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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…
Works Cited:
Goodwin, D.K. (2005). The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln. Exc. From Team Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln.
Abraham Lincoln was born in a log cabin on February 12, 1809 in Hardin County, Kentucky. From these humble beginnings the first born son of Thomas, an uneducated farmer, and Nancy Hanks, Lincoln would grow to become the 16th President of the United States. In 1997 William Riding Jr. And Stuart B. McIver asked a group of 719 professors, elected officials, historians, attorneys, authors and other professionals to rate the presidents.
It appeared almost as if the South might win, and many of Lincoln's advisers "said that there was no way to win the war and he might need to compromise on slavery," (Moreton, 2008). However, Lincoln would not budge. It would have certainly been the politically expedient thing to do for Lincoln to surrender and make a compromise that would result in the preservation of the union on the
Lincoln The Assassination of Lincoln The assassination of Lincoln was part of a greater plot to end the continuity of government, which Lincoln and his aids (Secretary of State William Seward and Vice President Andrew Johnson) represented. Each of these men held one of the top three key positions in the Union. John Wilkes Booth, the stage-actor who killed the President, sought along with his accomplices to assist the South and the
He also voted several times in favor of the Wilmot Proviso, that would prohibit slavery in any territory that was acquired from Mexico, siding with the majority in the Whig House of Representatives (McPherson). However, Lincoln's opposition to the Mexican War was not popular in Illinois. Democratic newspapers dubbed him 'Spotty Lincoln', and indicated that he had committed political suicide with musings such as "What an epitaph: 'Died of Spotted Fever'"
Interestingly, and not well-known, is the fact that as a method of "methodically" shortening the long odds against him, Lincoln arranged to have transcripts of his debates with Douglas published. The publishing of those debates greatly improved his visibility and he began to receive invitations to speak at Republican gatherings. Goodwin explains that he gave speeches in Wisconsin, Indiana, Kansas, Iowa and Ohio in the four months between August
Political or Social Problem Racism has been a major social problem in American history going back to the colonial period of the 17th and 18th Centuries, and by no means only in the former slave states of the South. In fact, the condition of blacks in the United States has always been a central social, political and economic problem that resulted in the nation's most destructive war in 1861-65 and