Against the Odds for Justice: Walter White and the Fight Against Slavery - Abraham Lincoln

We like to think that all presidents of the United States have been truly great people and of course, it takes a special individual to handle the awesome responsibilities of the presidency.One of the unique and great things about the American system of government is the concept of citizen leadership.It is the idea of an ordinary citizen rising up and becoming president for a while and then returning to private life.

However, of the handful of people who have held the office, only a few stand out for their outstanding achievements and leadership at a time that changed this country forever.And one of those truly great presidents was Abraham Lincoln.Perhaps more than any other president, Lincoln had to handle an internal civil war that was more than just shouting and name-calling.This was a dispute that could have split the country in two and started a schism that could have resulted in dozens of small, weak, independent states instead of the powerful nation we know as America today.

It was Lincoln's leadership, his commitment to values and his strong morality that allowed America to find its way through the war and then begin the healing process that would eventually bring the nation back together.Lincoln's tenure from 1860 until his death was one of considerable challenge.Had he only faced the problem of dealing with the southern states' attempts to secede from the union and his ability to keep those states as part of the American national territory, he would have been hailed as a great American.

One little-known leadership style that Lincoln used to his advantage in his presidential organization was the appointment of talented national figures from opposing political parties to be part of his cabinet.Lincoln felt that he needed to have close advisors from opposing viewpoints to keep his presidency from being isolated from the American people and one-sided.By gathering loyal opposition members into his inner circle of trust, Lincoln always knew both sides of every issue which made him a stronger leader.

However, that is not his greatest achievement or what we remember most.His bold and unchanging opposition to slavery is undoubtedly his greatest contribution to American history as well as world history.When he was willing to risk everything to stop this barbaric social sin, Lincoln took a stand, going against the popular opinion at the time which in many cases said that he would be the one to end slavery.

It was not a stance that came without a cost.The Civil War was one of the bloodiest and costliest wars in the nation's history, if for no other reason than the massive loss of life; on both sides, there were American casualties.It took decades to repair the damage of that terrible war.The divide between north and south continued for decades and is still a part of our national personality in this country.

But the end result was what Lincoln wanted as his legacy.By issuing the Emancipation Proclamation to permanently end slavery, Lincoln followed it up by passing the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments that made permanent the freedoms that had been so hard fought for and won in the Civil War.  

The freedoms won by so many black Americans in that war permanently enshrined the memory of Abraham Lincoln as one of the greatest presidents in the hearts and minds of all Americans.It's no wonder that the monument in his honor on Washington's national mall is one of the most revered places in the country and visited by thousands every year to pay tribute to the great president who made freedom and independence a reality for all Americans, not just a few.And his face on Mount Rushmore is so fitting that the mountain itself screams, here is one of the greatest leaders in the history of this great country.