Cranberry's 'Living Lincoln' Visits Moon Historical Society

Stovepipe hat? Check.

Chin curtain beard and a 6-foot-3-inch frame? Check.

Cranberry Township resident Rick Miller brought his uncanny Abraham Lincoln presentation to the Moon Historical Society earlier this week, treating members to stories and anecdotes from the revered 16th president of the United States.

Miller, who is just one inch shorter than Lincoln, began donning the former president’s iconic look in 1996, when a fourth-grade teacher asked him to address her classroom as the Civil War-era president.

Miller belongs to the Association of Lincoln Presenters and has addressed civic groups, churches and the Pennsylvania Senate as the president. He even once made an appearance on The Daily Show alongside a few other Lincoln impersonators.

"What party would I be in if I were alive today?" asked Miller, wearing Lincoln's signature dark broadcloth suit. "I would be a conservative Democrat or a liberal Republican.

"Lincoln was not far to the left or to the right," he said.

Miller shared stories from Lincoln's modest upbringing in Illinois, his rise to the presidency and struggle to lead the country through the Civil War. He even provided a bit of insight into Lincoln’s often tenuous marriage to Mary Todd Lincoln, the first woman to be called the country's First Lady.

"My favorite quote from Lincoln is, 'Humor is the lubricant of the soul,’" Miller said. "If you met Lincoln you would first feel like you knew him your entire life, and second, you would be laughing. He was very humorous."