American History

Abraham Lincoln was born in the year 1809 he became the sixteenth president of the United State at the time the country was in a crisis of civil war. He was a man who believed strongly and could defend anything provided it was of interest to the people. In the history of America, he is remembered as one of the greatest president since he was a down to earth leader, who never showed any form of discrimination to his subjects. He opposed slavery and civil war in America at the time, slavery was regarded as the major trade in entire Europe. He had the ability to entertain the crowd by cracking jokes and telling funny stories (Abraham, 1946). He was a fair minded lawyer who taught himself how to read. Even though he was a funny character, he never used to tell people more on his background, but a few months before he was nominated for presidency for his party, he roughly talked about his life, when he said

I was born Feb. 12, 1809, in Hardin County, Kentucky. My parents were both born in Virginia, of undistinguished families--second families, perhaps I should say. My mother, who died in my tenth year, was of a family of the name of Hanks.... My father ... removed from Kentucky to ... Indiana, in my eighth year.... It was a wild region, with many bears and other wild animals still in the woods. There I grew up.... Of course when I came of age I did not know much. Still somehow, I could read, write, and cipher ... but that was all (The White House, 2010, para 4).

Lincoln and the bible
Abraham Lincoln was a great reader who spent a lot of time reading the bible and translating the bible in real life situation. According to Abraham (1946), he was a realist who viewed the bible as a book that entailed traits of man, good and bad things and therefore defined it as the best gift God gave to man on earth. His love for the bible earned him a present from Joshua Speeds mother, his friend. Lincoln accepted the gift with a lot of passion and gratitude that showed that he loved it. Even though he might have had trouble in taking the bible as a literal truth, he had no problem in reading it.
 According to Sandburg (1939), his deep understanding of the scriptures, as a result of reading regularly from his youth time made many of his close friends consider him religious and in rare cases he was referred as Moses or Father Abraham in the bible since he was against slavery.

However, according to William (1959), he was a man who did not like talking of his past either about his family or his education. His desire to read scripture can be traced back in time when they were schooling. His close friend and former senator, by the name John Henderson, kept on reminding Lincoln of their school days, when they went to school, read the bible in turns and attended Sunday school where they could listen to the readings.

His Political life
 In 1858, when Lincoln was campaigning against Illinois Senator Stephen Douglas, he was criticized by Stephen that he was not perfect in quoting the bible but reacted intelligently by saying that if the Creator (God) whos the father in heaven is perfect therefore even the creatures themselves are perfect too. In his speech, Lincoln said,

My friend has said to me that I am a poor hand to quote Scripture. I will try it again, however. It is said in one of the admonitions of the Lord, As your Father in Heaven is perfect, be ye also perfect. The Savior, I suppose, did not expect that any human creature could be perfect as the Father in Heaven but He said, As your Father in Heaven is perfect, be ye also perfect. He set that up as a standard, and he who did most towards reaching that standard, attained the highest degree of moral perfection. So I say in relation to the principle that all men are created equal, let it be as nearly reached as we can (William, 1959, para 7).

This was a clear sign that he was more advanced in analyzing situations in relation to the scripturesverses and this earned him the highest degree in moral perfection full of honesty and integrity.

Public Speeches that entailed biblical references
In his public life as a politician, he referred to the bible and paraphrased the scriptures to fit with the situation or the condition of the matter. In fact, he acknowledged the bible to be the richest book in quotes and sayings that were relevant in real life situation he further argued that the bible being the supreme book with pertinent quotes, it should be used in settling disputes and understanding problems that are experienced in day to day life (Sandburg, 1939).

According to Shaw (1901), Lincoln responded to accusations using the bible scriptures, for instance when he was accused for appointing Alexander McClure, republican Pennsylvania leader, who was opposing his second time bid he responded to the critics that, despite the fact that Alexander McClure was opposed to his second bid, the bible gave him the scriptural authority to appoint him for the position hence silencing his critics.

He gave an example with the lord at Mt. Sinai when Aaron wronged God by worshipping false gods and goddesses and was again commissioned by the Lord hence it justified his appointment of Alexander. Lincoln knowledge on the bible was so thorough that his opponents had hard time attacking him on biblical grounds. He responded tactfully and referred to the chapters in the bible to defend his actions either politically or socially (Sandburg, 1939).

Biblical reference during the Second Inaugural Speech
Lincoln second inaugural speech made a lot of impact to the people of America, he began by expressing his concern on malice towards one another be it black or white, slave or free. He acknowledged Gods fairness to man and Gods ability to make people realize the right from wrong. Lincoln was also keen to give people hope in life and encouraged everyone to continue working hard in order to achieve the American dream. (Earl, 2002)

According to Earl (2002),his biblical quotes were so inspirational and reflected greatly to the people, during the second inaugural speech, he expressed his concern to the poor, vulnerable, widows, orphans and the his desire to see a peaceful state that was full of prosperity. His speech inspired majority who were hopeless and oppressed in the society, he gave a lot of hopes to the slaves who were being mistreated by their masters and was more concerned with the welfare of every individual in the society (Murphy, 1992).

Second Inauguration Speech
Even though the second inauguration speech was short as compared to the his first inauguration speech, it was well composed to cater for the interest of the citizen as it addressed several issues that were of importance to the community. According to Murphy (1992), Lincoln was a caring person who believed strongly on biblical teachings and doctrines and opposed the violation of human rights, just like the bible oppose and fronted the liberation of slaves in America.

The speech was delivered at the peek of civil war that led to massive killing of individuals and migration to safer places. His desire to ensure that everyone lived happily and harmoniously was seen when he wrote a letter to Mrs. Bixby, who lost two of her sons during the civil war though it was claimed that five of her sons were killed (Murphy, 1992).

Content of the letter
According to Burlingame (1995), the letter was brief and emotional, it was filed under the War Department statements and the content was more to do with patriotism and sympathy to Mrs. Bixby, for having lost five of her sons (according to the letter).Lincoln was a passionate leader and loved expressing himself in a more philosophical and religious manner to drive emotions of the people home in the letter he consoled the lady and prayed for further consolation from God.

However, in the last line, he acknowledged the costly sacrifice of Mrs. Bixbys sons to the state and showed his deep concern and pain towards the killing of her sons. The letter portrayed him for being caring, religious, patriotic and understanding leader, though some people claim the letter was written by John Hay one of his secretary. The speech was received by profound silence by the audience and theological context of the speech has been acknowledged by most people as being one of the best speeches in American history (Burlingame, 1995).

Leadership of Abraham Lincoln
There were numerous reasons to justify that Abraham Lincoln was the best leader and inspirational president in the entire history of American Presidents. This could be seen in his actions, character and in his speeches. He was an excellent man of vision who believed that the future could be better and the present was the foundation for a better tomorrow, even though he had a humble background of being a farmer he did not intended to be a farmer for life but desired for better life (Burlingame, 1995)..

This could also be said to be the reason why he was a social leader who spent time cracking jokes and telling hilarious stories to his supporters. According to Roy (1989), a good leader must be eloquent in expressing hisher idea to the people, Lincoln remained focused and was too keen to cite relevant examples both in crisis and peace, especially during the civil war period and emerged to be a perfect communicator as the sixteenth president of United States.

During his public address at Gettysburg, he delivered one of the best speeches in the history of America, he carefully crafted his speech and in a just two to three minutes he could come up with a very powerful speech concerning eminent issues such as inequality among the people or racial discrimination (Burlingame, 1995).

During Gettysburgs address, he invoked the feeling for the people by redefining for them the principles behind the attainment of independence in America and reminded them that it was based on equality, however, he could not deliver the speech without citing biblical quotation he said that people are equal before God despite the color difference or origin and requested the people to embrace peace and promote freedom in order to have a unified Nation (Burlingame, 1995).

Positive Qualities of Abraham Lincoln
Not all leaders posses good qualities that can be admired or emulated in the society, one of the best quality of Abraham Lincoln was his desire to rule and emerge the best despite the ups and downs he faced in his desire to rule America. Not even one leader today can contest continuously more than six times without losing hope. He was a persistent and a hopeful leader who counted failures as experience for instance he failed in business at an early age of 22missed the State Assembly one year later tried and failed again in business two years later suffered a nervous breakdown at age 27 defeated again for Speaker of the Illinois State Assembly at age 29 defeated again for presidential elector at age 31 defeated again for US Congress at age 34 defeated again for US Congress at age 39 defeated again for US Senate at age 46 defeated again for Vice president of the newly formed Republican party at age 47 defeated again for the US Senate when he ran against Stephen A. Douglas at age 49 elected President of the United States at age 51 (Paul,1981).

In reference to Paul (1981),Lincoln was willing to risk failure and never lost hope despite numerous failures, he was a focused leader who believed that success is not come of overnight. His persistence made him to be listed as one of the most ambitious people in the world history and as the most focused leader in the history of American presidents. He believed that everyone was for himself and that one must believe in himself and has courage to face obstacles, this can be seen when Lincoln had the public opinion of ending slavery and acted as a team leader who never led from behind but always in the front line.

Summary
Abraham Lincoln emerged to be one of the most respected and focused leader in the history of America and acted as the role model to the poor, orphans, widows, oppressed and hopeless people who lived in America at the time of civil war, at the peak of slave trade in America and entire Europe. In deed he was a respected leader as a result of his positive values that he adored dearly and believed were more practical in life than ever. His courage in life and patience portrayed him as a leader of hope and inspirational leader who could comfort and care for the people who were vulnerable in the society

According to Harry (1943), Lincoln was a down to earth person who took his time talking to the minors in the society only that he was never free to reveal his childhood life to the people but could spend good hours reading and understanding the concepts that were used in the bible.

His love for the bible was realized at his early stages in life when he could spend a lot of time lining for the bible and attending Sunday school, where he could listen to the readings. This helped him in addressing issues that were relevant during his administration especially when criticized for making appointments like the appointment of Alexander, that he defended using the scripture and giving an example with Aaron. Even though he was a humble leader, he was very patriotic to the state and defended the rights of the citizens by promoting peace and defending the fundamental rights and freedom of the people especially the vulnerable.

Conclusion
The kind of leadership that was portrayed during the time of Abraham Lincoln left a legacy of hope, persistence and promoted religious ideals that are good for peaceful co-existence in America and the rest of the world. He gave hope to the people and cracked jokes to entice his leadership and most people liked his comic personality. He stood firm on his opinion and rose from a humble religious background and emerged to be the most proficient leader at a time when patriotism and civil war was at the peak. It is worth noting that Abraham Lincoln was the most revered president in the history of the United States with positive morals that was admired by the majority.