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Abraham Lincoln

Although Lincoln had only 18 months of formal education, through his avid devotion to reading he became highly educated. While a young man, his involvement in local politics grew, and he became interested in law, studied for and was admitted into Illinois bar in 1837. Physically, he was very tall (6’4”), strong and had a reputation for being a good wrestler as well as having skill with an ax. It was said that he avoided hunting because he didn’t like killing animals, even for food and is now noted as one of our country’s most famous vegetarians.

While only 23, Lincoln began his political career in 1832, by running for a seat in the Illinois General Assembly. He lost. He was elected captain of an Illinois militia company and said of his experience that he had not had “any such success in life which gave him so much satisfaction.” After a brief stint as a country store manager, he made his living practicing law and concurrently was involved in Illinois politics, at various times serving in legislative positions. 

He spoke out against injustice for many years prior to being elected the sixteenth President of the United States, from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Like President George Washington, he was also gifted as the leader of the nation's military. A good deal of credit for the victory of the northern states and preservation of the Union was due to his strategic involvement in military decisions and his wise selection of generals, including the surprising decisions which gave General Ulysses S. Grant so much autonomy and authority, despite Grant’s checkered reputation.

Another novel aspect of how Lincoln chose his leadership team was reflected in his presidential cabinet appointments, which included people from opposing political persuasions and, on some issues, were outspoken critics of Lincoln. In our own time, we can see the wisdom of working as Lincoln did, by observing the results of not doing so, and of only having “yes people” involved in the decision-making process.  Commonly, in our own time, those with differing viewpoints are not chosen to be a part of the President’s cabinet. Even so, some cabinet members still arrive at differing conclusions, which seem not to have been heeded, depriving us as citizens from the possibility of having wiser decisions from our executive branch due to a diversity of opinion. Instead, those with divergent viewpoints are rewarded for their differing perspective by being offered an opportunity to resign. And ultimately, the loss for not proceeding more as Abraham Lincoln did, is shared by all of us as citizens.

          Lincoln is credited of preserving our United States both by the victory in the ‘War of the States’ and the measures he took, (many of them were not followed after his death), which were aimed at reconciliation of the issues stemming from the many years of allowing slavery as well as the national wounds from the Civil War itself. His leadership resulted in the abolition of slavery, by issuing his Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 and promoting the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution in 1865. We can appreciate the eloquence of Lincoln’s writing as well as his philosophy through these quotations.

“Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves; and, under a just God, can not long retain it.”

“I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crises. The great point is to bring them the real facts.”

“As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. Whatever differs from this, to the extent of the difference, is no democracy.”

                      

“Whenever I hear any one arguing for slavery I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally.”  

“Allow the president to invade a neighboring nation, whenever he shall deem it necessary to repel an invasion, and you allow him to do so whenever he may choose to say he deems it necessary for such a purpose - and you allow him to make war at pleasure.”

- Abraham Lincoln  (1809-1865)

 

“Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.”

 “America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.”

- Abraham Lincoln  (1809-1865)

 

“How many legs does a dog have if you call the tail a leg? Four. Calling a tail a leg doesn’t make it a leg.”

- Abraham Lincoln  (1809-1865)

 

“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.”

“I am in favor of animal rights as well as human rights. That is the way of a whole human being.”

- Abraham Lincoln  (1809-1865)

 

“The ballot is stronger than the bullet.”

“Fourscore 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.”

- Abraham Lincoln  (1809-1865)

“I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crises. The great point is to bring them the real facts.”

- Abraham Lincoln  (1809-1865)

 

“There are no accidents in my philosophy. Every effect must have its cause. The past is the cause of the present, and the present will be the cause of the future. All these are links in the endless chain stretching from the finite to the infinite.”

- Abraham Lincoln  (1809-1865)

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