the last full measure of devotion

Earlier this year, I had a random day off work (Good Friday), and I ended up dropping by the office hours of my old econ professor, Dr. Russ to catch up. During that visit, we discovered a mutual fondness for history books, and since I was just wrapping up 1776 (David McCullough), she recommended a book called Team of Rivals (Doris Goodwin). It was recommended because Doris Goodwin was considered an authority on Abraham Lincoln and this book was written to detail the political genius of his career and the coalition he formed out of his adversaries.

Now, if you read this blog, then I’m sure I’ve already bored most of you with the details of this book already. However, please let me set the record straight. This book is no Hunger Games. It is not a page turner that you’ll find yourself staying up till 4am reading. Essentially, if you’re not a history nut, you’ll likely find this book mind-numbingly boring. Fortunately, this movie won’t be the same.

With a stellar cast, including the likes of Daniel Day Lewis, Sally Fields, and some other people I haven’t heard of but am sure are great, I believe the movie will become quite the spectacle when it comes out on Friday. Plus, if you’re republican (and got basically no good news this fall), you’ll finally have something to look forward to!! Lincoln was not only a Republican, but he was instrumental in founding the party and getting it on the national stage by becoming its first national candidate to win the presidency. Ohh yea. Of course you won’t be seeing any of that in this movie…it only covers the last few months of his life, encompassing the end of the civil war and the setup to the reconstruction period. Tragically, Lincoln ended up giving, for his country, what he himself would've described as the last full measure of devotion.

Seeing as the movie is coming out on Friday in Davis, I hope to enjoy this movie very soon. So once again, I will be attempting to compile a coalition of movie-goers to descend en masse to Davis Stadium and (peacefully) assemble in the theater for a few hours of sheer brazen Lincolnesque fun. Am I hyping it up too much?