We saw Lincoln as a savvy strategist, a man of great depth who could out-think and out-maneuver his opponents in a way that made him self-assured in his own ability to secure the ends he desired. Lincoln held strong moral convictions about right and wrong, and was not shy about pursuing them. To Lincoln, the end result was everything, and he was willing to achieve his outcome through almost any means. In our opinion, this pursuit of ends by any means was Lincoln’s most distinctive guiding philosophy. It made him a force, but someone who could only be trusted when his goals aligned with yours. Truman, in our view, changed radically from his early days in the White House to the end of his political career. If there were one constant thread through his entire personality, however, it was his determination to do what he felt was right at every step. His tactical approach on how best to accomplish this changed, which is more a story of his growth in self-confidence over that time. Truman’s early Presidential days in WWII showed a humility and self-awareness of his own ineptitude, and in those days, he relied heavily on outside counsel and advice on how to handle decisions like how to secure total victory in Japan. Later in his career, however, Truman was much more personally assertive in his …show more content…
Each pursued their goals and made significant progress, but did so in their own distinctive ways. Lincoln, in our view, was outcome obsessed, and with his back against the wall, would have traded anything to have kept the union together. He is a man concerned only with destination. Truman on the other hand is somewhat less politically savvy, more principled, and held the idealistic view that each step on the path is important in its own right, and was therefore less willing to concede points or objectives that he believed to be