The truth is that these stories from elementary school have little depth to them. I'm sure Abe Lincoln was still a very honest man, but not all the stories are happy. As said in the presentation, President Lincoln took many steps that limited civil liberties during the war. For example, in 1862 he signed the Confiscation Act, which punished people who spoke out against the Union Army. While Abraham Lincoln was definitely not (the other extreme) a terrible person, it is still important to understand that he was not just the good, honest, perfect man we learned about in second grade.
I agree that Abraham Lincoln is a great example of iconoclasm, because I also remember being taught the "classic narrative" (as Mr. Bolos would call it) of Lincoln's personality and place in American history. But, like you said, Lincoln was not a perfect president with feel-good stories. Not only was he unjustified in limiting civil liberties during war time, but another surprising fact is that Lincoln wasn't even an abolitionist. According to an article by the History Channel, Lincoln, "did not mean he thought [whites and blacks] should have the same social and political rights." It's amazing to think about all the "classic narratives" we've been taught as students, and how different history classes would be if even in the elementary schools we taught "both sides" of the story.
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