11/13/2006

Don't get Lincolned!

Harry Smeltzer writes about a recent posting here that used the verb "McDowelled."
I’d phrase it differently. Writers on the subject are fond of saying that McDowell “succumbed to political pressure”. McDowell did not succumb to political pressure. He succumbed to pressure from the commander in chief, or more accurately just followed orders. He was not asked to plan for any alternative to moving forward, only for a plan where prompt forward movement was a given. McDowell did not “want forward movement”, “the people” wanted forward movement – at least, that’s what those in power thought the voice of “the people” was telling them. So I think it would be better to say that the author “Lincolned” himself, or probably best to say that the author “Greeleyed” himself.
This discussion reminds of a verb coined by Grant in a talk with Schofield. Grant said he would not be "McClellanized" after going East. He used it in the same sense as "Lincolned."

A lot of Union generals got Lincolned in the Civil war.