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Embassy Yaounde Observe July 4th With A Lincoln Twist
The life, works, and impact of Abraham Lincoln were among the key themes addressed as the Embassy of the United States of America in Yaoundé, Cameroon celebrated the 233rd anniversary of the signing and ratification of the Declaration of Independence with a ceremony on the embassy grounds July 2. The Lincoln focus is part of a year-long embassy program coinciding with the 200th anniversary of his birth. Invitations to the event included a penny, which bears the image of President Lincoln. Key phrases from Lincoln’s writings and orations decorated the event, a poster show on the 16th president educated guests as they processed through the receiving line, members of the Cameroon National Theater gave a dramatic recitation of famous Lincoln remarks, and “Honest Abe” himself – or at least the Public Affairs Officer dressed as Lincoln – circulated among the guests. Tables, booths, and even embassy employees were decorated in cloth, known in Cameroon as “pagne,” honoring Lincoln that was commissioned especially for the event through a contest held at a Cameroonian art institute.
In her remarks, Ambassador Janet Garvey noted that Lincoln embodied the “American Dream,” rising from humble roots to become one of the most important president’s in the history of the United States. She explained Lincoln’s concept of a “team of rivals,” which lead him to place three opponents for the presidential nomination in his cabinet to provide him with voices of dissent, and compared it to the decision of President Barack Obama to appoint former rivals and members of the political opposition, including Hillary Clinton, Joseph Biden, and Robert Gates, into high levels positions in his own administration. Ambassador Garvey also underlined the important cultural, cooperative, and economic ties that link the United States and Cameroon. Echoing a theme she launched in her June 9 speech before the Cameroonian American Chamber of Commerce (available here), the Ambassador called on Cameroonians to take responsibility for their own future and, in the words of another former president, “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.”