength and determination to the North, and a symbol of perfidy and betrayal to the South. Clinton was a student at the time of the Vietnam War and did not serve in the armed forces. During his election campaign, his failure to serve and certain actions attributed to him as a war protester became campaign issues. Still, he won the election, but the issue was raised again and again--it was raised when he addressed the question of gays in the military, it was raised when he spoke at the War Memorial, it would be raised when he had to face foreign wars in Somalia, Bosnia, and Haiti.
Abraham Lincoln's speech at Gettysburg reflected a number of concerns and attitudes Lincoln had shown throughout his life. The details of Lincoln's life in general terms are well known--how he was born in a log cabin on the frontier, how he walked five miles to school every day, how he dedicated himself to learning, how he became an attorney, how he entered politics and eventually became president of the United States (David D. Anderson 21-30). When Lincoln came to office, it was at a time of tension in the body politic as conflict between the North and the South was increasing to such a degree that a split seemed to be in the offing. Lincoln began his presidency by defining himself as god's instrument for saving the Union:
In this role he interpreted the meaning of the war as divine punishment for collective sins, which ...