I finished “Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln” by Doris Kerns Goodwin the other
day. Goodwin does a good job of showing
the political wisdom of Abraham Lincoln.
As you probably already know, Abraham Lincoln is one of my
heroes and this book points out that he could find ways to work through
adversity and build relationships with rivals and political enemies.
One of Lincoln’s most amazing attributes was his ability to
forgive past affronts and continue to work with those who insulted and at times even betrayed him. Some of these affronts
took place years before Lincoln’s rise to national prominence while others took
place while he was president. In both
cases, Lincoln chose to overlook them and continue to work with these
individuals to get the job done.
In the end, many of those rivals that he chose to be closest
to him in his White House years would become the closest and most trusted of
friends.
Lincoln’s special ability was being able to forgive and work
with rivals for the good of everyone. This ability, more than any other,
enabled him to accomplish great things in very difficult times.
Lincoln’s ability to be magnanimous amazed those around him
even as it amazes us today. It is
difficult for us to understand, let alone to duplicate.
Imagine what our world would be like if we had leaders who
would be able to put aside differences, past insults and defeats and work
together for the good of everyone.
But can we really put that kind of expectation upon others if
we were not willing to expect the same out of ourselves?
The change we need is one of people being willing to
understand the human faults and frailties of ourselves and others, forgive one another and work together
for the good of all.
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