Abraham Lincoln: The Epitome of the Common Man

Some people wonder how Abraham Lincoln is so great to hold the title as the Epitome of
The Common Man. Abraham Lincoln is the Epitome of the Common Man because of his past characteristics, use of characteristics during presidency, and the consequences of his characteristics. His past characteristics played a major part in him becoming the president. Without some of the great characteristics from the start he probably would not have became the 16th president. Another way he used his characteristics in a major way is by using them during his presidency. His characteristics played a major role towards the blood thirsty Civil War. As the the quote says with every good thing their is a consequence you have to face along with it” Lincoln has a lot of depictions that represent how great his characteristics are. In Young Mr. Lincoln he has a couple of scenes that show some of his great characteristics. Statues inside the United States and outside the country represent his characteristics as well.

How Abraham Lincoln past characteristics help him became the 16th president of the United States? As a young boy he was big on moral and mental growth. He believed in principles of right and wrong and always tried to get people to make the right decision instead of making the wrong decision. Also he believed that peoples emotional and intellectual response was more important than physical responses. He had charisma and was a people person which was very helpful towards becoming the president because of his ability to tell stories and to be able to strike up a conversation where ever people gathered. Good communication is a major quality to help him become the president. He went to a lot of social gatherings that made him well known made much easier for him to become president.
His task as a young boy shows he was responsible because he did things like run errands, bring in wood and water, weeding the garden, picking grapes and wild berries, and dropping the seeds at planting time. Lincoln had ancestors that were self- reliant, very moderate, respected by their neighbors. This why should not expect any less from Lincoln he is self reliant by showing himself how to read and learn things on his on instead of expecting school to teach him. Lincoln was very moderate because even though a lot of people liked him did not make him become arrogant. Lincoln was respected by a lot of people because if they did not respect him they would not have listen to what he had to say. Abraham Liconln’s mom Nancy Lincoln was very intelligent, deeply religious, kindly, and affectionate. He picked up some of his mothers characteristics. Lincoln was very intelligent by learning so much about law that he was able to become a lawyer. He was deeply religious because he read the bible on the regular basis and was committed to god but he did not consider himself that religious. He was very kind as in a scene in Young Mr. Lincoln he offers a family money to buy fanning shirts and Lincoln says keep the money and they do not have to repay him back, which he did that out of the kindness of his heart. Abraham Lincoln was persistent because even though he failed to to get United States Senate twice he eventually kept trying and became president. According to New Salem friend Mentor Graham noted that Mr. Lincoln wrote letters for his less literate friends. Lincoln said to Graham that “he learned to see other people thoughts and feelings and ideas by writing their friendly confidential letters.” Lincoln was part of the Whig party from 1830s to 1856. The Whig party promoted internal improvements, such as roads, canals, railroads, and deepening of rivers.
The Whig Party was disintegrated after 1856, then Lincoln decided to join the Republican Party because his fellow Whig companions.
Being in the Whig Party ( Now Republican Party) helped Abraham Lincoln build on his politician characteristics. Abraham Lincoln worked as a ferry man on the Ohio River in Indiana. Which allowed him to come in contact with a lot of people from other parts of the country and world. Which means the more people that he knew the more people knew of him. According to Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial website Lincoln was elected Illinois House of Representatives in 1834, where he served three terms. Being in the House of Representatives helped build his politician skills as well. Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial suggest that he partially gained national prominence through debates with Stephen A. Douglas on the issue of slavery. Slavery being a major issue during that time period it makes logical sense how it made him widely popular and one step closer to becoming the president.

He showed courage during his president years because he had to face problems of the Civil War by dealing with dissolution of the nation and issues with slavery. Also had to have courage to deal with politicians that did not agree with his views. With Lincoln being so adventurous, on one of his trips he learned that the Mississippi River enabled people to transport goods through New Orleans to the world, which became very useful during the Civil War for the Union Armies. Lincoln bright idea became useful to the Union Armies because it allowed troops and supplies to travel deep into the South, which made it very hard for the Confederacy to survive. He showed humility by still being humble even though he had the highest position you can ever obtain as a man which is the president of the United States. He carried his ideals through instead of letting the president position or power get to his head.
Lincoln used humor to his advantage by making his opponents laugh so he would not have to argue or fight and offer to become friends. He also used humor in his short stories and memorable quotes. To get his ideals across to his cabinet he would articulate rather then demand his associates. It shows that he was a good articulator too because he was good at getting the 13th amendment passed even though a lot of people wanted to keep their slaves. Abraham Lincoln shows paradox during his term of presidency. He shows paradox by having slaves, but at same time trying to abolish slavery, then eventually fully believing in abolishing slavery all together by suggestion the 13th amendment. According to the website what makes a great president “for a president to be effective has to have a strategic vision and a direction in which the president wants to lead the country”. Abraham strategic vision and direction was to unify the nation and fix the issues of slavery. Another characteristics of a great president according to what makes a great president is “the consistency of purpose but a willingness to change strategy in moments of crisis.” Abraham Lincoln demonstrates this characteristic by at first only abolishing slavery just to unify the union but eventually changed the strategy to abolishing slavery for the good of the slaves as well. What makes a great president website suggest that “when a president is so great that the legacies have been left to the next current president.” Lincoln was considered a great president because after he did the next current president benefited off what Lincoln did. Emotional intelligence is another characteristic of a great president according to what makes a great president website. Lincoln demonstrates emotional intelligence by separating his personal feelings from analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of his colleagues. Even though he was put into depression moments he knew that he could not doubt the outcome and had to come very comfortable with his decisions, which showed he was very self - reliant.
Another characteristic suggested by what makes a great president website is “a president is a recognition that the responsibility of leadership causes a president to have a healthy respect for public opinion, but not to be dictated to by opinion polls.” Abraham Lincoln demonstrates this characteristic by always using positive propaganda, never using racism, and never letting past issues effect present ones. One good example of how he deals with public opinion is the Address on Temperance in 1842 “When the conduct of men is designed to be influenced, persuasion, kind, unassuming persuasion, should ever be adopted. It is an old and true maxim ‘that a drop of honey catches more flies than a gallon of gall.’ So with men. If you would win a man to your cause, first convince him that you are his sincere friend. Therein is a drop of honey that catches his heart, which, say what you will, is the great high road to his reason, and which, when once gained, you will find but little trouble in convincing his judgment of the justice of your cause, if indeed that cause really be a just one. On the contrary, assume to dictate to his judgment, or to command his action, or to mark him as one to be shunned and despised, and he will retreat within himself, close all the avenues to his head and his heart; and tho’ your cause be naked truth itself, transformed to the heaviest lance, harder than steel, and sharper than steel can be made, and tho’ you throw it with more than Herculean force and precision, you shall no more be able to pierce him, than penetrate the hard shell of a tortoise with rye straw. Basically what he is trying to say is you have to make the person believe you are trying to be there friend to have any attempt to dictate his or her judgment and if you do not be friend the person first they will not agree to what you have to say no matter how hard you force the issue it wont get through.
Last characteristic from the website what makes a great president is “there must be a readiness to act and a comfort in deciding.” Abraham Lincoln demonstrates this by taking a long time to make decisions, giving reason to why he made the decision, and standing by the decision.

The consequences Abraham Lincoln had to face because of his characteristics. Lincoln showed perseverance through adversity because he accomplished a lot but ran out of time ( got shot) before he could accomplish a lot more. Comparing Abraham Lincoln to Barack Obama by perseverance through adversity because they both are presidents that wanted to accomplish the great things but was unable to finish because of time constraints. He still carried out his ideals as president instead of changing them, which he faced the consequence of losing the president status because a lot of people disagreed with his views. Another consequence is that he got killed because of his ideals. John Wilkes Booth Killed Abraham Lincoln because he believed that Lincoln had too much power and was not using his power to solve the Civil War and stop it. But Booth was wrong, Lincoln was trying his best to solve the problems of the Civil War. A consequence he faced was dealing with people in the nation that was against slavery and that did not want to be part of the United States. Abraham wanted to abolish slavery so the first step he took was suggesting the Emancipation Proclamation, even though slavery was a right in the constitution. The Emancipation Proclamation a documentation that ended slavery only in Confederate states, but did not apply to slave states in the Union and allowed African Americans to serve the Union’s armed forces.

But the consequences to this is that it was very hard to enforce, only limited slaves into the Union, no concrete methods that ensured freedom to the ex-slaves fleeing the South, and African Americans in Union armed forces received lower pay then the white soldiers. Abraham Lincoln tried to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation was good, but also bad for others that did not benefit from the document. From The Lincoln Legend A Study In Changing Conceptions packet a consequence he had to face was the North not being able to retrieve his policy or their views were so different to the point that they were not able to be compatible with his policy. his made it very difficult to get his policy across to the North. From The Lincoln Legend A Study In Changing Conceptions quote from John T. Morse, Jr., “For myself, having drawn the picture of the man as I see him, though knowing well that I am far from seeing him all, and still farther from seeing inwardly through him, yet I know that I cannot help it by additional comments. Very much more than is the case with other men, Lincoln means different things to different persons, and the aspect which he presents depends to an unusual degree upon the moral and mental individuality of the observer. Perhaps this is due to the breadth and variety of his own nature. A friend once said to me: Lincoln was like Shakespeare, in that he seemed to run through the whole gamut of human nature.” I agree with John T. Morse, Jr. because some might see Lincoln’s consequences as his benefits or vice versa.

Some depictions that represent how great his characteristics were. In Young Mr. Lincoln the wrestling, tug of war, log chopping,and rail splitting scenes all depict how strong he was physically. The scene in Young Mr. Lincoln when Abraham Lincoln was on a horse on Palm sunday which compares him to a god like figure.
From the Lincoln Legend A study In Changing Conceptions packet they compared Abraham Lincoln to God by saying nobody notice how great he was until he died. Also from the Lincoln Legend A Study In Changing Conceptions packet they compare Abraham lincoln to god because some people praised and worshiped him. The Gettysburg Address “Four Score 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. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate- we cannot consecrate- we cannot hallow- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the lat full measure of devotion- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. The first part of the Gettysburg Address is saying that eighty-seven years ago the founding fathers declaration got the country started.
Second part of the Gettysburg Address is saying they are in the civil war and are not able to declare and bless the ground to the people who died in the war, but the people who died in the war are far more than what can be put into words and do not need to be praised but they should be. It makes since to finish the war so the people that died in the war did not die for no reason at all. They turned the place that all the honorable soldiers that died into a cemetery. It is a statue of Abraham Lincoln in the United Kingdom, Edinburgh by George Bissell, which is a monument of two statues; one who crouching free slave is extending his arm out as gratitude to Lincoln. Also the freed slave is resting on furled flag, which symbolizes victory. It is a medallion that has the flags of Britain and the United States surrounded by thistles and cotton plant. The Edinburgh monument is remembered by the scots who fought in the Union Army that lost their lives in the Civil War. Men from Britain, Ireland, and Canada who are dedicated to the Edinburgh monument. Another great depiction of Abraham Lincoln is the statue in United Kingdom, Manchester by George Grey Barnard which was made to link Manchester and the United States by Manchester being the largest processor of cotton made a huge contribution by choosing the boycotts Southern Cotton to help stop slave labour. Abraham Lincoln has a statue in United Kingdom, London, Westminster: Parliament Square, which depicts that he was about to make an important speech. He did a lot of brilliant speeches during his time which is a logical reason as to why he has a statue showing him about to prepare for an important speech.

Abraham Lincoln characteristics begin in him as a young child which were developed as he got older. Characteristics like responsibility, eagerness to learn in general and law, learned persistent from doing his regular task as a young boy, and joining the Whig Party which developed his politician skills, persistence from trying to get into Senate even though failed twice he kept trying and got president status. When he became president he used those same skills and also learned additional skills as well. He developed on political skills by going from Republican party to the president status, which requires more responsibility. He demonstrated humility as well because even though he was president it did not change his attitude how he generally treated people. Lincoln shows persistence in how he took his time in making decisions. The additional skill he learned was emotional intelligence which is the ability to not let personal feelings interfere with his presidential duties. Some of the consequences he had to face was that a lot of people did not agree with his views, which is a reason why he was killed by John Wilkes Booth. The speech the Gettysburg Address, which states beginning of new nation, do something good for soldiers that died, and burry them in the same earth they did their good deed is a great depiction of Abraham Lincoln. Some scenes from Young Mr. Lincoln like wresting scene, tug of war, rail splitting, and log cutting represents how physically strong he was. Statues from United Kingdom in Edinburgh(remembrance of the scots who fought in the Union Army) and United Kingdom Manchester by George Grey Barnard(to link Manchester and the United States) Past characteristics, use of characteristics during presidency, and consequences of characteristics combined made him the man he was, which is the reason why Abraham Lincoln is The Epitome Of The Common Man.