What makes lincoln a good president

Documentary records are scarce, so historians turn to personal recollections by people who knew Lincoln, some better than others—people Lincoln historian James G. Lincoln was our most eloquent president. Still, it is his actions by which he should be judged. The Gettysburg Address, his farewell speech to the people of Springfield, his condolence letter to Mrs.

Bixby, and his Second Inaugural address are considered among the greatest writings in western literature. Modern-day critics rightly point out that these words freed very few slaves at the time of their issuance in However, just as the Declaration of Independence did not free a single American, the Emancipation Proclamation established the basis upon which a war would be fought and freedom won.

All historical figures led nuanced lives, and those gray areas are important to acknowledge. Lincoln never owned slaves, but there are ambiguities in his personal views on race. And it is true that he approved the death sentences of 38 Native Americans, though he did so after he reviewed the trial records of Dakota Sioux who had been condemned to death after the Sioux Uprising in Minnesota.

In the end, he overturned the convictions and sentences of and allowed 38 sentences to stand. An Address on Abraham Lincoln. Eugenics as a New Creed. Religious Education and Contemporary Social Condit Knights of Columbus. What About Those Manifestations? The Bible at the Center of the Modern University.

Judgment on Eugenics Law. Shall the Fundamentalists Win? Again, Lincoln. Personal Reactions In Time of War. The Destiny of America. Racial Reforms and Reformers.

Aims and Objects of the Movement for Solution of t An Appeal to the Soul of White America. Inaugural Address Speech on the th Anniversary of the Declaration Niagara Movement Speech. The Philadelphia Negro. Lynch Law in America. Speech in the Senate on the Disenfranchisement of The Educational and Industrial Emancipation of the Industrial Education for the Negro. The Souls of Black Folk. State of the Union Address Part I First Inaugural Address National Association for the Advancement of Colore The Intellectuals and the Boston Mob.

Open Letters to Woodrow Wilson. Final Report on Negro Subversion. President Harding and Social Equality. Race Assimilation. The True Solution of the Negro Problem. Who and What is a Negro. Racial Ideals. The Name "Negro". Social Change and Reform. The Corruption of Municipal Politics. The Subjective Necessity of Social Settlements. Theodore Roosevelt to Lincoln Steffens.

Confession of Faith. Progressive Party Platform of Campaign Address in Scranton, Penn. What is Progress? Progressive Democracy. Lincoln as a Leader of Men. Buck v. Who is a Progressive? Letter to Robert Bacon. Foreign Policy. League of Nations Covenant. The Command of the Pacific. The Annexation of Hawaii. Garfield Chester A. Roosevelt Harry S. Truman Dwight D. Eisenhower John F.

Kennedy Lyndon B. Bush Bill Clinton George W. Help inform the discussion Support the Miller Center. University of Virginia Miller Center. Abraham Lincoln: Impact and Legacy. Breadcrumb U. Abraham Lincoln Essays Life in Brief. Life Before the Presidency.

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