Edward Askew Sothern the play that Abraham Lincoln was watching when he was assassinated. Sothern's role was Lord Dundreary, a caricature of a brainless English nobleman. At first, he was reluctant to accept the role; it was so small and unimportant that he felt it beneath him and feared it might damage his reputation. He mentioned his qualms to his friend, Joseph Jefferson, who had been cast in the leading role of Asa Trenchard in the play. Jefferson supposedly responded with the famous line: "There are no small parts, only small actors." On 15 October 1858, "Our American Cousin" premiered in New York.
Abraham Lincoln, what would you do? legacy, specifically in the line: "Abraham Lincoln, we owe it to you, to protect this great country today". This idea of indebtedness is also reflected in the illustration on the cover of the sheet music; Schwartz comments that the United States is portrayed as Columbia, a woman draped in the American Flag with open arms looking up to Lincoln's statue and seeking to follow his example. Abraham Lincoln, what would you do? "Abraham Lincoln, what would you do?" is an American patriotic musical composition released in 1918. Its lyrics were written by Carol Hirsch and its music composed by Baker