The Legacy Of Abraham Lincoln

April 15, 1865 was a highly anticipated evening at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. President Abraham Lincoln, along with Vice President Andrew Johnson and Secretary of State William Seward were scheduled to attend a showing of Our American Cousin. This enjoyable gathering soon turned to tragedy for the American leaders. In the middle of the performance, shots were fired and blood was shed while the unassuming audience sat oblivious to the events unfolding. John Wilkes Booth executed his scheme to assassinate President Lincoln, one of the most important and influential men in American history, who inspired the masses with his unexpected rise to power.

Abraham Lincoln is by far our most revered president in the history of the United States. He had a strong moral vision of where his country must go to preserve and enlarge the rights of all her people, but he was also a good man with a strong sense of character and a great discipline in the art of law; and he sought to continue the great and mighty legacy of the Constitution. He believed that the Founding Fathers had drawn up the Constitution without the mention of slavery because they felt that it would later die of a natural death. He would soon learn that that would not be the case.

"So when Lincoln suspended the writ of Habeas corpus in order to arrest those accused of treason, the "Peace Democrats" had more ammunition against the president. There was much controversy as to whether the president had the power to suspend habaes corpus, and it was argued that only Congress had that right. The writ of habeas corpus protects people from arbitrary arrest and detainment. The power to do so was both that of the legislative branch as well as the judicial branch. It was unclear whether the Philadelphia convention placed it in Article I, just to identify it or define it as a legislative function. Either way, Lincoln did so, and the suspension of the writ of Habeas corpus brought on thousands of arbitrary arrests. Many of those who were arrested were spies, foreigners and smugglers. The question is: Did Lincoln go too far and unlawfully exercise his executive powers to manipulate constitutional limits?

It is hard not to agree with David Herbert Donald in his biography of Abraham Lincoln. He does his best to not give his professional opinion of anything and only writes about the topics from which he has proof of. The main ideas that the author has throughout the text is greatly supported with Lincoln’s own papers and from written first-hand accounts of his generation. Donald accounts for the changes of position on slavery and the equality of blacks throughout his presidency. I think that this book is a great depiction of Abrahams Lincoln’s life.

Across time, political leaders have often been remembered for their greatness by how they faced challenges than with what particular skills or abilities they had during their time in office. This statement is known to be true as political leaders are often expected to solve certain issues or challenges when in office and if their contributions benefit the state or country. Additionally, history books, records, and scholarly journals will take note of a leader’s response to challenges, how they are handled, and if the issue is solved more than whether they adequately used certain skills and abilities to solve the problem. In short, challenges, when faced, allow the political leaders to be remembered more so than their talents.

President Abraham Lincoln was one of the most honest and most popular of all of the presidents. For a large part of that presidency, however, he was only president of half of the country due to the nature of the American Civil War. Throughout his time in office, he was able to deliver many great speeches, of which include the Emancipation Proclamation and the Gettysburg Address. In both of these orations, he uses primarily uses ethical appeals to assist in the deliverance of and strengthen the main themes.

Even though Abraham Lincoln was considered to be one of America’s greatest presidents, Hofstadter challenges that idea. Hofstadter also states that Lincoln was an advocate for the common man and believed in simplicity. – “It was precisely in his attainments as a common man that Lincoln felt himself to be remarkable, and in this light that he interpreted to the world the significance of his career.” Lincoln struggled with many conflicts as president. The most significant conflict that Hofstadter presents is the conflict of his balancing his religious beliefs and ultimate goals of becoming successful. “The motivating force in the mythology of success is ambition, which is closely akin to the cardinal Christian sin of pride… How can an earnest man, a public figure living in a time of crisis, gratify his aspirations and yet remain morally whole? “He believes that making him known to be the “clean hero” was completely outlandish. Hofstadter’s biggest criticism about Lincoln is that “he was a follower and not a leader of public opinion.” One major example was the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, which stated that “contained no indictment of slavery, … expressly omitted the loyal slave states from its terms … [and] did not in fact free any slaves.” Hofstadter also criticizes Lincoln’s “embarrassing contradictions” when it came to the topic of slavery, where in a Chicago speech he presented he said

In The Real Lincoln by Thomas DiLorenzo he writes that Lincoln was a dictator, flagrantly violated constitutional freedoms, violated civil liberties, justified his actions by its necessity of the war, and permitted because of war powers that are never clearly defined except putting down rebellion, the real motive was to centralize power under his dictatorship government. While he was president, Lincoln committed numerous violations of civil liberties including the suspension of habeas corpus, instituting martial law, using military tribunals for civilian trials, suppressing free elections, interfering with state legislatures, engaging in a war without the consent of congress, blockading southern ports, censoring telegraphs and newspapers, authorizing a mass execution of natives in a Sioux uprising in Minnesota. In Lincoln’s Constitution, Daniel Farber,

Chapter six tries to answer those who might believe Lincoln to be a dictator. The Constitution of the United States was a document cherished by many. The nation’s founders believed in liberty and truth. Lincoln’s actions did not support the ideals of some important figures. His unconstitutional choices made many people question his loyalty to the land.

Lincoln states, “Both read the same bible” and “pray to the same God”, is interpreting that both the North and the South shared similar beliefs, such as the bible and God, that there is only one God that the people worship. Lincoln then goes off and says “woe unto the world because of offenses… but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh.” He has now made a reference to the bible, that the nation is now corrupt and is doing wrong, which later also stating that “American slavery” is the reason America has become this way. By referring back to the bible, what many people know, love and live their lives from what it says really touches the people emotions and makes them believe of the wrong that they have caused.

Or was one of the most respected presidents out for his own personal gain. And there are no pictures in the book just charts throughout the book to show the facts about something that the author is trying to say. This book is organized very well it seems to go chronologically throughout the book. It is separated by chapters each telling something about Lincoln’s presidency such as racial equality, emancipation, during and after the war.

Was born on February 12,1809 in the Hodgenville Kentucky. He was killed by John Wilkes booth on April 15,1865,Good Friday, at the age of 56. Abe had 2 siblings ,1 sister and 1 brother, and had 4 kids with his wife Mary Todd Lincoln. He served as a president for 2 years and faced reelection in 1864. Although he only had 3 months of military service he led the United States through the civil war. His sister Sarah died at the age of 20 and his brother didn’t live for more than 3 days. Not only was Abe a president and a war hero but he also was a lawyer. He was the 16th president and he was a republican.

The critical review from the chicago times says that Lincoln insulted the dead, but does not do that in any way, quite the opposite he honors both sides and says that they both advanced the cause that they believed in.

Abraham Lincoln is by far our most revered president in the history of the United States. He had a strong moral vision of where his country must go to preserve and enlarge the rights of all her people, but he was also a good man with a strong sense of character and a great discipline in the art of law; and he sought to continue the great and mighty legacy of the Constitution. He believed that the Founding Fathers had drawn up the Constitution without the mention of slavery because they felt that it would later die of a natural death. He would soon learn that that would not be the case.

But it is important to see that his First Inaugural Address was given in March of 1861, already after the Southern states had succeded from the nation. What Lincoln was trying to accomplish was to return the Southern states to the union. Lincoln even goes as far as notifying the South that certain Legislatures have been passed to ensure their state rights, and the constitutionalism of slavery, “holding such a provision to now be implied constitutional law,” and that “(he) has no objection to its being made express and irrevocable.” (Majewski, pg. 75). Also, in a letter to Horace