For those following the recent presidential debates, here’s a bit of history from the folks at the Wisconsin Historical Society
Presidential Debates: Lincoln & Douglass Recalled
Dateline: Freeport, Ill., Aug. 26, 1858. Wisconsin editor Martin Rindlaub was on hand that day to hear the two famous candidates go at it. In this interview he compares the polished eloquence of Stephen Douglass with Honest Abe’s humble but sincere approach. The Society owns several copies of the transcripts of these famous debates, including one inscribed by Lincoln to Wisconsin activist Carl Schurz.