Abraham Lincoln Quotes
I am, as you know, only the servant of the people.
Abraham Lincoln, 1809-1865, 16th President of the United States (Republican, IL), Letter to James Gilmore, April 13, 1861
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
This quotation had a close proximity to Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address (see linked quote). Although this was probably Lincoln's most famous line, it was not totally original. John Adams came close in a 1774 proclamation (see linked quote). As did John Marshall in his McCulloch v. Maryland decision (see linked quote). There was also Thomas Cooper in 1795 (see linked quote). But the earliest close phrase use appears to be the English cleric, John Wycliffe, in 1382 (see linked quote). It is not known with which of these Lincoln was familiar.
See Edmund Burke and Franklin Delano Roosevelt for a similar view.
On why elected representatives would be responsive to their constituents:
Ventura was one of the very few people in modern American political history to enter politics as a novice and run for the Governorship of a major state against the established political figures nominated by the two main parties and beating them both. He was an excellent governor, but did not run for a second term and left politics as a candidate. However his political views were very popular with many independents throughout the country and h remained an influential person.
Abraham Lincoln was an American politician and lawyer who served as the 16th President of the United States from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. Lincoln led the United States through its Civil War—its bloodiest war and its greatest moral, constitutional, and political crisis. In doing so, he preserved the Union, abolished slavery, strengthened the federal government, and modernized the economy.
