Honest “Abe” Lincoln – Honesty Story #13

Today is Abraham Lincoln’s birthday, so I thought it would be appropriate to tell an honesty story about this great President. As a quick history brush-up, Abraham Lincoln was born in Kentucky on February 12, 1809. Years later (1861), he would become the 16th President of The United States of America. One of the greatest achievements of his presidency was the abolishment of slavery through the Emancipation Proclamation in 1963.

When I was in middle-school, I heard an inspiring story about Honest “Abe” that to this day I still remember. I am sure several of you also heard this story in school. The story took place during Abraham Lincoln’s early-teenage years while he was working as a store clerk. It is said that he accidentally overcharged a customer a few extra cents because the scale was not working properly. When he realized the mistake, it was too late, and the customer had already left. He knew the right thing was to return the cents to the customer, so he decided to close the store and go find the customer. At that time, he couldn’t just jump into a car and drive over there like are able to do today. Instead, it is said that Abraham Lincoln walked several miles to the customer’s house and returned those cents.

We can all draw inspiration from the honesty of this young-store clerk that would later become one of the greatest Presidents of The United States of America. He truly was a man of principle, whose honesty and good deeds were evident in his actions.

6 comments February 12th, 2007