RateItAll: The Opinion Network

Hard to make a case that crisis management and leadership was not part of Lincoln's skill set.

No president faced a bigger crisis during their term of office, and it is likely that few would have handled it as well.

For all the criticism that can be leveled at him for his methods, at times, he undeniably fulfills his oath of ooffice (particularly the "preserve the union" part) pretty well.

I do not rate Lincoln down for going to war, because war was an acknowledged means of making politics in his time. I refuse to call him a great crisis leader because he was unable to win a "normal" war against the South and allowed to escalate the Civil War into something that looks very much like the first modern total war.

WHAT ABOUT THE UNION WAS SO IMPORTANT THAT IT JUSTIFIED THIS HELL OF CARNAGE, DEVASTATION AND TERROR AGAINST CIVILIANS?

I liked Broodinghen's short but provocative analysis of Lincoln's leadership in the War of the Rebellion or the War of Northern Aggression, based upon your viewpoint.

War became total, at least in the Western Tradition, upon the emergence of governments dependent upon popular support, i. e. elections.

In the good old days, the kings could fight limited wars with limited means.

After the carnage of the Thirty Years War, 1618-1648, and the English Civil War, 1642-1651, both at first being fought on the basis of religion, the European Powers did not allow their armies to murder, massacre and pillage, at least as the ordinary course of events. Such still happened, but it was the exception.

Sherman's March to the Sea was really the preview of modern warfare. I guess we could call Uncle Billy Sherman a war criminal.

As the war went on, the will to win at any cost grew. That is the reason for the atrocities and war crimes in my opinion.

As to the Union, we don't realize it today, but the Union was something much more mystical in 1861-1865. There were hundreds of thousands and probably millions of people alive who either were participants in the American Revolution, immediate descendants of participants in the American Revolution or had talked in depth to participants in the American Revolution. I think that made a difference.

Held the nation together when it was all set to be split in 2.He was great.Only downside:He did suspend habeas corpus.

Not even close. The fate of the nation was at stake and dozens of stupid people giving him what they thought was terrific advice. It's Lincoln by a longshot and everyone else down on the list.

Abraham Lincoln will always be remembered for his love and kindness towards all people, no matter sex race and creed. He was the best president that ever lived...5 stars*****

We all have much to thank this president for. All races and all religions were excepted by this president who died for freedom for all.

He has to deserve the highest of ratings for the toughest job any president in the history of this country has had to do. I consider the Civil War the most difficult crisis ever faced by any president, including WWII by Roosevelt and Truman. Lincoln made tough decisions and managed to hold and bring this country back together.

No President in history faced as serious a crisis as Abraham Lincoln did during his four years in office. Immediately following his election, seven states left the Union and formed the Confederate States of America. Less than a month following his inuaugration, the Confederate Army and Navy launched an attack on Fort Sumter in South Carolina. With the surrender of Fort Sumter, the Civil War had begun. Lincoln immediately commissioned an army of 3 million. Lincoln made it clear that he desired to preserve the union, even if it meant going to war. Moral and Constitutional issues aside, Lincoln's wartime management was first class. He took a very active role in the war, frequently visiting soldier camps in the DC and Virginia area. He personally oversaw the development of the Anaconda strategy, which called for an encirclement of the south, and eventually, a naval blockade and invasion of the Confederacy. Lincoln realized that the war would be a long one, and despite the controversy that aroused, issued an order calling for the enlistment of black soldiers to fight for the Union cause. As a result, nearly 200,000 black men, nearly 80% of them former slaves, took up arms with the Union. Lincoln credited these brave men with turning the tide of the war. From the very beginning, Lincoln struggled to find the right generals. He appointed and replaced generals at a pace that most considered unwise. Nevertheless, he desired a commander who could win battles no matter what the cost. Disappointed with the popular General McClellan for not pursuing Lee's army after the Battle of Antietam, he fired him and replaced him with Ulysess S. Grant. Lincoln thought the Union victory at Antietam to be pointless because it allowed the Confederate forces to escape and fight another day. Following Grant's commission as commanding officer of Union forces, the Union experienced several great military triumphs. While seemingly keeping an extremely watchful eye on the war at home, Lincoln also kept a close watch on European powers from recognizing the Confederacy. His strategy of blockading the entire 3,500 shoreline of the Confederacy was designed to keep European powers from shipping supplies to the Confederacy. Following an incident in 1862 when two Confederate diplomats were captured on a British ship when U.S. forces raided the ship, England demanded their release and threatened to dispatch troops to Canada and prepare for war. Lincoln had no choice but to release the two men. Lincoln's prudent signing of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 was not so much a blow to the south as it was an effort to drum up European support. Indeed it did. As the Confederacy began to suffer numerous military defeats and the Union's cause was morally solidified with the Emancipation Proclamation, England and France espescially delcared neutrality in the war. In 1865, the defeated south surrendered just a week before Lincoln's assassination. Despite Lincoln's blatant overstepping of his constitutional boundaries as President (which I will discuss under another category), Lincoln's effective wartime management led to the two things which he desired most: the preservation of the Union and the abolition of slavery.