Poor Stephen Douglas.

Imagine being known only because of the person you considered a rival. A person you may even consider of far lesser skills than yours.

But what would Douglas be without Abraham Lincoln? 

Would we even know who Stephen Douglas was if not for his great rivalry with Abraham Lincoln?

Arguably, would the nation have known Lincoln if not for Douglas then?

They were both Illinois politicians. 

They both lived in Springfield. 

Douglas courted Mary Todd but she married Lincoln.

Lincoln and Douglas debated each other on several occasions. They were running for the Illinois Senate seat. Douglas was the Democrat candidate. Lincoln the Republican. Douglas essentially supported letting the people decide if they supported a slave state. Lincoln essentially opposed the spread of slavery.

They officially debated each other seven times. The debates garnered national attention, likely because of Douglas’ fame at the time. The occasions are known as the Lincoln-Douglas Debates. There is a style of debate competition still known for both men today … probably because of Lincoln.

But Douglas won the Senate race.

Lincoln at points felt himself a failure compared to Douglas.

Lincoln once wrote of their rivalry: “Even then, we were both ambitious; I, perhaps, quite as much so as he. With me the race of ambition has been a failure – a flat failure; with him it has been one of splendid success. His name fills the nation.”

Even Lincoln, at times, thought his glimmer of fame was simply a reflection by proximity to Douglas.

That was before the presidential election of 1860 and the presidency of Lincoln.

Douglas was one of a group of Democrats running for president. Lincoln was the Republican candidate.

Lincoln won the election. Lincoln became the 16th president.

No surprise to us. 

Lincoln is on the penny. 

Lincoln is on the five-dollar bill. 

Lincoln has the mighty memorial in Washington, D.C. 

Students still memorize Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.

Lincoln refused to let Southern secession stand. 

Lincoln freed the slaves.

Lincoln became the American martyr following his assassination shortly after winning the Civil War.

After Jesus, more books have been written about Lincoln than anyone else.

Most historians consider Lincoln the greatest American president, even greater than Washington and Jefferson before him, even greater than Franklin D. Roosevelt and any other president after him.

Lincoln is why we know the name Stephen Douglas at all.

Yes, Douglas was known as the “Little Giant” during his day. A reference to his physical size compared to his political stature. 

But he’s chiefly known today as Lincoln’s failed rival. 

He knew Lincoln was president but Douglas never knew the immortal acclaim awaiting Lincoln and his name. Not officially, though he may have had some idea.

Stephen Douglas died three months after Lincoln took office as president. He died a little more than half a year after losing the presidency to Lincoln.

Still, in those short months, Douglas supported Lincoln as president. He supported the Union cause.

There is an old story, though some say it is legend, that expresses the changed circumstances of the Lincoln-Douglas relationship and how history would view them.

As Lincoln took the oath of office as president, he removed his famed hat but had no place to put it.

Douglas was on the platform and he stepped forward to take Lincoln’s hat.

“If I can’t be the president,” Douglas reportedly said, “at least I can hold his hat.”

 

Dean Poling is an editor with The Valdosta Daily Times.