Abraham Lincoln

Species:	Human
Affiliation:	United States of America
Rank:	President
Occupation:	Leader of the United States of America
Status:	Assassinated (1865)
Died:	1865
Played by:	Lee Bergere (Excalbian image)

Abraham Lincoln was a 19th century Human politician who served as the 16th President of the United States of America. As one of his duties as president, he served as the Commander-in-Chief of the Union Army from 1861 until 1865 during his country's civil war. (TOS: "The Cage", "The Savage Curtain")

After Jonathan Archer restored a damaged timeline, Abraham Lincoln signing a document could be seen in the time stream as the timeline realigned itself. (ENT: "Storm Front, Part II")

A photograph of Lincoln was scanned by the Talosians as they reviewed the library computer files on board USS Enterprise in 2254. (TOS-R: "The Cage")

The original version of "The Cage" depicted a simple sketch of Lincoln during the Talosians' scan of the Enterprise computers.

The painting entitled First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation of President Lincoln, depicting an image of Abraham Lincoln surrounded by his Cabinet members, Salmon P. Chase, Gideon Welles, Caleb B. Smith, William H. Seward, and Montgomery Blair during the first reading of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1862, was contained in the library computer aboard the Enterprise. A second image overlaid the painting representing Lincoln's signature of the document. These images were also flashed on the viewscreen when the Talosians scanned the Enterprise computer in 2254. (TOS-R: "The Cage")

Lincoln during the first reading of the Emancipation Proclamation. Lincoln's signature for the document.

Voters celebrate his victory in 1860

Scenes from Lincoln's election victory were among the images of Human history on Earth displayed by the Guardian of Forever. Contained in these images were voters carrying signs that read such slogans as: "Lincoln Wins!", "Lincoln and Liberty", and "Old Abe Lincoln: Came Out of the Wilderness." (TOS: "The City on the Edge of Forever")

Lincoln was a personal hero of James T. Kirk. In 2269, the USS Enterprise encountered an image of Lincoln in orbit of Excalbia, created by the Excalbians to help their understanding of the Human concepts of "good" and "evil." Though obviously an illusion created from Kirk's mind and the Enterprise memory banks, Kirk insisted on greeting Lincoln with full Presidential honors upon his boarding the Enterprise. In the initial conflict forced by the Excalbians, the middle-aged simulacrum of Lincoln was able to hold his own against the forces of "evil", forcing Kahless "the Unforgettable" and Genghis Khan into retreat. The simulated Lincoln recognized a kindred spirit in the re-created image of the Vulcan patriarch, Surak, and sacrificed his "life" in an effort to save his counterpart. After witnessing Lincoln's second "death", Kirk felt he understood something of what Earth had to endure before achieving "final peace". (TOS: "The Savage Curtain")

Paintings depicting portraits of both President Lincoln and Surak were hung in the USS Enterprise-A's dining room in 2293. (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country)

When Berlinghoff Rasmussen made clear that he couldn't tell Captain Jean-Luc Picard about the future, he compared the captain's situation to that of Abraham Lincoln, who might have changed his theater plans had he known what lay ahead of him. (TNG: "A Matter of Time")

Gallery

Abraham Lincoln, Timestream.jpg

Lincoln in the timestream, seen in 2154

A drawing of Lincoln, seen in 2254

Excalbian replica of Lincoln, encountered in 2269

A portrait of Lincoln, seen in 2293

Memorable quotes

"We fight on their level. With trickery, brutality, finality. We match their evil."

"There is no honorable way to kill. No gentle way to destroy. There is nothing good in war except its ending."

Template:USAPresidents

Background information

Lincoln on Mount Rushmore (right)

In "The Savage Curtain", Lincoln was portrayed by actor Lee Bergere. Early planning had Mark Lenard in the role. He was eager to take the part, inspired by having played two well-received roles on Star Trek, but he ultimately couldn't accept it due to prior commitments to another TV series. "The Lincoln segment came up about Christmas time when we had a slight hiatus," he recalled, "and I thought I could work it in [...] But it turned out we just couldn't work it in. I think we went back to work on the other series too soon, and instead of having the six or seven days I would have needed to do the role, I only had three or four days." (Starlog, No. 42, p. 24)

A matte painting created for a deleted scene from Star Trek V: The Final Frontier featured Lincoln's face on Mount Rushmore monument.

The script of the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "The Homecoming" describes Li Nalas as having "a quiet self-effacing Abraham Lincoln/Gary Cooper charisma."

Abraham Lincoln served as a visual inspiration for the look for David Warner's character of Chancellor Gorkon in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. Gorkon was designed to resemble Lincoln, as indicated in the DVD special features for the film.

Kirk and the Enterprise crew encountered Abraham Lincoln again in the 1971 Gold Key comic book story "The Legacy of Lazarus".

According to the Star Trek Encyclopedia (3rd ed., p. 274), Abraham Lincoln was born in 1809.

External links

• Abraham Lincoln at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• Abraham Lincoln at Wikipedia
• Biography of Abraham Lincoln
• 1860 presidential election at Wikipedia