A Great Man A Better President Analysis

Submitted By ethanpope513
Words: 664
Pages: 3
Open Document
Ethan Pope
Mr. Gooden
Survey of History to 1877
2 December 2014
A Great Man, a Better President James McPherson’s We Cannot Escape History: Lincoln and the Last Best Hope of Earth is an excellent narrative about the difficult situation when Abraham Lincoln became president. No president of the United States has ever taken office under harder circumstances than Abraham Lincoln. By the time of his inauguration day, a majority of the South had already seceded. And, he had neither the support nor the confidence of the North. To most Americans, Lincoln was relatively unknown. His unsophisticated image caused him to be misunderstood by his opponents and staff. General McClellan described Lincoln as “looking like a buffoon” and the abolitionist Wendall Phillips described Lincoln as a “first-rate, second-rate man waiting like any other servant for the people to come and send him on any errand they wish.” These people would soon realize how much they underestimated Lincoln. On the surface, Lincoln appeared to be a man of contradiction. For example, he was against slavery, but was hesitant to free slaves. He was a loyal supporter of the Constitution, yet he suspended the habeas corpus. These contradictions are part of Lincoln’s personality. He maintained high ideals yet kept practical goals. For instance, when there were a large number of spies and secessionists living in Maryland, Lincoln responded by extending the habeas corpus. He also delayed issuing the Emancipation Proclamation until the time was right to aid him politically and in the war effort. Lincoln’s cautious way of handling political affairs was viewed as passive. Rather than acting on events, he preferred to respond, declaring that “I claim not to have controlled events, but confess plainly that events have controlled me.” One of Lincoln’s best abilities was to assess the situation before taking action. This was difficult since he was constantly pressured to take control. Alexander McClure, one of Lincoln’s friends, said it well, “Lincoln possessed the quality of good judgment to wait the fullness of time for all things.” This cautious approach became one of Lincoln’s greatest strengths, but also one of his greatest weaknesses. When he issued the Emancipation Proclamation at the most effective moment, this careful policy was essential. On the other hand, when Lincoln was patient, he held off on dismissing unskilled commanders. When Lincoln came to Washington, he had one other disadvantage. He had to assume the role as commander in chief with very little knowledge of military affairs. At the start of the Civil War, he relied on a counsel
Show More

Related Documents: A Great Man A Better President Analysis

Book Report

Gifted-Second block Related Arts Trudging heavily against the concrete Jasmine was determined to find the book that whispered so atrociously in her ear. Since, school was over for the day she decided to visit the library which she had heard the unspeakable voice of terror unleash into her ears. Treading tediously to the library she hoped that the anonymous voice of the book was just a deceitful trickery her brain had played on her. Approaching the library Jasmine gasped in incredulity ,the…

Words 384 - Pages 2

Book Report

March 27,1944:My name is Boaz I’m 19 I’ve been taken from Warsaw Poland my home, or was till the Nazi invaded. I don’t know why they hate is it because I don’t have blond hair and blue eyes. I finally made it to the “Train station” but it’s only the beginning of the end. I watch family’s get separated just then a young kid run to his father only to get rip in half by a mg-42 it is the first time I saw someone die. April 2:My only job here is to clean up after the German picking up body and burning…

Words 358 - Pages 2

The Book Thief Book Report

The Book Thief Belongs The Book Thief describes the struggle of identity between German and Jewish people during the time period of the Holocaust. Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Germany oppresses the Jewish race, believing that they are inferior to his “pure Aryan race” which leads to a genocide of Jews and other members of society. The Book Thief centers around a young girl, Liesel Meminger, who lives in Germany. She develops an exquisite love for literature and risks her life to be able to read. Also, Liesel…

Words 767 - Pages 4

Book Report Essay

Book Report Farhan Ali Title: Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Sea of Monster Author: Rick Riordan Setting New York, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Florida, Miami, The Bermuda Triangle. Present day. Main Characters Percy Jackson: Caring, Courageous, Sarcastic Annabeth: Smart, Wise, Pretty Tyson: Shy, Strong, Babyish Grover: Afraid, Distressed, Coward Clarisse: Bossy, Disrespectful, Impolite Chiron: Tall, Encouraging, Mature Luke: Evil, Cold-hearted, Hateful Thalia: Kind, Friendly, Brave Summary Percy Jackson…

Words 432 - Pages 2

Book Report Essay

The Burn Journals – Nonfiction Book Report PRECIS: In The Burn Journals (2004), Brent Runyon expresses the innermost feelings of his life and details the progress of his struggle against depression. In his memoirs, Runyon details past experiences in order to show that no matter what difficulties and hardships life may send your way, you can always find support. His audience is directed towards mainly teenagers, but the lessons within his experiences can be easily relatable to anyone. Runyon creates…

Words 1129 - Pages 5

Book Report Essays

Book Report Mengwei Li Differentiate or Die is the book I chose to read. The reason that I chose this book is the eye-catching title. It is obviously that this book is a single concept book. Single concept book in marketing area usually is too extreme, but this book shows readers its concept through a large number of real world examples. Those examples do support the main idea of this book: if a brand or a product wants to survive in this competitive world, it must create an identity different than…

Words 1010 - Pages 5

Essay on Book Report

Lead for God’s Sake Book Report Alice Robinson Lamar University Table of Contents Foreword by Urban Meyer Chapter 1 – The Need to Lead Chapter 2 – The Good Life Chapter 3 – Missing Something Chapter 4 – Priorities Chapter 5 – Get Outta Here Chapter 6 – Sharing Rock Bottom Chapter 7 – Mondays with Joe Chapter 8 – The Ride Continues Chapter 9 – From the Inside Out Chapter 10 – The Real Reason Chapter 11 – Listening to Hear Chapter 12 – First Things First Chapter 13 – Searching…

Words 1884 - Pages 8

Book Report Hatchet

Hatchet Book Report The book Hatchet by Gary Paulsen has a few characters and each character has affected the protagonist Brian Robenson in some way. His mother and father split because of the secret, and only Brian and his mom know the reason why she had the divorce. Brian saw his mom cheat on his dad with another man which was the secret but his mom didn’t know that he knew the secret. Brian is going into a plane to go visit his dad in Canada but, sooner than later the pilot died, the plane is…

Words 736 - Pages 3

The Congo Book Report

Casement became a human rights activist and surveyed the actions of King Leopold’s own personal army, the Force Publique, to discern the situation in his colony. The report is a journal of the interviews he collected while he was investigating the situation, and sheds light on the horrendous activities the army was engaged in. Through these journals, Casement was able to discern how and why the Congolese were tortured…

Words 1100 - Pages 5

Eragon Book Report

Christopher Magaña 9/19/2012 P.5 Book report #2 1. Write down the : a. Name of the book (Underlined) Eragon B. Author Christopher Paolini C. Number of Pages 754 D. Publication Company Random House inc. E. Date of publication October 2006 2. Give a short description of the setting The 15 year old resident of Carvahall, Eragon, starts the book by finding a strange blue stone while traversing The Spine, a mountainous area outside his home. The world in which…

Words 1165 - Pages 5