History paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

History paper - Essay Example It was this political acumen and leadership that set Lincoln apart from Andrew Johnson, and Ulysses S. Grant. One of the biggest challenges Lincoln faced in the beginning of his presidency was the Southerners’ secession from the Union. The Southerners, who were supporters of slavery, did not trust Lincoln and his policies to stop the expansion of slavery. Lincoln thought that secession was illegal, and he was willing to go to war if necessary, to defend the Union. When South Carolina’s men fired on the Union troops at Fort Sumter, it was the beginning of the Civil War. Lincoln called for 75,000 men to put down the rebellion. In 1860, Lincoln inducted into his cabinet, several of the men against whom he had run for the Republican nomination for president. Lincoln did not have much political experience, so he needed experienced people in his government. He appointed former New York Senator, William H. Seward, as Secretary of State and Salmon P. Chase, a Radical Republican, as Secretary of the Treasury. Later, he nominated Chase to be the Chief Justice of the United States. Between 1861 and 1865, Lincoln was determined to keep the Union together, and to accomplish this, he nominated the best politicians to his cabinet, even though he disagreed with them on some issues. President Lincoln kept George B. McClellan, an outspoken critic of his administration, in command of the Eastern Army, including Virginia. However, in 1862, McClellan was dismissed from office not because he disliked Lincoln, but because of his failure in the battlefield. He did not pursue the army of Northern Virginia after General Robert E . Lee had surrendered, which could have ended the war in the East. Slavery was one of the most controversial issues during Lincoln’s presidency. In a letter written to New York journalist Horace Greeley in 1862, Lincoln wrote that his presidency’s principal goal was to preserve the Union at all