21 Great Leaders: Learn Their Lessons, Improve Your Influence (39 page)

Lincoln’s early leadership skills were rudimentary. On one occasion, Captain Lincoln led a squad of twenty militia men across a field. Ahead of them was a fence with a gate—but Lincoln couldn’t remember the command for marching them through the gate. So, as his men approached the gate, he called, “Halt!” The militia men halted. “This company is dismissed for two minutes,” Lincoln ordered, “and will fall in again on the other side of the gate.”
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On one occasion during the Black Hawk War, an aging Native American warrior came into Lincoln’s camp. Several of Lincoln’s men seized the old man and roughed him up. Black Hawk’s forces had recently slaughtered some settlers, including women and children, so tensions were high. The old warrior produced a sheet of paper guaranteeing safe conduct, signed by General Lewis Cass. But the militia men wanted vengeance, and they were ready to execute him.

Lincoln rushed into the midst of the men, placed himself in front of the old Native American, and saved the man from being executed. Lincoln’s men were frustrated at first that he thwarted their vengeance—but they later admired him for his courage and sense of honor.
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The Black Hawk War lasted from May to August 1832, and ended with Chief Black Hawk’s surrender. Lincoln returned from serving in the militia and made his first run for public office, campaigning for a seat in the Illinois state legislature. He lost, finishing eighth out of a field of thirteen candidates. Two years later, in 1834, he ran again and won—the first of four consecutive terms as state legislator. From the beginning, he was a vocal opponent of slavery.

While serving in the Illinois state legislature, Lincoln studied law by reading books. Entirely self-taught, Lincoln was admitted to the bar in 1836. He moved to Springfield (shortly before it became the state capital) and began practicing law there. He had built a reputation as a tough adversary who was formidable in debate and cross-examination.

Alexander McClure relates a story told to him by an unnamed “lady of Springfield.” It’s a story about Abraham Lincoln’s serving heart. “My first strong impression of Mr. Lincoln,” the lady said, “was made by one of his kind deeds.”

She was planning a journey by rail and had arranged for a carriage driver to pick her up, along with her heavy trunk. When the appointed time came, the carriage driver didn’t show up. She began to panic, realizing she would miss the train. She stood by her front gate in her hat and gloves, sobbing.

Just then, the rising young Springfield lawyer, Abraham Lincoln, walked up and asked her why she was crying. The lady poured out her story.

“How big is the trunk?” Lincoln asked. “There’s still time, if it isn’t too big.”

She led him to the trunk in her upstairs room.

“Dry your eyes,” Lincoln said, “and come on quick!” He lifted the trunk, set it on his shoulders, and raced down the stairs, through the front yard, and into the street. He carried the trunk on his back all the way to the train station. The lady trotted after him as fast as she could, drying her tears as she went.

They reached the station just in time. “Mr. Lincoln put me on the train, kissed me good-bye, and told me to have a good time,” the lady recalled. “It was just like him.”
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Early in his law career in Springfield, Lincoln’s law partner was Ward Lamon. A man named Scott came to them with a case involving his sister, who was mentally ill. The sister owned property and cash valued at about $10,000, which was managed by a conservator. A con man had become acquainted with her, learned she had money, and proposed marriage—but in order to get her money, he needed to go to court and have the conservator removed. The client, Mr. Scott, hired Lincoln and Lamon to prevent that from happening.

Lincoln quoted a fee of $250, which Mr. Scott thought was reasonable. He expected the trial to take some time. To everyone’s surprise, the case was concluded within twenty minutes—Lincoln and Lamon won. Mr. Scott paid Mr. Lamon the entire $250 and was very satisfied.

But Abraham Lincoln was not satisfied. After Mr. Scott left the courtroom, Lincoln asked Mr. Lamon, “What did you charge that man?”

“I charged him $250,” Lamon replied, “as we agreed.”

“The service was not worth that sum,” Lincoln said. “Give him back at least half.”

They argued, and Lincoln prevailed. Grudgingly, Lamon tracked down Mr. Scott and returned half the fee.

Meanwhile, Judge David Davis had seen Lincoln and Lamon arguing. “Lincoln,” the judge said, “I have been watching you and Lamon. You are impoverishing this bar with your puny fees, and other lawyers have reason to complain. You are now almost as poor as Lazarus, and if you don’t charge more for your services, you will die as poor as Job’s turkey!”

Lincoln’s mind was made up. “That money,” he said, “comes out of the pocket of a poor, demented girl. I would rather starve than swindle her in this manner.”
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In Springfield Lincoln met Mary Todd, who came from a wealthy slaveholding family in Kentucky. They were married in Springfield on November 4, 1842. They had four sons, three of whom died before reaching adulthood. Mary Todd Lincoln suffered from migraines and clinical depression, and some historians speculate that she may have suffered from bipolar disorder.

Lincoln was elected to the House of Representatives in 1847. He served a single term then retired from politics to focus on his law practice. After leaving Washington, he said, he “practiced law more assiduously than ever before…. I was losing interest in politics, when the repeal of the Missouri Compromise aroused me again.”
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The Missouri Compromise was passed in 1820 during the presidency of James Monroe. It prohibited the expansion of slavery into the new western territories. What Lincoln called “the repeal of the Missouri Compromise” was the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, which permitted slaveholding in new territories west of the Mississippi River. Lincoln was so incensed by this betrayal that he came out of political retirement and decided to seek political office again. He joined the Republican Party, which was founded in 1854 specifically to oppose slavery.

Slavery deeply offended Lincoln’s conscience. By joining the antislavery Republican Party, he hoped to liberate the slaves, put an end to the plantation system of the South, and collapse the economic power of the slave owners. In 1856, soldier and explorer John C. Frémont served as the Republican Party’s first presidential candidate; Lincoln placed second in the balloting to become the party’s vice presidential candidate. The Frémont-Lincoln ticket lost to Democrat James Buchanan.

In March 1857, the Supreme Court issued the infamous Dred Scott decision—the worst decision in Supreme Court history. Dred Scott, an African-American slave, had been taken to free states by his owners and had sued for his freedom under the laws of the nonslaveholding states. In his majority opinion, Chief Justice Roger B. Taney stated that African-Americans are not citizens under the Constitution and therefore have no rights. Taney thought his ruling would settle the slavery question once and for all. Instead, the 7–2 Dred Scott decision inflamed passions and made the Civil War practically inevitable.

The following year, Lincoln delivered his famous “House Divided” speech, inspired by Mark 3:25. He said, “A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved—I do not expect the house to fall—but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing, or all the other.”
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Abraham Lincoln ran for the United States Senate in 1858. His opponent was Stephen A. Douglas—the proslavery scoundrel who authored the Kansas-Nebraska Act. The campaign of 1858 became famous for the Lincoln-Douglas Debates. Lincoln lost to Douglas. When a friend asked him how he felt about the loss, Lincoln replied, “Like the boy who stubbed his toe; I am too big to cry and too badly hurt to laugh.”
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Despite the loss, Lincoln gained name recognition and became a leader on the national stage.

In 1860, Lincoln ran for president—and won. He was inaugurated on March 4, 1861. On April 12, 1861, just five weeks into Lincoln’s presidency, Confederate gun batteries opened fire on Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor.

The Civil War was on.

The intense pressures of being a wartime president seemed to bring forth the character traits of Abraham Lincoln—his honesty, humility, compassion, and fairness. Here are some stories from his White House years that reveal Lincoln’s serving heart:

As a wartime president, Abraham Lincoln had great respect for his best generals—but they didn’t all respect him. One of the most contemptuous of Lincoln’s generals was George B. McClellan. In the early days of the war, Lincoln admired McClellan’s ability to raise and train a well-organized Union army.

On several occasions, Lincoln went to McClellan’s house to discuss war strategy. McClellan went out of his way to show contempt for President Lincoln, making Lincoln wait while he dealt with other matters. McClellan’s disdainful treatment of the president was so obvious that even the newspapers began to comment on it.

Lincoln endured McClellan’s mistreatment, saying, “I will hold McClellan’s horse, if he will only bring us success.”

(Ultimately, McClellan proved to be a disappointment in the field. Lincoln eventually removed him as general of the army of the Potomac, and McClellan ran unsuccessfully against Lincoln as a Democrat in the 1864 election.)

Lincoln’s servant-like forbearance was legendary. During an inspection visit to Fort Stevens, which guarded the northern approach to Washington, DC, Lincoln was conducted by Captain Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. (who would later be appointed to the Supreme Court by President Theodore Roosevelt).

Through a small gap in the fortification, Captain Holmes pointed out the location of the enemy. Lincoln, wearing his stovepipe hat, stood up for a better view. Instantly, gunfire erupted from the Confederate lines.

Captain Holmes grabbed the president and threw him down, shouting, “Get down, you fool!”

Lincoln picked himself up, brushed himself off, and continued the tour. Captain Holmes, meanwhile, fretted about the disciplinary action he had just earned.

At the end of his inspection, President Lincoln turned to his guide and said, “Captain Holmes, I’m glad to see that you know how to talk to a civilian.”

And nothing else was said about the matter.
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On New Year’s Day 1863, Secretary of State William H. Seward brought the carefully prepared document of the Emancipation Proclamation to the president for his signature. The proclamation conferred freedom on all slaves in the eleven states that were still in rebellion against the Union.

President Lincoln took his pen, dipped it in the ink, and poised it over the Proclamation. After a few seconds, he set the pen down. He tried again—but once again he set the pen down, leaving the document unsigned.

Lincoln looked up at Seward. “I have had so many visitors,” he said, “and have shaken so many hands since nine o’clock this morning, that my right arm is almost paralyzed. If my name ever goes into history, it will be for signing this Proclamation, and my whole soul is in it. If my hand trembles when I sign, all who examine this document in years to come will say, ‘Lincoln hesitated.’ ”

Finally, he took the pen up again, and with slow, deliberate strokes, he wrote, “Abraham Lincoln.” Then he nodded to Seward and said, “That will do.”

Abraham Lincoln personally visited encampments and hospitals to encourage the soldiers and comfort the wounded. In late 1864, the town of City Point, Virginia, served as the Union headquarters during the Siege of Petersburg. Dr. Jerome Walker was the administrator of the Union hospital at City Point, and he guided the president around the hospital wards occupied by Union soldiers. The president took time with each soldier, shaking hands and offering a word of thanks and encouragement.

Then they came to a ward filled with wounded Confederates. “Mr. President,” Dr. Walker said, “there’s no need to go in there. They’re only rebels.”

“You mean
Confederates
,” Lincoln said. “I’d like to meet them.”

Feeling chastened, Dr. Walker took the president in to meet the wounded Confederates. Lincoln was as kind to the enemy soldiers as he had been to the Union soldiers. He shook their hands, asked them about their families, and treated them as if they were his very own men.

Dr. Walker later said he never again referred to Confederate soldiers as “rebels,” and he never forgot President Lincoln’s kindness to all the men in his hospital.
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As a leader with a serving heart, Lincoln had enormous sympathy and compassion for human failings. For example, his heart went out to a young army private named William Scott. After a long march, Private Scott had volunteered to stand watch on the picket, taking the place of a sick comrade.

But exhaustion overtook Private Scott, and he was caught sleeping on duty. Private Scott was court-martialed and sentenced to execution by firing squad. It was a harsh punishment, but the enemy was nearby, and Private Scott had placed his entire company in danger.

President Lincoln personally went to the army camp near Chain Bridge, on the Potomac River, and asked to see Private Scott. It was the day before the private’s scheduled execution.

The moment the tent flaps parted and President Lincoln entered, Private Scott felt afraid. But as President Lincoln spoke to him, the young man’s fears melted. Lincoln asked Private Scott about his family, his neighbors, his mother—and about the night he slept on duty. “A young man should always make his mother proud,” Lincoln said, “and never cause her sorrow.”

“Yes, sir,” Private Scott said.

“My boy,” Lincoln said, “look me in the face. I believe you when you tell me that you could not keep awake. I am going to trust you, and send you back to your regiment. But I have been put to a good deal of trouble on your account. I have had to come up here from Washington when I have got a great deal to do. How are you going to pay my bill?”