The publishing of those debates greatly improved his visibility and he began to receive invitations to speak at Republican gatherings. Goodwin explains that he gave speeches in Wisconsin, Indiana, Kansas, Iowa and Ohio in the four months between August and December 1859.
It is not true that Obama published books to emulate the Lincoln success story albeit Obama's books Dreams From My Father and The Audacity of Hope certainly helped drive interest him as a candidate. Here was Obama, an unlikely candidate who hitherto was a first term U.S. Senator from Illinois and not well-known outside Washington D.C. And Illinois. Again, a link to Lincoln emerges from the literature.
The Janesville Gazette reported "The high order of [his] intellect left a permanent impact upon his listeners, who would remember his tall, gaunt form" and his "points and his hits" for "many a day" (Goodwin, p. 224). There is little doubt -- except perhaps by those who attacked Obama during the campaigns as a "community organizer" who was unworthy of the presidency -- that Obama's intellect and soaring rhetoric made the same kind of impression on his audiences in 2007-2008 as Lincoln did in 1859-1860.
In summary, Professor Winter asserts that it is difficult to study the motives of political leaders -- because they are not readily accessible to researchers -- but he believes that psychologists can assess a politician's motives by studying speeches, interviews, letters and other writings. Winter embraces the idea that there are three motives that drive a political leader: power, achievement and affiliation. In his essay Winter explains that power-motivated politicians exhibit behaviors that seek "impact" and "prestige"; if the individual is "high in responsibility" the power he seeks is "pro-social and involves successful leadership" (p. 26). Power-motivation certainly seems to fit the personalities of Lincoln and Obama.
Lincoln's Campaign Style
To fully understand the measure of a man running for high office, examining his style of campaigning is a good beginning. In the presidential campaign, Lincoln showed tremendous skill and patience in his oratory, since he was running at a time when the nation was about to be torn apart by civil war. Instead of telling his audiences what they might want to hear in Cincinnati, Ohio, Lincoln told Kentuckians -- who had crossed the Ohio River to listen to him -- that he thought they (meaning Southerners) "…are as gallant and as brave men as live" (Goodwin, p. 225). But, he went on, "man for man, you are not better than we are and there are not so many of you as there are of us. You will never make much of a hand at whipping us" (Goodwin, p. 225).
The audacity of Lincoln's remarks -- even in hindsight some one hundred and fifty years later -- seemed to make people even more interested in him. He went on: "If we were fewer in numbers than you, I think that you could whip us; if we were equal it would likely be a drawn battle; but being inferior in numbers, you will make nothing by attempting to master us" (Goodwin, p. 225). The following day the Cincinnati Gazette reviewed his speech with glowing narrative. For example, the paper said the speech was "…an effort remarkable for its clear statement, powerful argument and massive common sense" (Goodwin, p. 225). Here is an obvious example of Lincoln's use of charisma to help drive his goals, and he was "unconstrained by situational pressures" -- again, demonstrating achievement-motivated leadership.
The Gazette went on: His speech was possessed "…of such dignity and power as to have impressed some of our ablest lawyers with the conclusion that it was superior to any political effort they had ever heard" (Goodwin, p. 225). The growth of Lincoln's popularity was such that at some point in the campaign he became a "national spokesman for the fledgling Republican Party" and in doing so, he was able to put out some fires that were building in the party in Massachusetts. Indeed, an anti-immigrant movement received Lincoln's attention. He wrote to Schuyler Colfax (Speaker of the House of Representatives at that time) that those fostering the anti-immigrant movement "failed to see that tilting against foreigners would ruin us in the whole North-West" (Goodwin, p. 226).
Not only that, Lincoln went on, if Ohio and New Hampshire tried...
Leader Analysis: Abraham LincolnBackgroundAbraham Lincoln came from humble origins: he was not born into a wealthy aristocratic family like so many of this nation�s presidents. Rather, he was born on a Kentucky farm in 1809, and was largely self-educated. He had few books to help him on his way, but after learning to read he used the Bible as his main reference source, and it instilled in him a sense
He says that Fremont has left himself isolated by not allowing others to communicate with him and he is therefore unable to make good decisions, because he doesn't know what is going on around him. (13) Leaders I have met emulate Lincoln in their humor, honesty and open door policies, and those who have made the greatest impression on me have; left me feeling as if I had known
This is a very good example to get a clear idea of what kind of people Level 5 leaders are. They are inspirational because they are good human beings, modest and humble, yet very willful at the same time. A possible successor to Executive A, Executive B, exhibits more of a Transactional type of leadership. Transactional leaders believe that there is an association between effort and reward. These types of
Abraham Lincoln Leadership can be defined as "a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal" (Northouse, 2011, p. 6). A great leader, therefore, has the ability to get his subordinates working together towards the achievement of a common vision. To this end, the world has had countless leaders who can be termed 'great' on their various platforms. Abraham Lincoln, however, stands out; not only
Abraham Lincoln was born in a log cabin on February 12, 1809 in Hardin County, Kentucky. From these humble beginnings the first born son of Thomas, an uneducated farmer, and Nancy Hanks, Lincoln would grow to become the 16th President of the United States. In 1997 William Riding Jr. And Stuart B. McIver asked a group of 719 professors, elected officials, historians, attorneys, authors and other professionals to rate the presidents.
Grant possessed in superb degree the ability to think of the war in overall terms, however his grand plan of operations that ended the war was at least partly Lincoln's in concept (Williams). Grant conformed his strategy to Lincoln's known ideas: "hit the Confederacy from all sides with pulverizing blows and make enemy armies, not cities, his main objective" (Williams). Grant submitted the broad outlines of his plan to
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now