Abraham Lincoln

 

Abraham Lincoln

 

“Whatever you are, be a good one.” – Abraham Lincoln

 

Abraham Lincoln will always be remembered as one of the best presidents in the history of the United States. He united a divided country, freed the people, and made friends of his enemies. With all these accomplishments, it is difficult to know that Lincoln actually endured many failures. However, he strove to continue regardless of the circumstances. He lost a few political races, his first girlfriend passed away, his first businesses did not succeed, he lost a family member, he was overlooked and ridiculed by many people for his appearance and demeanor. It is speculated he suffered from melancholy or maybe even depression. Yet, Abraham Lincoln did not let any of these circumstances change his inner beliefs. He was going to do good in this life regardless of the circumstances. And good he did.

 

“My dream is of a place and a time where America will once again be seen as the last best hope of earth.” – Abraham Lincoln

 

He succeeded in life by going forward with everything he placed his mind to be. He taught himself law by reading books in his cabin. He learned to be one of the best story tellers of the time and poetry writer. He was liked and adored by many. Even when he was ridiculed by people, those same people were later astonished by the hidden genius inside Lincoln. Among these accomplishments, Lincoln rose to the occasion when the country needed him the most. When civilization was collapsing under the wait of sedition and internal strife, Lincoln accepted the responsibility to unify the country. 

 

“You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading today.” – Abraham Lincoln

 

Abraham Lincoln decided to accomplish the most difficult task at the time. With a Civil War starting, Lincoln took his best team of advisors and mounted strategies to unify the country. To say the least, his advisors, were not his friends. They were rather opponents but Lincoln knew the importance of seeing the world from multiple view points. He made sure to use his advisors to learn strategies and know information to make better points. He left ego at home and decided to work together with his political opponents to make a more perfect union. That is something unheard of in today’s times. Instead of uniting together for our own betterment, we are being harnessed to attack each other. We must learn what Lincoln did.

 

“Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends.” – Abraham Lincoln

 

Abraham Lincoln knew that he needed to unite the country and he did with the help of his cabinet. He freed those that were in bondage and fought for a nation that would honor every life the same. He worked to reconstruct the nation that was damaged from within. He will be remembered as the unifier and restorer of the union among the many great accomplishments he did.

Lincoln Was a Self Made Man

Lincoln was not born into wealth and instead worked hard to rise above his circumstances. It is noted that Abraham Lincoln was able to work at multiple jobs in order to improve his circumstances. Lincoln was born in a cabin in the backwoods of Kentucky and strove to be a better person each and every day. It is noted that Lincoln was a Christian who read the Sacred Scriptures and also worked hard to progress in life. It is noted that Abraham Lincoln worked multiple jobs and kept being self-didactic. Lincoln would walk miles to borrow books and keep learning. It is noted that Lincoln taught himself law. Lincoln also worked from shopkeeping to surveying before entering politics. 

Lincoln lost the Illinois race for the Senate in 1858 after seven debates with Stephen Douglas. Despite not winning the Senate seat, he decided to keep persevering and eventually became the Republican nominee and elected President of the United States. Lincoln was respected by people for being honest, humble, and having a sense of humor. Lincoln seemed to be the ideal man to keep the Union intact and remove slavery and racism from the United States. As Lincoln was entering the Presidency, there was conflict and division over the issue of slavery. Lincoln would persist and govern righteously during his two terms ending slavery in the United States and also uniting a once divided nation. 

Lincoln Was Resilient and Harmonious

The Civil War became inevitable after individuals began to understand that slavery is an unjust economic model in both the North and the South. Attempts were made to prevent the war, but once Lincoln was president and there was no intent to abolish slavery from the South, Civil War began. Lincoln was the only president who could have led the Union to victory and also heal the Union after the war ended. Lincoln was impressive because while the southern states ceceded and attempted to prevent abolitionism from occuring, Lincoln kept leadership despite Davis' attempt to usurp the presidency. Lincoln had great persistence and kept positivity. Lincoln's army would battle Davis' army and while initially had difficult battles, would end up winning the war fighting against injustice and racism.

Davis' cause argued for the continuation of slavery, printing of paper money that had no value, and a hypocritical draft that wanted the individuals of modest means in the South to fight the war while wealthy southerners decided to not be involved in the battlefield. The Southerners who saw that paper money was being printed without the backing of gold nor silver decided to not help the Confederate soldiers knowing that the money was worthless. They hid their resources and denied helping the Confederacy. Instead, they were happy when they saw Yankee soldiers from the North and even provided resources. There were Southerners who did not help the Confederacy. Other Southerners decided to not participate in the draft seeing that it was a war fought by individuals of modest resources while the wealthy southerners could skip the draft. Inequality also was at work against the Confederacy soldiers. A Confederacy that cherished inequality could not persist. After the Emancipation Proclamation that ended slavery, African Americans in the South were freed. Some went to the North, and others stayed to fight against the South. Davis' cause had imploded from its source: racism and inequality. Lincoln defeated the South and ended the war. He made sure that the Southern states could re-enter the Union without slavery. The Southern states re-entered the Union. Lincoln was working on plans for Reconstruction when socialists could not stand his bravery, persistence, sense of humor, and egalitarianism. Lincoln was definitely one of the best presidents of the United States. 

A Team of Rivals

"With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as GOD gives us to see the right."- From Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address

It is a well known fact that Abraham Lincoln was different from the rest yet remained humble. Lincoln would go through much adversity throughout his life and never quit. Lincoln decided to persevere with faith being that Lincoln was a Christian. While not being born into a rich family, Lincoln became self-didactic and improved throughout the years. Lincoln was able to outgrow the hardships and evolve into a humble and impressive individual. Lincoln was a pioneer being able to see that slavery did not benefit the United States. 

Lincoln was able to create a cabinet that included rivals who disdained Lincoln. This is documented in multiple sources including in the book Team of Rivals. Lincoln saw that enmity and conflict do not help anyone and even turned his enemies into friends. He included in his cabinet individuals that did not like Lincoln. This was because Lincoln did not have envy nor did he compare himself to anyone. It is quite possible that one of the cabinet members who envied Lincoln may have plotted against Lincoln. This is because everything that Lincoln accomplished was impressive. After the Civil War had concluded and the Union had offered the Confederate states to rejoin the Union without slavery, Lincoln looked to heal the Union. He probably was looking to help everyone prosper and when Reconstruction was beginning to take place, he was shot by John Wilkes Booth. John Wilkes Booth would be assassinated twelve days later after having assassinated Abraham Lincoln. It is quite possible that Lincoln was envied for looking to improve the Union through Reconstruction without hate, racism, envy, and strife. (We can appreciate Lincoln's positive example and also learn that we need to avoid negative and conflict causing individuals that are socialists and idolators. We do not need to hate anyone and only hate evil. It is possible that one of the cabinet members was a socialist and disdained Lincoln for being a great president and uniting the nation without racism. Lincoln probably was ready to implement amazing legislation to unite the nation and build up based on empathy and positivity when racist socialists probably opposed and plotted against Lincoln. It is noted that five days after the Civil War ended, Abraham Lincoln was assassinated and Jim Crowe laws were added. We can choose to practice empathy but be far apart from socialist snakes who do not want to help others.)