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Historic Lesson For Current President

I’m drawn to presidential history, because I find the relationship between presidential personalities and the complexities of that high office fascinating.

As is often the case with those who rise to high stations, the personalities are often a complex mixture of high talent, intellect, ego, and ambition coupled to deep flaws.

There is an often overlooked talent of Abraham Lincoln’s that would serve our current president well: the ability to practice magnanimity, which is the act of generously forgiving an insult or injury and being free from petty resentfulness or vindictiveness.

As journalism historian Edwin Emery wrote: “Few presidents suffered more editorial abuse than Lincoln. The leniency and patience of Lincoln, often mistaken for weakness, kept the press reasonably free through the terrible war period.”

Case in point was one Wisconsin newspaper editor who variously described Lincoln as a “blockhead, flatboat tyrant, despot, fanatic, fool, imbecile, moron, orphan-maker and widow-maker.”

Lincoln also suffered indignities at the hands of those who would later become cabinet members. Lincoln could put aside Edward Stanton’s calling him a “long-armed ape” a few years before naming him Secretary of War in 1862. All in all, Lincoln certainly had plenty of reason to lash out at his opponents.

But, he didn’t.

Those who knew Lincoln best were amazed at both his ability and confidence in himself to forgive the slights and insults heaped upon him, and move on and focus on what really mattered: governing the country when the country was in real danger of disintegrating.

I would hope that our current President can the find ability to take this lesson from Mr. Lincoln.

I’m Andrew Nelson, and that’s my perspective.

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