How did Lincoln’s study and practice of law prepare him for the challenges he would face during his Presidency

Question

both as a congressman and as a lawyer..what do you guys think?

Answer 1

Several ways actually. His experiences made him an excellent manipulator of people, he understood how to arrange things so that his cabinet colleagues (and others) did what he wanted (mostly). He also understood how to "walk the line" with the law, suspending the writ of habeas corpus, for example, and suspending the legislature in Maryland to prevent their secesssion. In short, he was everything we would like least about a modern lawyer; controlling, underhand, devious and manipulative. The Emancipation Proclamation is case in point; though he was personally an abolishionist, he was elected on a platform of non-interference with slavery. The Emancipation Proclamation was issued, in the main, to the prevent recogniton of the Confederacy by Britain and France. It freed not a single slave - and applied only in the "states then in rebellion". It was a political device to achieve a desired end, and it worked. That's what made him such a great civil war president.

Answer 2

Lincoln I was told, with the studies he was doing in law, now this is by educators, would never have got him into a law school today. In those days you have to remember, the laws were pretty thin and, it was who you know, not what you knew. There were states out west that didn't even know who the president was or for that matter, didn't care. This was a very political issue and very private among the elite. Once broken into, they could win through popularity.

His wife Mary Todd came from a very influential family with lots of money, this was a help.

Answer 3

I don't think it was just his study of law. He was an avid reader from the time he was a young boy; and reading and becoming book smart is what prepared him for his biggest challenge. Also living and growing up as he did and moving as a young child at that time in history, also played an important role in his development as a very strong president.