Imagine taking over and leading an organization that is divided and running rampant with hatred amongst the Airmen! As the sixteenth President of the United States of America, President Lincoln did this in a much larger scale by being challenged with leading an entire nation that was divided and rampant with hatred. The more I learn about President Lincoln the more I realize that he is both a visionary and ethical leader that utilized the principles we are learning about in this class to turn a country divided into a country of the people, by the people, and for the people. Unlike President Lincoln, I am not a visionary leader. However, I am an ethical leader, just as President Lincoln was. I am excited to show how President Lincoln …show more content…
It was his job to join our country together as one and without his leadership who knows where we would be as a nation today. According to Phillips (1992), in response to our divided nation, President Buchanan swore that he would be the last president of the United States of America. Obviously this did not happen. In applying a transformational leadership style, President Lincoln did not allow this to happen. President Lincoln demonstrated the qualities of individualized consideration by his willingness to really know and care for his people (BCEE, 2015c). He knew his people extremely well because he would go out and seek contact with them on a daily basis and he never turned a person away. As explained by Brookhiser (2014), in the year 1862, Lincoln knew that he would have to dismiss the head of his war department, Simon Cameron, due to his incompetence. President Lincoln fired Mr. Cameron and replaced him with Edwin Stanton. According to Phillips (1992), Mr. Stanton and President Lincoln did not have a very good relationship; as a matter of fact, at one point Stanton referred to Lincoln as a stupid giraffe. Well, that stupid giraffe appointed Mr. Stanton to head up the entire war department. Why? Well, Lincoln really got to know Mr. Stanton and his capabilities. Through individualized consideration, Lincoln selected Mr. Stanton to fill this position. Regardless of the personal …show more content…
On the 9th of April 1865 General Lee made the decision to surrender the confederate forces to the Union Army. President Lincoln was adamant about the terms to surrender, and those terms were quite lenient. According to O’Reilly and Dugard (2011), General Lee was not even asked to give up his sword; he was just required to put down the guns and to go home so that the nation could be rebuilt together. The people of the union were not happy with this because they wanted to hear that the south would be punished. President Lincoln utilized his abilities to think freely in making this very controversial decision. A free thinker is a critical thinker that is able to refrain from conforming to social pressures (BCEE, 2015a). President Lincoln did not conform to social pressures when making his decision on the terms of the confederate surrender. His decision was a very deliberative one that rooted in his respect for our founding fathers. You see, ever since President Lincoln was young, he looked up to our founding fathers. He believed what they believed and wanted our nation to succeed for them. When President Lincoln was faced with the decision on what to do with General Lee and his confederate forces upon the request to surrender, he utilized the God Test. President Lincoln conducted the God Test when he thought of our founding fathers, his role models, because he asked himself what our
President Abraham Lincoln demanded a decisive victory. He was tired of his military leadership’s inability to decisively engage and defeat Confederate General Robert E. Lee. Allowing the war to drag on was to the Confederacies advantage. Lincoln was so frustrated that he relieved General George B. McClellan for failing to defeat Lee at Antietam, and replaced him with General Ambrose Burnside, who proved to be very conservative in battle against General Lee. Knowing that General Lee was a student of Napoleonic warfare, Burnside feared that Lee always had a large Corps in reserve waiting to flank should he be decisively engaged from the front.
The armies lacked organization and communication, and existing qualified generals were old and inept. The first task that Lincoln had was the immediate selection of Generals. Lincoln’s selection process was sometimes based on political and personal grounds, and he was in the position of selecting from a pool of generals that had no experience leading a large army. Williams tells us that even if the selection was for political reasons, Lincoln had the ‘national cohesion’ in mind. It appears that control was an important factor in Lincoln’s selections, however, Williams continually argues that if Lincoln had had generals who were more competent he would not have interfered as much.
Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederate States of America, showed weaknesses within his leadership which may have contributed to the confederacy’s loss and the unions win . Davis failed in three vital ways. These ways were: his relations with other confederate authorities and with the people, as well as in his fundamental concept of his job as president and in his organization and specific handling of his role as commander in chief . Davis failed in maintaining communication with leaders and with his people, often unable to admit when he is wrong which led to lack organization in his role . In addition, Davis was a conservative leader, not a revolutionary one which meant that his strength was often in protocol and convention rather than in innovation . Studying each of these aspects that represented a weakness in Jefferson Davis’s leadership, Lincoln in comparison provided more admirable and outstanding qualities within his leadership which in many ways affected the outcome of the war
Throughout history we often see Abraham Lincoln as a great president, whose words and action inspire people throughout the nation to change the mindset of how we think about the importance of human lives regardless of race and ethnic groups. His journey toward changing the people perspective on the moral issue of slavery is no easy task to accomplished. But his action however, it did leave an everlasting impact for many African American that being chain by the cruel acts of slavery to experience freedom for the first time. And his Lincoln’s legacy would inspire other individuals to take a stand on their ideas and fight for the freedom of our fellow man. Individuals, such as Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King Jr take pride on their belief to fight for the equality their race and to unite the nation as one. In the book “The Fiery Trial” by
He just wanted everyone to push aside their differences, to become one again. He desired a peace without retribution. Lincoln wanted people to help the ones that lost loved ones or valuables during the war. He wants them to “care for the one” who was in the war. The one who had to take the life of another person because that was there job. To stand up to other nations you have to be one. If you are divided over every decision that is brought up then nothing will get done. Both sides of the debacle have to give a little. He knew that it would be hard to unite the country, but he had
Davis seemed to have had an outreach. environment to his success. The major difference, personality wise, was Davis's. weakness in his inability to get along with other people where Lincoln was a well liked and easygoing man. Both men shared a common bond in their education towards war.
...after the Civil War, Frederick Douglass continued to think highly of Lincoln and his great speech. It was hard to believe that before the Civil War, the two men disagreed and fought over the greatest and most awful sin committed, slavery. But they found a way to form the friendship that would last throughout history. It was his famous quote that really brought attention. He had said of the sixteenth president, “His greatest mission was to accomplish two things: first, to save his country from dismemberment and ruin; and, second, to free his country from the great crime of slavery . . . . taking him for all in all, measuring the tremendous magnitude of the work before him, considering the necessary means to ends, and surveying the end from the beginning, infinite wisdom has seldom sent any man into the world better fitted for his mission than Abraham Lincoln.”
I feel that Lincoln might have lead this country through one of the deepest politic crisis. His style of leadership is mostly bias and after trying to find out which one he was and after looking at many type of leadership styles he is I agree with the New York Times saying that he is a exemplary leader. The reason I agree with
Abraham Lincoln wrote one of the greatest speeches in American history known as the Gettysburg Address. It was not only used as a dedication to the fallen troops of the North and South, but as a speech to give the Union a reason to fight and attempt to unite the divided nation. The sixteenth president’s handling of his speech at Gettysburg demonstrated how the effectiveness of juxtaposition, repetition, and parallelism, could bring unity to a nation deeply divided on beliefs. His speech touched the hearts of many and indirectly put an end to the Civil War. Lincoln may have been considered a tyrant at the time but he was a great leader of a nation, a war, and a democracy.
There is no doubt that Abraham Lincoln is widely regarded as one of the great American presidents. The general public, when asked about Lincoln, will often tell the tale of a great man. Holding their head high, they will embark on the journey of a benevolent leader, praising the man who envisioned a new America: a great country of racial equality, and the pillar of human liberty. There are some, however, who have quite the opposite view.
Abraham Lincoln’s greatest challenge during his presidency was preserving the Union during the Civil War after the Southern states seceded from the Union. There were many dividing issues in the U.S. before his election in 1860, and his presidential victory was the final straw that led to the Civil War. The North and the South were already separating due to regional differences, socially, politically, culturally, and economically. Slavery was one of the biggest factors that led to the division between the North and the South. Preserving the Union while half of the country refused to regard federal law while in secession was extremely challenging, yet Abraham Lincoln decided to fight war against the South not only for the sake of abolishing slavery, but most importantly for the sake of preserving the Union. He was dedicated to fighting for the equality of all men in the U.S., as mentioned in his famous Gettysburg Address: "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." He used this to argue a basic point: if all men are created equal, then all men are free. His House Divided speech showed his determination to keep the...
President Lincoln was elected into presidency at a horrible time for the country but he still fought to do the best he could. After the civil war the main focus of Lincoln was to rebuild the North but still keep the South happy. His plans consisted of making the North's reconstruction a main focal point and distributing 10% of the damages done to the south to aid their reconstruction. President Lincoln thought that the states that seceded last should be given less guilt than the ones who seceded first. He gave more money to Arkansas, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Virginia and he treated them better because they were the last to secede. Along with his plans for reconstruction came the Radical Republicans who were a small minority in congress. They were very strict on giving all rights to African Americans and wanted to punish the south. All of these ideas and plans for Lincoln were all good ideas and could have been successful but they came to an abrupt end when Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth in 1865.
Abraham Lincoln is arguably one of the greatest presidents in the history of the United States. He only served 5 years, but was president in the worst period of American history. He did the unthinkable to many people because of the severity of the decision; he emancipated slaves in the United States. This caused him to be dubbed ‘The Great Emancipator’. The nickname he received is an accurate one because it is a major decision that shaped the future of America. This decision was long overdue and he made sure that the prosperity would not have to deal with the issue of slavery separating the government. Additionally, he was able to change the landscape of the war because the North had affected the South’s way of life. He was very bold for declaring that all slaves will be free, but it was for the improvement of America.
Abraham Lincoln is regarded by many Americans as the greatest president to ever hold office in the history of the United States, and his reputation is definitely well deserved. Lincoln wasn't scared to stand up and fight for what he knew was right. He was convinced that within the branches of government, the presidency alone was empowered not only to uphold the Constitution, but also to protect, and defend it. Lincoln was able to lead our country and preserve the Union, keeping the United States from splintering during the devastating times of the Civil War. As President, he built the Republican Party into a strong national organization, and he rallied most of the northern Democrats to the Union cause. On January 1, 1863, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation that changed the war into a battle for freedom and declared forever free those slaves within the Confederacy. That November, Lincoln gave his famous Gettysburg Address, which stated how a country must be dedicated to human freedom in order to survive. He dedicated the battlefield to the soldiers who had perished, and called on the living to finish the task the dead soldiers had begun. (Donald, 1995) Lincoln believed that democracy could be a lasting form of government. He showed a nobility of character that had worldwide appeal, and he was a man of great integrity. However, Lincoln was not only the 16th president of the United States, he was an American hero. Lincoln was a well-rounded individual and he had numerous outstanding qualities. However, it is important to remember that Lincoln also led a private life, complete with close friends and family.
He states, “Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, president of the U.S. by the power in me vested as Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy… as a fit and necessary war measure” (Lincolns EP found at Civil War Trust). Lincoln released the Emancipation Proclamation to grant freedom to the slaves in the Confederate states. Even though he wasn’t a big fan of Confederate supporter, he made sure that the slaves were granted freedom. Just like Abraham Lincon, all presidents should have a strong and kind attitude. “also, under this proclamation, freedom would only come to the slaves if the Union won the war” (Civil War Trust). Finally, union defeated the Confederate which left them free. Instead of having a sharp end to the war, Lincoln caused an ending to it that nobody would forget. He granted lives to many working