In the new Columbia Pictures movie, White House Down starring Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx, Lincoln was alleged to have said "America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves." Is it correct?
No, Lincoln did not say that, but he did say something similar—which is apparently the statement on which Hollywood has based their mis-quote. In 1838, the 28-year old Lincoln said the following in a speech in Springfield, IL: “If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide.”
This is an excerpt of a speech entitled “The Perpetuation of our Political Institutions: Address Before the Young Men’s Lyceum of Springfield, Illinois” January 27, 1838. The full quote regarding this subject is below:
“Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant to step the ocean and crush us at a blow? Never! All the armies of Europe, Asia, and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth (our own excepted) in their military chest, with a Bonaparte for a commander, could not by force take a drink from the Ohio or make a track on the Blue Ridge in a trial of a thousand years. At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer. If it ever reach us it must spring up amongst us; it cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide.” (from Basler, Collected Works of Lincoln, v. 1, p. 108)
In this speech Lincoln was warning his listeners of the threats of lawlessness to America. He saw slavery as an instigator of lawlessness, and also feared the rise of a tyrant or dictator that would be allowed by the people to place himself above the law. Lincoln believed that respect for the laws, adherence to the political principles espoused by the Founding Fathers, and reliance on reason would help prevent this failure “from within.” Many times he warned Americans that it was up to them, as citizens, to keep destruction of America “by suicide” from happening.
Here is another example of what Lincoln said in regard to his fear of the rise of a tyrannical leader:
“While the people retain their virtue and vigilance, no administration by any extreme of wickedness or folly can very seriously injure the government in the short space of four years.” (First Inaugural Address, Abraham Lincoln, March 4, 1861).
So, how virtuous and vigilant are the American people today??
See another GAH article on Lincoln quotes and misquotes here.
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