Political Leadership in the Civil War

A detailed Summary of Political Leadership in the Civil War

President Abraham Lincoln once said "You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can't fool all of the people all of the time" (Degregorio 243). This quote refers to the fact that Lincoln was a politician who could easily relate to his public. A political figure who can relate to his public with ease is one that shows exceptional leadership. The North defeated the South in the Civil War chiefly due to superior political leadership.

Lincoln, as leader of the Union, had a great ability to mold public opinion. This was important because it was essential for Lincoln to have the public support the war effort. Lincoln knew that he had to take action because that was what the people wanted to see; results (Beringer 6-7). General McClellan had a way of conducting his army that Lincoln thought was overcautious (Degregorio 240). Lincoln accused McClellan of having the "slows" (not being able to take decisive action) and replaced him with General A. E. Burnside (Bailey, Kennedy 472). Lincoln did this because he saw that McClellan was taking too long to provide results whereas other army commanders, such as Grant in the west, were definitively winning battles.

, Lincoln made political decisions for the sole purpose of successfully conducting the war. An example of this being the suspension of the Writ of Habeas Corpus. Although it was unconstitutional for Lincoln himself to do this (Appendix A), he knew that it was necessary to keep the Union war effort intact. Another example of Lincoln making an important decision without proper consent of Congress was when he chose private citizens to spend public money for arms and military preparations (Madaras 345). While these decisions could be subject to criticism, the fact that he made these decisions just for the purpose of helping win the war shows that Lincoln was not afraid of doing what ever it took to reach his ultimate goal. This particular characteristic is demonstrative of

joke. For example, when someone once told him that Secretary of State Stanton had called him a fool, Lincoln smiled and responded, "Then I must be a fool because Secretary Stanton is rarely wrong" (Beringer 178). This relaxing personality that Lincoln possessed is a very valuable tool for running a country, especially in wartime. This is because, if a

Jefferson Davis, leader of the Confederacy, experienced many problems relating to his ability as a political leader. He lacked many of the qualities that made Lincoln such an esteemed leader. It became increasingly clear that the majority of Southern population was losing confidence in their President. The Confederacy was losing key battles, and because of the naval blockade

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Approximate Word count = 1019
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History