Two of the most influential presidents the United States has ever known have been Abraham Lincoln and Barrack Obama. These men faced great adversity in their race for, and time in, the presidency. The fact that they were in office roughly 150 years apart has little to do with the opposition that they faced. The people of the United States have shown their division over these two men perhaps more than any other president that has ever been in office. In this paper I will be discussing the ways in which the two are different as well as their many likenesses. I will also go into great detail of how the American citizens felt about them in their respective time periods. This paper will be a look at two men that in my opinion have been wise beyond their years and had thoughts and strategic plans for a better America. Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president of the United States. He ran for office during a time that our country was divided over the issue of slavery. The people of the northern states were very much in favor of Lincoln and his plans to end this great injustice. The people of the south however, wanted nothing more than to squash Lincoln’s campaign for the presidency in its tracks. They very much despised the man that he was and the things that he stood for. The southern states were dependent upon agriculture, such as cotton and tobacco. Slaves were the workforces behind cultivating these crops. The wealthy influential plantation/slave owners of the south wanted nothing more than to preserve their way of life, with no regard for the fact that it was a wrong and very cruel existence. The northern states were mainly industrialized. They were heavily populated and very much in favor of
2

progress. These states on a whole wanted slavery abolished. This in no way means that the northern citizens didn’t have racist views and feel that African Americans were second-class citizens, but they were against the practice of slavery. Mainly because it didn’t really benefit them, not necessarily because they felt it was wrong. Lincoln was elected president in 1860. He achieved this by winning the northern and western states. He actually received wins in only two of 996 counties in the south. It was however enough and he went into office with the goal of “change”. Within a few months of the election results the strenuously disapproving states of the south began to succeed from the U.S. This resulted in other pro- slave states following suit, and before long the country was divided. The south claimed itself an independent nation and began forming its own governing body with its own appointed president. Tensions began to grow and were soon at a boiling point that would become the Civil War. Lincoln endured many death threats, as well as, other acts of violence and was eventually assassinated, though throughout his tenure as leader he was unwavering in his fight for the abolishment of slavery in what became known as the free world. He is viewed as one of the most important and influential figures in American history. Barrack Obama is the 44th president of the United States and the first African American. From the beginning of his road to the presidency he faced strong opposition from a country that once was again divided. It had been just under 150 3 years since the Civil War, but it became clear that our country was still very much at war with racism. Our country was in utter turmoil when Obama took office. He inherited from his predecessor an economy that was staring another great depression in the face. Our national debt was at an all time high and spending continued to be on rise. We were in the midst of a war on the other side of the world and on the home-front unemployment was rapidly increasing. Like Lincoln, Obama was and is to this day a man that stands for “change”. He vowed to bring home American soldiers, increase employment opportunities and aid a struggling