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Leadership Skill Essay MISC
201
Advanced Leadership (Liberty University)
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Daniel Shin
Mr. Moore
MISC 201
13 October 2016
Abraham Lincoln
Biography
Ever since Abraham Lincoln was young, he learned how to be independent from life
experiences. When he was born in Hardin, Kentucky in a one-room log cabin, he had learned
about living in a farm and being raised through hard times. As soon as his mother died at the age
of 9, he never experienced any emotional support from his father and when he wanted to learn
new things, he grew into reading books and having an education than being with his father.
Education and new life experiences taught him how to become dependent and be adaptive in new
struggles that would come in his way later in life. As soon as he was 22, he left Hardin and came
to New Salem, Illinois to live on his own and soon became a store owner, working on the
railroads, and a lawyer.
When he entered in the life of politics, he become a lawyer and served one term as a
Whig Party congressman, during that time, he opposed the Mexican War. He later joined the
new Republican Party and lost the 1858 election for the Senate in Illinois after he toured the
state with his rival, Democrat Stephen A. Douglas. After he started to enter his presidency, he
married Mary Todd after two engagement that left him in a personal struggle and had four sons
but only one survived.
Accomplishments
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During his presidency, Abraham Lincoln endured many struggles that most presidents
did not face, but like the great George Washington, he was wise, resilient, and faced adversity
from every turn. Despite being under extraordinary pressures during the long American Civil
War. He carried on despite generals who were not ready to fight, assassination threats, bickering
among his cabinet members, and massive casualties. He kept fighting until the Confederacy was
defeated. Anyone knew that a lesser man would not have been up to the task, but Abraham
Lincoln was no lesser man.
As the Emancipation Proclamation, did not immediately free all the slaves because it only
applied to territories not under Lincoln’s rule. The fact that legal freedom for all slaves did not
come until the final approach from the Thirteenth Amendment in December of 1865. As Lincoln
was a supporter of the amendment, he was assassinated before he gave its final support. He fully
supported the Homestead Act, which allowed poor people in the East to obtain land in the West.
He signed the legislation for the National Banking Act which helped our national currency and
set up networks of national banks. He also wrote Gettysburg Address which explained that our
nation was fighting the war to see if we could survive as a country. Help commemorate the fallen
soldiers in Gettysburg and to remind the surviving soldiers to finish what their fallen brethren
could not do, to save our nation from perishing from the Earth.
Leadership
Lincoln had a benevolent leadership style in contrast to oppressive. When there were
conflicts among his advisors and himself, he often told stories that demonstrated his point. Many
times, this method worked and people admired him for this. He had the ability to disarm his
enemies with his moralistic leadership. Even though, he was seen as benevolent most times, he
had compassion and many characteristics of wisdom. He was even nicknamed “Father
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Abraham.” Like George Washington, Lincoln demonstrated extraordinary strength of character,
but Lincoln’s style of leadership that involved telling stories and explained his actions influenced
others to follow him. Lincoln was also known for his humility and empathy towards others,
including to the common man. He was close to the Union soldiers that some days, whenever he
was in the White House, he would frequently visit his troops and talk to them and listen to what
they had to say about war and what they struggled with. Lincoln has an extension knowledge of
the military, due to his service in the Black Hawk War in 1832 as a captain. He was never afraid
to hear any comments from his troops, or to the people. His persistence in defending the Union
and abolishing slavery was heard through his need of individual rights.
He was keen, driven, and consistent in his views of helping his subordinates and others
before them to help achieve his goal aspires in what I want to be able to do in the future. He
would build relationships with his subordinates, even if most did not like him. Including Senator
William H. Seward, who was his political opponent in the presidential nomination but in the end,
his constant drive to be able to explain his views and common goals help achieve a relationship
with him. He replaced and appointed many Army commanders, including Joseph Hooker who
complained about their issue of not attacking decisively and often wrote to his generals to take
the offensive. Lincoln always believed in building alliances and strengthening his Army leaders.
His speeches were clear and concise with what he had to say and how relatable it was to the
American people that made them follow him.
Communication was his strongest attribute as a leader, as his days of a lawyer help him
with the power of persuasion. He knew the risks he had to take and used personal, moral, and
legal authority to make clear decisions. Lincoln also communicated every step of his vision to his
people and to remind them that their rights were preserved into history.
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All in all, all these attributes that made Lincoln a valiant, and effective leader were small
compared to his main leadership skill, was that he was adaptable to any situation that came to
him, ever since he was a young boy. He learned through struggles and gained new perspective on
a poor lifestyle of the people, to the perspectives of an American president.
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References
►http://www.anb.org/articles/04/04-00631.html
►http://www.biography.com/people/abraham-lincoln-9382540
►https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Hawk_War
►http://rogerjnorton.com/Lincoln87.html
