Lincoln: A Professional Politician

Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), the 16th president of the United States, was also one ofthe important figures in American history. He issued the Emancipation Proclamation,promoted the Congress to the pass of the 13th amendment to the AmericanConstitution and saved the Union from the Civil War thus paved the way for the laterdevelopment of the United States.Politics played an important role in Lincoln's life. During fifty-six years of hislifetime, twenty-six were devoted to political career. Lincoln had once definedpolitician as "a set of men who have interests aside from the interests of the people,and who, to say the most of them, are, taken as a class, at least one long step removedfrom honest men." After his death Lincoln was hailed almost universally as astatesman, but some of his friends just thought of him as a master of the politician'sart.In Lincoln's time, slavery was one of the keynotes in political life. Lincoln had acontact with it in an early time and slavery imposed great influence on his politicallife. Many years after Lincoln's assassination, he has been called the "GreatEmancipator". Yet in recent decades, historians from home and abroad had differentopinions on the issue of Lincoln's attitude and policy on slavery. Some describedhim as a radical abolitionist, while others held the opposite opinion, but both sidescould find evidence from Lincoln's biography. It seemed that Lincoln's attitudetoward slavery was inconsistent.From the perspectives of both Lincoln's attitude and policy toward slavery, this thesistries to prove that Lincoln as a politician, his attitude and policy toward slavery isclosely linked with his political experience. Lincoln entered politics as a Whig, andbefore the year 1850 he held a conservative attitude toward slavery. Although hisdislike of slavery began early in childhood, he seldom showed it publicly. He onlysubmitted two bills to the state legislature and the Congress about slavery, but failed.After 1850, his opposition was more obvious in the need of politics. He returned topolitics through objection to the Kansas-Nebraska Bill. In 1856 he joined theRepublican Party- a more radical party on the slavery issue. During his debates withDouglas, in order to win the senator ship he displayed the necessity to abolish slavery.After elected president, he sought for peace resolution. At the early time of the CivilWar, he first declared the war for the union. Later as the war moved on, when he sawthe liberation of slaves was favorable for the North, he issued the EmancipationProclamation and finally promoted the pass of the 13th amendment to the AmericanConstitution. Thus, Lincoln as a professional politician ultimately achieved thebalance between his personal belief and his official duty.