Tuesday, February 05, 2008
Lincoln
I enjoy reading biographies. One of my life projects is to read a biography of every American president: I’ve started with the giants whose lives are fascinating and accomplishments universally admired, such as Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln. The ability of the last to bring together people with strong wills and different viewpoints, during a time of great crisis, offers many insights into leadership.
The historian Doris Kearns Goodwin wrote a popular article about Lincoln in which she recounts a number of episodes for didactic purposes. I try to bear in mind a pair in particular. Goodwin said the following.
Lincoln’s Secretary, John Hay, described the mental torture of waiting for an hour with Secretary of State Seward and Lincoln in George McClellan’s house for the general to return from a wedding. When McClellan finally did come back, he simply passed the room in which the President was sitting; another half an hour went by before a servant informed Lincoln that McClellan had gone to bed. Young John Hay was enraged. “I wish here to record what I consider a portent of evil to come,” he wrote in his diary as he recounted the story of what he considered an inexcusable “insolence of epaulettes.” To Hay’s surprise, Lincoln “seemed not to have noticed it specially, saying it was better at this time not to be making points of etiquette & personal dignity.”
Another story is told of the time when a Congressman had received Lincoln’s authorization for something to be carried out by the War Department. When War Secretary Stanton refused to honor the order, the disappointed petitioner returned to Lincoln, telling him that Stanton had not only countermanded the order but had called the President a damn fool for issuing it. “Did Stanton say I was a damn fool?” Lincoln asked. “He did, sir, and repeated it.” At which point, the President remarked, “If Stanton said I was a damn fool, then I must be one, for he is nearly always right and generally says what he means. I will step over and see him.”
These two stories, even if apocryphal, set a high standard for anyone who holds authority. Of course, Lincoln was no weakling. For in most cases, because of his skills including his own self-restraint, he was able to turn his vision into reality.
