Compare And Contrast George Washington And Abraham Lincoln

In the 240 years that the United States has been a country, there have been 45 Presidents to lead it through peace and war. From the birth of our nation through revolution, to a war between the states, to interventionism in great wars that encompassed the whole world, the United States has had presidents at the helm to steer it through all forms of conflict and keep the Constitution intact. While there have been many great men to lead this country, there are two presidents who are kept in historical regard for the extraordinary strength they showed in trying to preserve not only the constitution, but this great union as well. In George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, we see two presidencies with some similarities and differences, but who

His education would be self-taught, and he would spend 8 years as a lawyer until running for Senate in 1858; ultimately he lost to Stephen A. Douglas, but both gained a reputation nationally for their debates. 72 years after George Washington’s first inauguration, Abraham Lincoln became the 16th President of the United States, taking charge of a country on the brink of war divided by North vs South. In Lincoln’s inaugural address, he warns that: “In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The Government will not assail you. You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors. You have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the Government, while I shall have the most solemn one to ‘preserve, protect, and defend’ it.” For the next 4 years, the United States would be embroiled in a civil war, with Lincoln remarking, “that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth.” On April 14th, 5 days after the cessation of fighting with the surrender of the Confederate Army, Lincoln was shot dead by John Wilkes Boothe who believed he was helping the Confederacy. Instead, all ideas of a peaceful reconciliation between North and South was lost, as it was Lincoln who wanted Southerners to rejoin the Union in a speedy