Consulting the Archives...
Generating fresh insights specifically for this topic.
This may take a moment.
Generating fresh insights specifically for this topic.
This may take a moment.
Abraham Lincoln's presidency, defined by the crucible of the American Civil War, offers unparalleled insights into leadership. Leading a divided nation teetering on the brink of collapse, Lincoln faced unprecedented challenges in preserving the Union and ultimately, emancipating enslaved people. His strategic brilliance, moral compass, and profound understanding of human nature were critical to his success. This essay explores key tenets of Lincoln's leadership, examining how he balanced unwavering principles with pragmatic flexibility, all while forging a path towards a more just and unified future.
"We here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain."
"It is not best to swap horses while crossing the river."
"As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master."
"I shall do nothing in malice. What I deal with is too vast for malicious dealing."
"I have stepped out upon this platform that I may see you and that you may see me, and in the arrangement I have the best of the bargain."
"If you would win a man to your cause, first convince him that you are his sincere friend."
"We can succeed only by concert. It is not 'can any of us imagine better?' but, 'can we all do better?'"
"I should be very happy to learn that I could be of any use in helping you to a situation."
"He has a right to criticize, who has a heart to help."
"Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing."
"I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis."
"I am rather inclined to silence, and whether that be wise or not, it is at least more unusual nowadays to find a man who can hold his tongue than to find one who cannot."
"Don't swap horses in middle of the stream."
"With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right."
"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."
"I have never had a feeling politically that did not spring from the sentiments embodied in the Declaration of Independence."
"Determine that the thing can and shall be done, and then we shall find the way."
"Truth is generally the best vindication against slander."
"I hold that while man exists it is his duty to improve not only his own condition, but to assist in ameliorating mankind."
"Public sentiment is everything. With public sentiment, nothing can fail; without it nothing can succeed."
"Mr. Clay, during my whole political life, I have loved and revered as a teacher and leader. Letter to Daniel Ullmann (1 February 1861); quoted in "Why Abraham Lincoln Was a Whig" by Daniel Walker Howe, The Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association, Volume 16, Issue 1 (Winter 1995); also in We Have the War Upon Us: The Onset of the Civil War, November 1860-April 1861 (2013) by William J. Cooper, p. 72"
"A house divided against itself cannot stand."
"My experience of men has neither disposed me to think worse of them nor better of them."
"We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country."
"I have no other ambition so great as that of being truly esteemed of my fellow men, by rendering myself worthy of their esteem."
Seeing how Abraham Lincoln approaches Leadership helps you apply the idea with more precision.
Pick one quote to guide a decision today, then return for deeper perspective.
Search More
Jump to another topic, author, or pillar without leaving the archive.
"Use this collection whenever you need Abraham Lincoln's lens on Leadership."