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Abraham Lincoln as President
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Brief portrait of Lincoln as President, with examples of political events and personal convictions.... More...
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Paper Abstract:
Brief portrait of Lincoln as President, with examples of political events and personal convictions.
Paper Introduction:
Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the United States in 1860. This election took place in the middle of the most serious crisis yet in American history. Lincoln had left politics in 1849. But the political crisis ten years later became a personal crisis and a turning point for Lincoln. Although he was a successful lawyer his beliefs led him to return to politics because he saw important legal, political, and moral questions that would have a permanent impact on the welfare of the whole country. This personal crisis can be explained by Erik Erikson's idea of developmental crises that occur at different stages of a person's life when he or she must make a decision. Lincoln was middle-aged and wanted to do more than just raise a family and be successful in his chosen career. He believed that he was capable of leading the country through its crisis. Not
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The Bible defined charisma as "gifted grace" andit is commonly seen as a people's belief that an individual has a godly orspecial quality that no one else has. The Southern states wouldonly accept compromises where the number of new states was to be dividedbetween slave and non-slave states because they needed to retain equalityof numbers, "at least in the Senate," in order to stop legislation that wasaimed at abolishing slavery where it already existed (Davis 17). (1999). (1997). Joint Committee on Arrangements on theCommemoration Ceremony in Observance of the 15 th Anniversary of the Birthof Abraham Lincoln, 18 9-1959. Pitt, H.G. . New York: Free Press, Hay, John. Swett thought Lincoln had defeated himself in theSenate election by being too openly in favor of eventually abolishingslavery. He had served only one term in Congress in 1947-48. Lincoln's friend andadviser Leonard Swett thought that the speech was "hastily andinconsiderately uttered" (quoted in Browne 276-77). Lincoln had left politics in 1849. Washington: U. But he was also able to look atthe problem in a balanced way. Lincoln's Men: How President Lincoln BecameFather to an Army and a Nation. His speeches against the war with Mexico made his supporters so angrythat he knew he could not win again and so he returned to practicing law.But in the crisis over the extension of slavery Lincoln "discovered a causeand a moral energy which turned him from a local politician . TheRepublicans decided that the combination of his firm position on slaveryextension and his personal reputation made Lincoln the best nominee. (1997). Paul M. B. Lincoln: U of Nebraska P. (1966). Michael Burlingame and John R. (1887). Chicago: Chicago HistoricalSociety. Although he was a successful lawyer his beliefs led him to returnto politics because he saw important legal, political, and moral questionsthat would have a permanent impact on the welfare of the whole country.This personal crisis can be explained by Erik Erikson's idea ofdevelopmental crises that occur at different stages of a person's life whenhe or she must make a decision. . (1959). He was "adamant" about forbidding slavery in all newterritories and "thus strengthened, the Republicans in Congress rejectedthe proposal" (Pitt 52). Lincoln's firm resolve to keep slavery out ofthe rest of the nation was part of the charismatic appeal that got himelected. S. Thrupp, England: Sutton. realized thatthe day for the triumph of freedom was at hand" (Browne 243). Stephen Douglas had been nominated by the Democrats and the "hardpro-slavery Southern rights faction" were against him because "he was notsolid enough on slavery extension" (Davis 19). When he said, on his way toWashington after his election as President, that "to the salvation of thisUnion there needs but one single thing, the hearts of people like yours,"Lincoln was speaking to an audience that fully believed that he understoodthem and that he meant exactly what he said (quoted in Davis 22). Carbondale: Southern Illinois UP. Reelecting Lincoln: The Battle for the 1864Presidency. TurnerEttlinger. In the 185 's the question of slavery threatened to break the countryapart and "the hour had now struck in which Mr. Lincoln . (1997). Ed. (1968). He became the leading Republican in Illinoisand in 1856 he received 11 votes for vice-president at the Republicanconvention. U. In a famous speech at thebeginning of the senatorial election race Lincoln had said in 1858 that hebelieved the nation could not "endure, permanently, half slave and halffree" because "a house divided against itself cannot stand" (quoted inBrowne 274-75). King, Robert P. Both the political and the personal aspects of the crisis wereperfectly suited to Lincoln's particular charismatic qualities. One of the most important traits of Lincoln that appealed to thepeople was his integrity and his refusal to speak in a way that waspolitically helpful but was not strictly honest. These were the qualities that a large numberof Americans felt were needed in a president as the slavery crisis becameworse in 186 . Carbondale:Southern Illinois UP. Yet they wanted a resolution of theproblems and they turned to someone they believed would represent theirwishes and would not waver when faced with hard practical decisions, justas he never wavered when faced with hard moral and political questions. But this was rejected by Congress while Lincoln was stillPresident-elect. For example, his speechon the "house divided" sounded to many people like too strong a call forabolition, but Lincoln was in favor of eventual abolition of slavery andwould not compromise by pretending that he was not. . Inside Lincoln's White House: The Complete CivilWar Diary of John Hay. But Lincoln possessed unusual gifts that can bedefined as his charisma. . But in politicalterms he also said that "no man is good enough to govern another man,without that other's consent" and he called this "the leading principle" ofthe American form of government and believed that slavery would eventuallyhave to be abolished (quoted in Pitt 35). The Every-Day Life of AbrahamLincoln. Congress. Nicolay, John G. But Swett was apolitician and thought like one. Even though he lost the election, the Lincoln-Douglas debates "electrified not only Illinois but the nation" and Lincolnbecame famous throughout the country (Davis 16). Hebelieved that he was capable of leading the country through its crisis.Not everyone feels the need to go beyond the ordinary behavior of thisstage of development. Later Swett decided that the words of Lincoln's speech "weredeliberate and had been matured" because he came to see how Lincoln'shonesty and firmness gave him an even greater political advantage in thelong run. Hewon the presidential election with only 42 percent of the popular votebecause the Democratic vote was divided between Douglas and a SouthernDemocrat. Lincoln understood that if he was going tolead the country in a time of crisis he would have call on the people forunity and support and he could only do this if they believed that heunderstood their concerns and needs. Although the political picture of Lincoln as a man of perfectintegrity and a man of the people were exaggerated for political purposesthey were also basically true. Lincoln was never the most likely choice for the nomination of theRepublican party in 186 . He believed that the extension of slaveryhad to be prevented first, that the Constitution had to be changed, andthat this was the only way to abolish slavery completely. They not only wanted to keepslavery but to extend it to new states in order to avoid "perpetualrelegation to being a helpless minority" in the Congress (Davis 19). Lincoln was middle-aged and wanted to domore than just raise a family and be successful in his chosen career. Urbana: U of Illinois P. The last compromise on slavery proposed extending the line permittingslavery in the South and forbidding it in the North all the way to thePacific Ocean. S. Manycompromises were proposed for allowing slavery in some of the new statesand territories and keeping it out of others. Hisposition on slavery was not simple because there were many issues involved. Abraham Lincoln. Angle. Davis, William C. He believed that the politician shouldsay what he needed to say in order to be elected and do what he believedneeded to be done. The Republican convention knew then that theywere "faced with the probability that "they were not just choosing anominee, but the next president" (Davis 19). MostSoutherners believed "the whole economy and social structure of their slavestates depended on slavery" and many Northerners believed that slavery mustbe abolished completely (Pitt 49). The people knew that electing him made the secession of slavestates, and probably war, inevitable. Wilson, Douglas L. But when Lincoln ran against Stephen Douglas for the position ofIllinois senator he lost. Lincoln in Numismatics. Ed. Lincoln's journey from private lawyer to President was the result ofa combination of a political crisis that coincided with his personalcrisis. Lincoln Before Washington: NewPerspectives on the Illinois Years. A Portrait of Abraham Lincoln inLetters by His Oldest Son. Abraham Lincoln Commemoration Ceremony:Report of the Joint Committee on Arrangements on the Commemoration Ceremonyin Observance of the 15 th Anniversary of the Birth of Abraham Lincoln,18 9-1959. (1996). Lincoln, Robert Todd. This meant that theSouthern Democrats were likely to nominate a candidate of their own anddivide the Democratic vote. An Oral History of Abraham Lincoln: John G.Nicolay's Interviews and Essays. In the election of 186 the American people--at least inthe North--were looking for a leader who possessed qualities that couldhold the nation together or could win in a war against the South. New York: Crown. By the time of the 186 convention he was considered a true presidential candidate by the IllinoisRepublicans but he was still a very distant second to John Seward of NewYork. Lincoln's charisma was based on hisreputation as a true man of the people with honesty, moral integrity,determination, and firmness. The Southern states began to secede from theUnion in December 186 and by the time Lincoln was inaugurated in March1861 war was unavoidable. No place: Token andMedal Society. But the politicalcrisis ten years later became a personal crisis and a turning point forLincoln. Lincoln believed that the Constitutionprotected the slave-owners of the South and that the best that could bedone was to prohibit slavery in new parts of the country. Waugh, John C. (1998). He joined the new Republican Party, "the coalitionof former Whigs and Democrats who pledged themselves to resisting thespread of slavery" (Pitt 35). Judd, another friend and adviser, recalled that he hadadvised Lincoln, when speaking to an audience in Northern Illinois "wherethe anti-slavery sentiment was very strong" to change a speech and make itsound even more abolitionist but again he would not budge and said "Iwouldn't tomorrow mislead any gentleman in that audience to be madePresident of the U.S." (quoted in Nicolay 45). N. into astatesman who held his cause to its principles through the vicissitudes ofcivil war" (Pitt 34). In the Southerners' opinion this meantthat staying in the Union would destroy them. Ed. On the moral question of slavery Lincoln said that it was "universallygranted to be, in the abstract, a gross outrage of the law of nature" and"the great wrong of the world" (quoted in Pitt 34). But he also saw apolitical and legal difference between slavery in states where it alreadyexisted and slavery in new states. Michael Burlingame. Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the United States in 186 .This election took place in the middle of the most serious crisis yet inAmerican history. Congress. Works Cited Browne, Francis Fisher.
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