Abraham Lincoln Quotes
We can not have free government without elections. And if the rebellion could force us to forgo, or postpone a national election, it might fairly claim to have conquered or ruined us.
Abraham Lincoln, 1809-1865, 16th President of the United States (Republican, IL), Statement when aides suggested that the national election be postponed because of the war, 1864
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
The University Presidents had written to the American Public arguing that the German aggression was the result of the militarists in the German society dominating the people and pushing them to war. They argued that most German people were not really responsible. Lamprecht took exception and argued that the German policy was the democratic will of the majority of the German people. He claimed that Germany at the time was more of a de facto democracy than America—as the Untied States did not have a Voting Rights Act or any way of de facto ensuring that all citizens could vote—particularly Negroes in the South. While he was accurate about the voting aspects of a democracy, Germany neither had the Constitution nor a judiciary that was independent and co-equal to the executive and legislature, but Germany did not have the institutions with democratic traditions. The greatest embarrassment to modern Germans is that Adolf Hitler was actually elected by a majority of Germans and was very popular until things in Germany started to go poorly. This quotation is very important in that it shows the importance of a Constitution to limit the powers of even a popularly elected government.
Over 1000 people had registered to be candidates in the Iranian national election. However, under the Iranian Islamic Constitution all candidates have to be approved by the Guardian Council of Ayatollahs who are appointed by the Supreme Leader, also appointed. The Guardian Council found that all candidates but 6 were not worthy enough Muslims to be allowed to run for public office. 2 of the over 1000 rejected candidates were very prominent Iranians. The Supreme Leader made this statement which seems very reasonable and democratic until his order to the Guardian Council is considered. He ordered them to reconsider 2 or the 1000 rejected candidates.
Slogan that Theodore Roosevelt developed to go with this attempt to nominate Presidents with Primary Elections. Prior to his 1912 run for the Presidency, presidential nominees were selected by the delegates to the party national convention. Since then the parties have used various combinations of delegates that were bound by primary election results in their state and other delegates who could use their judgment. No combination has been totally satisfactory and both major American political parties tinker with the combination every four years.
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.
