Lincoln The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln

The name Abraham Lincoln conjures images of a patriotic figure more icon than man. History views the 16th President of the United States as a giant among our political pioneers, helping to define the office and the nation over which it holds sway. However, as the brief excerpt by Goodwin (2005) shows, Lincoln's emerging genius would actually disprove a host of naysayers even before the president would change the world.

Perhaps the most compelling detail of Goodwin's analysis concerns Lincoln's initial rise from local legal and political star to holder of the highest office in the land. Because he was such a sharp contrast to his political rivals in the party's campaign for a nomination, the author notes that Lincoln's emergence was something of a shock to the nation. Moreover, and most remarkably, this shock was one endured with 'sadness,' owing to the low expectations meeting this relatively unknown political...

It was perceived by some, Goodwin indicates, that Lincoln was ill-suited for the job but had gained it by his relative centrism within the party and by his affiliation with the battleground state of Illinois.
Goodwin indicates that this were the misimpressions that often come with the distortion of political difference. Upon closer inspection and subsequent reflection, Lincoln's victory is demonstrably the result of his distinctive political skills and oratorical charisma. And these, the article notes, would not just cast him apart from the political rivals that occupy a significant part of the excerpt's discussion. In fact, they would also come to distinguish Abraham Lincoln among past and future presidents as one of the most aptly suited men to ever hold the office.

One of the qualities which made him so genuinely suitable was his distinct ability to reach out to his political rivals in the…