Lincoln-esque Leadership

President Lincoln and His Cabinet

If you were to ask anyone really about Abraham Lincoln, many people would recall that his biggest accomplishments were the end of slavery and indentured servitude (Except for punishment of crime) and the preservation of the Union. While some may be able to speak about his great skills as an orator (Which he completely had), few, if any, would be able to speak about how he was able to get there, more specifically how Lincoln was able to truly test and push himself to, as John Hay said on the night of Lincoln’s death, “belong to the ages.”

Having read Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin, I would really like to discuss the greatest takeaways about leadership and life that could come from analyzing the President’s life.

1. Create a team of rivals to counsel you, but leave the ultimate decision-making power of the most important situations up to you.

When Lincoln was appointed the Republican Party’s nominee in 1860, it was one of the greatest political upsets. No one, including himself, believed that he would win; the favored candidate was William Seward, who was a seasoned politician from New York and had the backing of political magnets such as Thurlow Weed. In addition, major contenders such as Salomon Chase and Edward Bates were poised to win over him. However, through his ability keep good relations even through trying times, Lincoln was able to win the nomination and eventually the 1860 presidential election.

During the period leading to his inauguration, Lincoln created a Cabinet that housed people who were known rivals to him throughout his earlier years. According to the White House, “the Cabinet's role is to advise the President on any subject he may require relating to the duties of each member's respective office” (https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/administration/cabinet). Instead of appointing and having people who had similar ideologies, Lincoln knew it would do the country better and create more value by having people who were both opponents in his life and who were great in their respective fields: those Cabinet members would ultimately force him to think differently with the mindset of a great statesman and tactician. For instance, instead of having Seward sit on the sideline and think about ways to use his skills to Seward’s personal benefit and potentially for the 1864 presidential election, Lincoln invited Seward to become the Secretary of State. Seward’s experiences within Europe and with European officials and elite and his connections in being able to use influential figures such as Thurlow Weed to influence politics made him the perfect man to take the position. And with his Secretary of State, regarded the “best” position in the Cabinet, Lincoln faced a dilemma in which a British ship was captured by the American Navy because it harbored rebels from the Confederacy who had a mission to negotiate with the British government. With the potential of Great Britain supporting the Confederacy and turning the war against the Union, Lincoln turned immediately to Seward to determine what to do, especially considering his knowledge of international law and relations with the British. Ultimately, with Lincoln's full support and backing, Seward decided to let the British ship and its passengers go under the guise that it was unlawful to detain a ship without a legal tribunal, which the Americans used almost 60 years earlier under President Monroe when the British seized American ships.

However, Lincoln did not always listen to his Cabinet on decisive issues. For instance, Lincoln, in 1863, had been preparing his opinion and the legality of emancipation for some time. Upon deciding that it was what he wanted but also what the country needed, Lincoln read the issue to his Cabinet. Secretary of the Treasury Salomon Chase was vehemently opposed to the course of action because he felt that the Army could better control the pace of emancipation, which was legitimate, rather than a decree from from President. However, Lincoln stuck to his mindset that the Emancipation Proclamation was the best course of action for the Union, the Civil War, and democracy. So when he issued the proclamation, Lincoln was able to further prevent European intervention, further uniting the Union, and took the Union one step further towards victory.

2. It is all about timing while understanding your base with a common goal.

Abraham Lincoln is considered by many to have been one of the best tacticians and “timers” in American history, if not global history. This can be seen the most in his gradual approach to entering the Civil War, declaring emancipation, and fighting for the 13th Amendment to end slavery and indentured servitude (Once again except for criminals) in the United States. As John Forney of the Washington Daily Chronicle stated, Lincoln was able to “closely [calculate] the tendencies of events and the great forces… he always moves in conjunction with propitious circumstances, not waiting to be dragged by the force of events or wasting strength in premature struggles with them.”

In the early years of the American Civil War and as the gruesome fighting waged on, Radical Republicans wanted Lincoln to declare the war had a second purpose: the abolition of slavery in the US. Even though some members of Congress wanted Lincoln to state the goal earlier, Lincoln refused to do so because he felt that the country and the military was not ready to support such a purpose.

Finally, however, Lincoln declared the fight against slavery through his Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, which stated the purpose of it was to bolster the holding of the Union by allowing Black peoples to enter the Union’s military. He felt that it was the time to do so at that time as a military necessity at that moment because he needed a rallying cry around a common cause to bolster morale in a somewhat defeated Union, which suffered many a great battlefield defeats. More importantly, however, Lincoln also knew that the issuance of the proclamation could have not been done earlier because any mention of freeing slaves would have repelled loyalists throughout the Republican Party. For him, that was the time that made sense because that is when the public and the military were ready for it, which he understood by constantly interacting with members of the public, from all walks of life, and visiting the military bases, with interactions between generals and with infantrymen. As George S. Boutwell noted, “Lincoln possessed the almost divine faculty of interpreting the will of the people without any expression by them” as he was, as Frederick Douglass stated, “[listening] with earnest attention and with very apparent sympathy.”

3. Be kind and take responsibility.

Something that all foes and friends of Lincoln agree on is that Lincoln was always kind; as he said in his Inaugural Address in 1864: “With malice towards none; with charity for all.” There are numerous situations that would warrant the anger and rudeness of an ordinary man in which Lincoln showed the exact opposite. For instance, when Lincoln was originally hired to defend Manny, by Edwin Stanton, Lincoln worked for months to prepare for the case. However, come the actual court date, Stanton informed Lincoln that his service and work no longer needed, even though Stanton knew in advance that he did not want Lincoln to continue his work but did not communicate his desires. Even though Lincoln was essentially gipped of money for his work, Lincoln did not act maliciously towards Stanton. He respected Stanton’s decision, stayed for the case, and acted cordially towards Stanton.

His kindness always did him well, at the end. Even though he faced defeat from others many times, he made sure that his post-event relationships were kind and friendly. And it is that kindness, which he was known for, and his friendliness that allowed everyone to think of him fondly, with deep respect and admiration, and which led to him being the state delegations’ second pick for the 1860 Republican nomination and then ultimately the first pick.

Through his kindness, Lincoln always made sure to take responsibility. During the early stages of the Civil War, the Army of the Potomac was created with the goals of 1) protecting Washington D.C. and 2) recapturing Virginia, more specifically the Confederate capital of Richmond, from the South. Union General McClellan, in charge of the Army of the Potomac, however, was extremely useless with the group as he never took action when it needed to be done. For instance, McClellan was ordered to go after Confederate General Lee by Lincoln, but he was too “cautious” and did not go after General Lee. This was a strategic blow to the Union in its fight to capture Virginia. Though many times, because of McClellan’s inaction, Democrats blamed Secretary of War Stanton and wanted his resignation, Lincoln did not allow it. He made sure, because ultimately every decision and issue was under his jurisdiction, that he took the ultimate blame. He even publicly announced, on a few occasions, that inaction of the Army of the Potomac was his responsibility. This served two purposes: 1) it allowed people with specializations to continue to do their work rather than worry about politics but, more importantly, 2) it allowed Lincoln to continue to be in the good graces of everyone who he interacted with and allowed him to gain their utmost respect and have them vouch for his greatness.

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Deviating a tad from leadership lessons from President Lincoln (LLL or Triple L, I guess), I would like to discuss a few life lessons I learned from reading about his life.

1. Have a purpose that is internally driven.

Abraham Lincoln’s goal, since the start of his career, was to be revered and remembered by others. It is something that he aspired to since a young age and an ideology that genuinely drove his life and career, to the point that he even temporarily ended his relationship with Mary Todd, even though she would eventually become his wife. This goal became his purpose for why he aimed to attain certain public office positions and why he was determined to be kind-hearted.

In this purpose and goal, though, Lincoln did not depend on others. For Lincoln, he was able to strive towards his goal because he decided that he was going to achieve it no matter what it took. For instance, this can be seen by the fact that Lincoln studied law by himself, which was not very common back then, and used the law practice to become a lawyer and make a name for himself. I think that Lincoln put it best: “Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed, is more important than any other one thing.”

2. The ability to cope.

Abraham Lincoln, throughout his life, dealt with periods of depression. In his early career, the greatest being when he temporarily broke off his relationship with Mary Todd combined with Joshua Speed leaving Lincoln to take care his own family. For Lincoln, he was trapped in a period of perpetual thoughts of sadness and suicide, mostly caused by the fact that the path to his goal of being eternally remembered was not going well.

However, he was able to pull himself out by “his resilience, conviction, and strength of will” through not being “idle” but with “business and conversation of friends… [to] rest from that intensity of thought.” (Goodwin, 100). For Lincoln, he adapted by using friends and his profession. I think puts the book puts it really well: “Mental health… consists of the ability to adapt to the inevitable stresses and misfortunes of life. It does not mean freedom from anxiety and depression, but only the ability to cope with these afflictions in a healthy way.” (Goodwin, 100)

Overall, Lincoln came from nothing but was able to become one of the greatest presidents and leaders of America since George Washington. Through both his personal determination and his leadership capabilities of using others to his strength, Lincoln was able to reach his goal of cementing his name with reverence in American, if not world history. Moving forward, I hope leaders of all types, now and future, can imitate his capabilities to be great in their own ways and cement their names in history to come.