Because Barack Obama’s inauguration came so near Abraham Lincoln’s 200th birthday, and because during his rise the newly inaugurated president had referred to Lincoln so often and had been linked to Lincoln so persistently—he was a tall gangly lawyer/politician from Illinois, who had almost exactly as little and as much experience in office as Lincoln had, and in the same places. And because Obama had come to national attention—as Lincoln had—largely through the distinction of a particular speech (Lincoln at Cooper Union; Obama at the Democratic Convention of 2004).

NORFOLK After Barack Obama takes the oath of office Tuesday, he’ll ride to the White House in a new custom-built Cadillac limousine that, other than larger windows, isn’t dramatically different from the presidential limo built for President George W. Bush in 2005. But that doesn’t mean the car isn’t unique. The specifications and construction of presidential cars are overseen by a small government group that has run the program for years.

Barack Obama will not be the first American president to find his political model in a predecessor from a different political party.