Abraham Lincoln



Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) was a 19th century Human politician who served as the 16th President of the United States of America. He served from 1861 until 1865, as the Commander-in-Chief of the Union Army throughout the American Civil War. 

After Jonathan Archer restored a damaged timeline, Abraham Lincoln signing a document could be seen in the time stream as the timeline realigned itself. 

A photograph of Lincoln was scanned by the Talosians as they reviewed the library computer files on board USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) in 2254. ( remastered)

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, 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. ( remastered)

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." 

Lincoln was a personal hero of James T. Kirk. In 2269, the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) 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". 

Paintings depicting portraits of both President Lincoln and Surak were hung in the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-A)'s dining room in 2293. 

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. 

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."

Background
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 featured Lincoln's face on Mount Rushmore monument.

The script of the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode 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. 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 Gold Key comic book story "The Legacy of Lazarus".