Great Leader assignment - Essay Example

Lincoln was idealistic yet practical. Abraham Lincoln’s great skills in leadership showed in all his endeavors even as a member of the House of Representatives. As a great leader, Abraham Lincoln showed pure resolve when he decided that America should free all the slaves and save the Union. In the same way that America’s Founding Fathers did almost a hundred years before his time, Lincoln made a decision to free the people once more. In 1837, even before becoming president, Lincoln had already made it clear that he was against slavery.

In 1856, he even expressed opposition towards former President Franklin Pierce when the latter allowed Nebraska and Kansas to choose for themselves whether or not to adopt slavery. His led the opposition to slavery even when he was still a member of the House of Representatives. Moreover, despite his strong involvement in the slavery issue, Lincoln helped to pass bills that modernized the economy in the Pre-Civil War era, with bills that promoted the constructions of canals, banks and railroads, and those that regulated tariffs (“Abraham Lincoln,” Biography.com, 2014).

Although Lincoln was fighting against slavery when he was still a Congressman, he knew he would be more useful if he applied himself to practical aspects of the economy such as infrastructure. As a leader, Lincoln had the resolve and determination. When he became President, Lincoln’s skills in leadership were put to a great test and one which he passed with the victory of the Union during the Civil War. Even at the expense of around 24,000 American soldiers, Lincoln’s leadership showed in his great moral resolve to free the slaves at any cost.

The election of Jefferson Davis to the newly founded Confederacy was the blatant response of the South to Lincoln’s election to the presidency. Thus, in order not only to free the slaves but to save the Union and the integrity of