How Is Abraham Lincoln An Effective Leader

Niccolo Machiavelli’s The Prince, written in the 1500’s, is still the most referenced piece of literature on the subject of leadership. The suggestions that Machiavelli made centuries ago remain clear and effective to this day, and leaders throughout history have been influenced by the writing. At one point in The Prince, Machiavelli wrote that common people can be satisfied easily, as all they desire is not to be oppressed. Following in the words of Machiavelli, Abraham Lincoln desired nothing more than to avoid oppressing anybody when he gained power. Lincoln, a man of extreme empathy and kindness, was such an effective leader due to these potent capabilities of his. Several of Lincoln’s characteristics led him to be a powerful leader; these
Lincoln did not get much formal schooling, as he was expected to work for his father in the fields; Lincoln himself admitted that all of his formal schooling probably did not even total to a full school year. Because of this, Lincoln immersed himself in books. Throughout his life, he could be found reading any book that he could acquire. He concerned himself with learning mathematics, Latin, law, and other subjects, and his law partners had memories of Lincoln being so buried in his equations and writings that he wouldn’t even notice their presence in the room. Lincoln’s desire for knowledge created an ever-growing advantage for him in his political career. Lincoln was known for speaking to the public using pure logic, and not resorting to outbursts of emotion to prove his points. He had such a wealth of knowledge that he could fight with facts, often providing statistics to prove his rivals wrong in discussions. Lincoln’s law partner William Herndon once said that “he would express no opinion on anything…until he knew his subject ‘inside and outside, upside and downside” so that he could express his opinion with the strongest, most informed argument (164). Lincoln’s passion for learning assisted him in his role as a political leader due to his outstanding pool of knowledge that allowed him to argue any of his beliefs based
The greatest example that can be given of Lincoln’s impressive timing is that of his issuing of the Emancipation Proclamation. Lincoln, with the advice of Seward, was suggested to wait until after a major Union victory in the Civil War to issue the Emancipation so that the statement was received more seriously by both the Union and the Confederacy, and not seen as a cry of retreat. Five days after the major Union victory at the Battle of Antietam, Abraham Lincoln issued his preliminary Emancipation Proclamation on September 22nd, 1862 and the final Proclamation on January 1st, 1863. By doing this, Abraham Lincoln chose the best possible time to end slavery in the rebel states, at a time where the South was recovering from a harsh loss. Because of Lincoln’s timing, the Proclamation became a massive step towards abolition in the country and created chagrin for the Confederacy. Another example of Lincoln’s impressive sense of timing was earlier on in his political career. When running in the presidential election, Lincoln was a dark horse candidate. In this position, Lincoln knew how to expertly prepare his timing so that he could gain support and avoid creating adversaries early on. Lincoln “knew it was important not to reveal his intentions too early, so as to minimize the possibility of opponents mobilizing against him.”(212) Of