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The president-elect tends to view Lincoln not just as a towering figure in history, but also as a political peer—albeit one with his own flaws.

Chelsea Stahl 

Jan. 4, 2025, 5:00 PM GMT+6

WASHINGTON — During his first term, Donald Trump discussed potential films to show in the White House’s movie theater with his senior aide, Steve Bannon. Bannon suggested Ken Burns' classic The Civil War, thinking it would provide valuable insights on how Abraham Lincoln struggled to find competent generals. Trump responded by recalling a time he had watched the entire nine-part series after seeing it on TV in Bedminster, New Jersey.

Trump’s fascination with Lincoln goes beyond just historical reverence. He frequently reflects on details like Lincoln's stovepipe hat, his presidential demeanor, and the simple aspects of his daily life, such as how Lincoln, at 6 feet 4 inches, managed to fit into his 19th-century White House bed.

Trump also seems to challenge Lincoln's legacy. While he acknowledged Lincoln’s greatness in a Fox News interview near the 2024 campaign’s end, he questioned why the Civil War was necessary. “It doesn’t make sense we had a civil war,” Trump remarked. A close adviser once spent 15 minutes on the phone with Trump discussing whether Lincoln could have peacefully resolved the North-South conflict. The adviser said it was the longest conversation he ever had with Trump.

For politicians, Lincoln remains a figure to emulate. Joe Biden’s 2021 inaugural speech echoed Lincoln’s words, and Barack Obama, as a young senator from Illinois, wrote an essay inspired by a portrait of an aging Lincoln.

Trump, too, seems intrigued by Lincoln, though the reasons remain unclear. Lincoln was an impoverished frontier lawyer who abolished slavery and preserved the Union, delivering some of the most iconic speeches in American history. In contrast, Trump, born into wealth and known for his TV career, contributed to presidential discourse through self-promotion and his business acumen.

Yet Trump seems drawn to exceptional figures. His admiration for Lincoln is in line with his admiration for outliers, such as Elon Musk, and his focus on success. When historians ranked U.S. presidents by “greatness,” Lincoln came first, while Trump ranked last. But Trump may feel a kinship with Lincoln, having faced assassination attempts and upset victory in his first campaign, much like Lincoln.

Political science professor Brandon Rottinghaus suggested that Trump and Lincoln’s shared experience of governing a divided nation offers a point of comparison, though not a perfect parallel. “Both men governed over a very divided nation and attempted to bring their life experience to solve the problem,” he said.

Trump often frames Lincoln not only as a historical icon but as a contemporary political figure. Trump has claimed that, had George Washington and Lincoln returned from the dead to run against him in 2020, he could have beaten them. One of his pollsters, John McLaughlin, recalled Trump proposing the idea, laughing off the suggestion but acknowledging Trump’s confidence.

Could Trump have brokered a peaceful solution to the Civil War? It’s speculative, but Trump is known for making bold claims about his ability to negotiate outcomes. He often asserts that, under his leadership, events like Hamas' attack on Israel or Russia’s invasion of Ukraine wouldn’t have happened.

Bannon believes Trump’s self-assurance would have allowed him to broker a deal between the North and South. “President Trump has complete confidence that in any situation, he can enforce his will and bring about a positive outcome,” Bannon said. “He absolutely believes that he could have taken the situation between the North and South and negotiated a deal that would have ended chattel slavery and avoided the Civil War.”

For Bannon, Trump’s era will be seen as the “Age of Trump.” “Historians will look at this era as the Age of Trump,” he said. “All of us will be forgotten: Elon Musk, Tucker Carlson, Steve Bannon. What people will remember is Trump and the MAGA movement.”

When Lincoln took office, the nation was already on the brink of collapse. Seven Southern states seceded after his election, and Confederate forces attacked Fort Sumter shortly after his inauguration. While Trump hasn’t articulated how a peaceful resolution might have been achieved, historian Ted Widmer notes that any such settlement would have likely required allowing slavery to continue.

“Many wanted Lincoln to settle in 1861, but they were all Confederates or Americans with ties to the South,” Widmer said. “There was no way to settle unless you were prepared to live with permanent slavery in the U.S. or cave in to extremists who didn’t care about the country.”