Hunter Anderson
Dr. Fairhurst
Leadership Communication 4008
8 December 2015
Lincoln Essay The year is 1865 and the Civil War death toll has risen just over six-hundred-thousand men. The freedoms sought out by our nation’s founders, now jeopardized by the secession of eleven states from the Union. The fate of The United States of America now laid upon the broad shoulders of our nations sixteenth commander-in-chief, President Abraham Lincoln. In a term marked by the burden of complete social upheaval, Abraham Lincoln was our nation’s foremost leader. The lawyer from Illinois navigated the only internal war in American history by embodying the principals taught by Professor Grint, utilizing a model of distributed leadership to gather
In order to combat this result, President Lincoln employs the aid of Republican Francis Preston Blair and Secretary of State William Seward. Lincoln coincides with multiple models of collaboration evident in Share, Don’t Take The Lead in his use of shared leadership to push the thirteenth amendment through congress. Francis Preston Blair is a founder of the Republican party and holds great influence over the western and border states conservative Republican faction. By maximizing his pool of talent, Lincoln has allowed for members within his congress to lead / influence one another in order to gain the votes necessary, one of the many strengths of shared leadership illustrated in the book. Secretary of State William Seward is also a strong model of collaboration evident in President Lincoln’s administration for his notable improvisations. William Seward is a former rival of Abraham Lincolns who accepts the appointment of Secretary of State after his electoral defeat. Lincoln further displays how his style of unorthodox methods is genius when Seward devises a way to influence the sitting lame-duck Democrats to vote in favor of the amendment by offering them employment within federal jobs. President Lincoln understood that his political rivals shared mutual goals, knowledge, and respect for one another, which is why he