The vision of Abraham Lincoln for the United States was the key to his success and success of the country due to influence in several areas such as the economy, military and religion among others. His conservative Whig goal was meant to preserve the Union that allowed individuals like him to improve socially and to find psychological fulfillment. This worked out very well especially to the minority blacks who were slaves. The major contribution to the society at large was that the middle class desire was gradually transformed during the war into a larger democratic vision that sought equality for all (Williams, Pederson and Marsala 12). According to Williams, Pederson and Marsala (12) the stress on equality and human dignity reflected his frontier experience and the way he related to others in concrete terms.
McBride says that the economic ties that President Lincoln envisioned would unfold ever so painfully in the following century (15). By only strengthening the links between the United States and the black nations emerged throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries (McBride 15). President Abraham Lincoln created these links which had roots in the mission of United States political and business leaders to expand industrial military technologies as well as scientific investigation in these foreign lands.
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According to Guelzo says another contribution of Lincoln was in the economy by resorting to paper money which helped inflate the cost of living in the North by about 80% (381). It was noted that economy grew nonetheless even with the subtraction of the Southern states, the gross national product rose from $3.8 billion to $4 billion by 1864. This shows that President Abraham Lincoln had a tremendous effect on the growth of American economy during his period. Guelzo continues to say that the income tax passed by congress in the summer of 1861 had been a flat-rate 3 percent tax on all incomes over $800 a year (381). Its novelty was not in who was taxed since the average American annual income at mid-century stood at from $300 to $500 which was a direct tax on citizens by the federal government bypassing the states.
Simon & Holzer says that Abraham Lincoln has also been considered as an effective manager of war and military both as strategists and as a commander in chief (48). Lincoln had virtually no military background when he took office and indeed it is one of the measures of Lincoln’s genius that he could preside over a great war so successfully given his merger military background (Simon & Holzer, 48). The Lincoln Forum: rediscovering Abraham Lincoln noted that when he took office in March 1861 navies and naval matters were as foreign to him as Chinese politics maybe more so (49). As a result Lincoln is considered to be the one who presided over the development and deployment of the greatest national armada of the century one that would not be eclipsed in size or numbers until the First World War a half a century later.
To the society The Lincoln Forum: rediscovering Abraham Lincoln says that the president demonstrated once again the mental prowess to grasp new issues with instinctive understanding to embrace new ideas and new technologies (49). He also demonstrated willingness even an eagerness to seize upon common sense solutions to complicated problems (Simon & Holzer 49). Thurow (10) says that the speeches of Abraham Lincoln have been held to be the best expression of our democracy. It thus articulated that President Abraham Lincoln is considered to be the central figure of American politics and religion (Thurow, 10). Barton (22) says that Lincoln’s religion was more than his belief, his conjecture, his logical conclusion concerning particular doctrines which can only be appraised in connection with his life.
Boritt &Forness (129) further continues to say that Lincoln was very politic and very shrewd man in some particulars. This was because when he was speaking to a Christian he adapted himself to the Christian environment through politeness, courtesy and tender nerved man. Boritt &Forness also found out Lincolns speeches were political speeches but not political confessions. The significance of his part in both religion and politics is that Lincoln leads us not to religion but to political religion. For example Boritt &Forness says that the Gettysburg Address and the Second Inaugural are the speeches of Lincoln in which religious language is most apparent and pervasive (130). In this context we say that his speeches contain the most enduring reflections on American politics. Boritt &Forness thus says that Lincoln’s political religion must be understood in the context of his view of the central political success enjoyed by the American people (130).
He also helped people to understand that the central task of statesmanship was to maintain the loyalty of Americans to the principle that all men are created equal (Boritt &Forness 130). His views have helped the United States to assimilate different cultures and races. Boritt &Forness says that Lincoln thought the proposition that all men are created equal to be the foundation of popular morality; people did automatically indicate that to be effective it had to be embodied in a nation and gain the weight of public opinion hence our moral good was dependent upon a sound political order (131).
In conclusion, Williams, Pederson and Marsala say that Abraham Lincoln leadership has been praised over time in the history of the United States along with federalism as the two gifts of American democracy in the world (12). Lincoln’s leadership defies classification because it contained conservative and liberal values, active and passive elements and democratic ad autocratic tendencies. This on the other hand was integral n shaping the American leadership characteristics. Lincoln’s leadership emphasized on flexibility, although he was traditional conservative Whig he changed with the times, evolving into a prudent democrat. Studies show that Lincoln favored prudent solutions that sought to reconcile principle to circumstance. Williams, Pederson and Marsala (13) summarized that Lincolns character determined his leadership style which developed on the frontier and helped to create democratic environments in United States to develop fully.