Abe Lincoln lesson

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Attorney Howard Huntington presents the Indiana State Bar Association program "Why Abraham Lincoln Was a Lawyer" to Victoria Baldwin's fifth-grade class at Merrillville Intermediate School Friday, Feb. 10, 2012. | Jim Karczewski~For Sun-Times Media

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Updated: March 18, 2012 8:12AM

Local attorney Howard Huntington recently spent many hours studying for an important presentation. But it wasn’t a court of law he would be visiting, it was teacher Victoria Baldwin’s fifth-grade class at Merrillville Intermediate School to deliver a program, “Why Lincoln Was a Lawyer.”

“We recently started talking about Abraham Lincoln, as we approached his birthday this year,” Baldwin said. “And this (presentation) fits right in with our Social Studies discussion.”

The program is delivered annually to elementary schools across the state, sponsored by the Indiana State Bar Association.

“The purpose of my visit is to give you some background on the life of Abraham Lincoln and what it took for him to obtain his goals,” Huntington said. “I’ll also talk about the law profession today and what it takes to get there.”

Perseverance was one of the topics discussed during the session.

“As a farm boy in Spencer County, Indiana, Lincoln had very little formal education,” Huntington told the students. “When he was able to go to school, he had to walk miles to get there.”

Even when the mainly self-educated man began to reach some of his goals — and fail at others — he didn’t give up, Huntington said.

Students Jasmine Creal, 11, and Josh Raddatz, 11, were impressed with Lincoln’s tenacity.

After hearing about his childhood trials and tribulations working at hard physical labor, they had a new respect for the farm boy who would become president of the United States.

“The most interesting thing I learned was that Abraham Lincoln had so many hard times when he was young,” Josh said. “But he got through them and became a good citizen and good president.”

Jasmine commented on the fact that he tried very hard to become a better man, even without an extensive formal education.

“It was very hard for him to go to school, since he had to work so much,” she said. “But he wanted to prepare himself to help other people. And he did do that.”

As Abraham Lincoln worked diligently to absorb all he could about the law — by borrowing law books, attending caucuses, and other activities — he won a seat in the Illinois legislature at the age of 25. At 28, he officially became a lawyer.

Lincoln ran for a senate seat in 1858, but lost that election. He did gain fame and respect during that time, though.

“Abraham Lincoln taught himself everything he needed to know about being a lawyer, although it must have been very hard for him to do this,” student Samaria Patrick, 10, said.” He went through an awful lot to become a great man.”

Classmate Terry Roach, also 10, commented on Lincoln’s personality trait that caused him to be grounded as both a politician and a United States citizen.

“He helped people in need,” he said. “He got people to think of him as ‘one of them’.”

Huntington also discussed what it takes today to have a career in law.

“If becoming a lawyer is something that interests you, I strongly encourage you to follow that goal,” he said. “It can be a very rewarding, satisfying experience.”

Huntington is a partner in the Chicago law firm Williams Montgomery & John Ltd. located in Willis Tower. He practices in both northwest Indiana and Illinois, with a focus on business litigation.