a Lincoln look alike

Why pose as Abraham Lincoln? It's personal.

Reenactors play the part of America's 16th president for a variety of reasons, but one stands out: admiration.

Born February 12, 1809, Abraham Lincoln began life in a log cabin and ended up in the White House. His story inspired historical presenter Gerald Bestrom, who painted his motor home to resemble a log cabin and traveled across the Midwest performing in schools and nursing homes until his death in 2012.
Photograph by Greta Pratt

Abraham Lincoln is one of America’s most esteemed past presidents. Every school child learns about his humble upbringing in a log cabin, how he walked miles to borrow a book, how he read by the light of a kerosene lantern. Physically Lincoln was tall and gangly, with a hollow face and unruly hair. Yet in spite of his awkwardness, modest means, and lack of formal education, he rose to the highest office in the land. There he liberated millions of enslaved people and led the nation to a "new birth of freedom". In the 2000s I attended four conventions of the Association of Lincoln Presenters, an organization of men and women who are passionate about the Great Emancipator.

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