Abraham Lincoln, A Talented Leader

Austin Samuels

Lincoln paper

Nov. 4 2015

How does one define talented? That question can be answered in many ways. Would it be someone who won the Civil War, or went from poverty to president. Maybe it would be someone who pushed through the 13th amendment in a very divided congress. America’s 16th President, Abraham Lincoln was a talented leader, as demonstrated by his humor, thoughtfulness, intelligence, and his communication skills which will all be discussed through the duration of this paper. These four qualities helped Lincoln to becoming the most talented leader in U.S. history.

The first way he demonstrates his talented leadership is his humor. Lincoln used his humor to tell stories which helped him lead. For example, "Yes,” said

Lincoln used his communication skills to lead by telling stories and using analogies, and imagery. For example, “Your audience may quickly forget the facts, the statistics, and the arguments that you use. But they are likely to remember your stories and examples, and the imagery and poetry of your language”(Griessman, 1). This helped him communicate and lead by relating to people in a way they will understand and remember. Also Lincoln had the ability to listen to others and let others speak freely. For example, ”He created a climate where Cabinet members were free to disagree without fear of retaliation”(Moreton, 1). This helped Lincoln communicate and lead by understanding others opinions and making decisions off of them. This is helpful because if Lincoln just listened to himself his decisions might have been a lot different. Our 16th President’s communication skills took his leadership to a whole new

Abraham Lincoln was indeed a talented leader. As explained in my body paragraphs Lincoln’s talented leadership were made up of humor, thoughtfulness, intelligence, and communication skills. Lincoln used his humor to tell stories and gain good will of the juries. He used his thoughtfulness to take his time to make decisions. He used his intelligence to learn on the job and use language effectively. Lastly, he used his communication skills to understand others opinions to make decisions and lead. All the evidence shows that Lincoln is one of the greatest leaders of all