Lights from many Lamps-Unit 6
Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated for the second time on March 4, 1865. He had taken over the leadership of the country at a time of grave crisis and had given his best effort to maintaining and preserving the union.
“With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan-to-do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among our selves and wish all nations.” Abraham Lincoln, 1865
Lincoln’s strong statement “With malice toward none, with charity for all’, has a great influence, courage, humility, and love for his fellow man (Watson, 1951). He was very aware of the importance of faith and its role in the lives of Americans and used that knowledge to communicate more effectively with his people at that time. Lincoln believed that God’s hand was at work in the events that surrounded America during this turbulent time. There was no self-aggrandizement anywhere in his speech from Watson (1951) viewpoint; “the union was his main theme, his main interest, unbroken nation, firm in its loyalty and ideal” (p.205). He declared about his interest to reconcile the rebellious state and to rebuild the union he had sworn to preserve. The American Civil War provided a platform for Abraham Lincoln to demonstrate servant leadership. Lincoln’s servant leadership are the preservation of the Union and the freeing of the slaves.
Lincoln’s noble sentiment to a nation he loved was “appealing for peace and tolerance, for understanding, for an end to sectional bitterness and strife” (Watson, 1951, p.205). His eloquence of democracy and insistence that the Union was worth saving embody the ideals of “self-government” that all nations strive to achieve. Lincoln servant leadership style has two areas that I distinguished: The first area was sustainability and preserving the union, the second one is the revolutionization of his country, empowering and serving the greater good for most of his people. Lincoln’s aspiration to become president stemmed from his desire to serve his country.
References:
Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and practice, Seventh Edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. ISBN 971452203409
Watson, L.E. (1951). _Light from Many Lamps_. New York: Simon and Schuster