MM#370--The Resilient Leader: Lincoln's 1864 Journey Some 160 Years Ago

Transcript

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Welcome to the Theory to Action podcast, where we examine the timeless treasures of wisdom from the great books in less time, to help you take action immediately and ultimately to create and lead a flourishing life.

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Now here's your host, david Kaiser flourishing life.

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Now here's your host, david Kaiser.

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Hello, I am David, and welcome back to another Mojo Minute.

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Since we just came through a tumultuous and gripping reelection campaign in 2024, I thought for today we would go back in history and remember some US history and harken back to even a more tumultuous reelection campaign.

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This is going to be a long podcast, so hang in there with me.

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We got a great book to cover, but we got to give all of us some background and context to understand why this book is so good.

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So, yes, I thought for today we would remember back in history to a more tumultuous and more gripping and, frankly, a more devastating re-election campaign, one that occurred 160 years ago.

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As dawn broke on January 1st 1864, some 160 years ago, the then president of the United States, abraham Lincoln, must have thought what will this year bring me If we were to put ourselves in the Lincoln shoes on that January 1864 crisp day, which is what I love to do and how I read history, one of my favorite subjects in school?

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I'm sure you'll agree with me that boy.

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He had a lot on his plate.

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Abraham Lincoln and the country had come through hell, frankly, for the last four years.

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Those four years encompassed of Lincoln's life, from 1860 to 1864, were marked by significant political challenges as he led our country on the choppy and sometimes hurricane level of ocean waves.

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That was our ship of state for those four years.

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He brought us through the tumultuous period of the 1860 campaign no easy feat.

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Then his presidential election and then the outbreak of the Civil War.

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Presidential election and then the outbreak of the Civil War, followed by numerous years of setbacks and political maneuverings.

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You'll recall in 1860 that Lincoln was elected our 16th president of the United States, running on a platform that opposed the expansion of slavery, form that opposed the expansion of slavery.

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His election prompted the secession of seven southern states, even before he takes his oath of office and the inauguration in March of 1861.

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Now, if you want a great book, one that we did a Mojo Academy review for, book, one that we did a Mojo Academy review for, check out Ted Widmer's Lincoln on the Verge 13 Days to Washington.

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It's just a fascinating, fascinating tale of Lincoln's train trip to Washington DC.

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And Ted puts you on the train.

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You feel like you've taken the train trip with Abraham Lincoln and folks.

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It was no ordinary train trip You're thinking it's just a long journey from Springfield, illinois, to Washington DC.

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Oh, no, no, no, holy smokes.

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It was full of drama at every step, at every turn.

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It was no easy walk in the park.

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But Lincoln on the Verge.

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Check it out.

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Very good book.

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Check out also Becoming a Mojo Academy Member.

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If you will, details at teammojoacademycom Click on Subscribe in the top right.

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Again, go to teammojoacademycom If you're interested in becoming a Mojo Academy member and click on subscribe in the top right.

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All the details are there.

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Now back to Lincoln After his inauguration, with the firing on Fort Sumter leading to the outbreak of the Civil War.

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That happened just one month later after Lincoln's inauguration in April of 1861.

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So Lincoln's challenges were everywhere, at every turn.

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In the beginning he had to preserve the Union.

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Lincoln's primary challenge was to maintain the integrity of the United States in the face of southern secession.

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Part of those first four years war management.

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As the commander-in-chief, lincoln had to oversee the Union military efforts, often faced with criticism about his strategies and his choice of generals.

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His strategies and his choice of generals, in fact, he couldn't find a general in the East, in the Eastern theater, who he was even happy or content with for the first two and a half years of the war, from 1861 to July of 1863.

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Lincoln also faced emancipation.

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He had to navigate the complex issue of slavery, the very reason that the country itself was being torn apart.

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He had to balance his personal opposition with the institution to the political realities and the constitutional limitations he was faced with.

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Then the grand old party, the GOP, the Republican Party, very new party only established in 1856.

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Within his own Republican Party, lincoln faced divisions between the radical Republicans and conservatives.

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That all required careful maneuvering.

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Most especially you can see this in Lincoln's handling of the border states all throughout the Civil War.

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And then, just like nowadays, there was opposition from Democrats.

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The Democratic Party, particularly the Copperhead Wing who favored peace with the Confederacy, posed a significant political challenge to Lincoln.

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And then, outside of the running of the war, lincoln was also the head of the executive branch, with many responsibilities and duties.

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Some of his most noteworthy political actions were these, like we said, the Emancipation Proclamation that was issued in July 1st 1863, this executive order declared slaves in the rebel states to be free, changing the character of the war.

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That was not an easy decision to come to.

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Lincoln also had to suspend habeas corpus, right to a trial by jury.

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This controversial wartime measure allowed for the arrest and detention of suspected Confederate sympathizers without a trial.

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This area of Lincoln's leadership needs to be studied more, I think because Lincoln believes, as a wartime president with wartime powers, he could implement this suspension.

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But yet he limits himself to not implementing it in other areas of the union and other areas of the country.

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He's never given credit for the judicial restraint that he exhibits, never gets acknowledgement for that that he exhibits, never gets acknowledgement for that.

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Then Lincoln, unbelievably, has some pretty good economic policies.

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He oversaw the implementation of several key Republican economic policies, including the protective tariff at the time.

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Remember, we don't have the income tax, so there's no way to bring in revenue only through the tariff.

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That was the only real mechanism.

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And then the establishment of a national banking system.

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In addition, lincoln helped to implement a monumental railroad legislation to help keep the economy growing in the north to then service the war even better.

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Again, this is often an overlooked portion of his leadership.

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So with all of that background let's move to the re-election campaign of 1864.

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It was particularly challenging for Lincoln.

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Five major points I'd like to cover points I'd like to cover Number one war weariness.

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The North was tired of war.

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Initially going into the war, they thought it was going to be a quick, easy.

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Let's bring these rebels back into the Union.

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We're going to smack them around, they're going to come back with their tail between their legs and we'll get back to business as usual.

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And the South said not so fast.

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We have some grievances.

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Number two of our five major points military setbacks, especially in late 1863 and early 1864.

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There were so many military setbacks all the way throughout the war.

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If you were in the north, you were.

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You just woke up every day despondent because news would come about a stalemate or the a union loss at a particular battle.

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Uh, number three there was a lot of inter-party challenges.

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A lot of people were challenging Lincoln.

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It was not a surefire thing that he was going to get the nomination in 1864.

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Democrats our fourth point is Democrats were very, very shrewd.

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And our fifth point is, frankly, re-election.

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It's uncertainty for Lincoln.

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Now let's break down each of these five major points and dig into them.

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So, number one war weariness by 1864, many in the North were tired of the prolonged and bloody conflict.

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Many people forget, many in the North forget that there was folks advocating for peace at all costs which was offered by the peace Democrats, like we said, the people known as the Copperheads.

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This sentiment threatened Lincoln's re-election prospects and his ability to continue the war effort.

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If a coalition could be built of peace Democrats and Northern Republicans for peace, that could be a vital coalition to bring an end to the war.

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Number two of the military setbacks there were so many military defeats for the Union in early 1864 that it damaged Lincoln's popularity For much of 1864, the Union army suffered several defeats, including the battles of Mansfield, cold Harbor and Kennesaw Mountain.

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These setbacks contributed to the perception that the war was not progressing well at all under Lincoln's leadership.

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Remember, the Battle of Gettysburg was fought in July of 1863.

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And what was the strategy behind General Lee of the South's invasion of the North?

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Well, we can very clearly see from his four major reasons for going to the North what he was trying to do.

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He's trying to drive a wedge into Lincoln's re-election.

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Number one General Lee wanted to gain European support for the Confederate cause.

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Number two he wanted to fuel the peace movement in the North.

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Two he wanted to fuel the peace movement in the North.

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Number three he wanted to divert Union attention and resources away from the Confederate territory that they had been fighting on in the South Virginia primarily for the last two years, in the Eastern Campaign.

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All those fields were stripped bare from both armies, north and South, going back and forth over the same ground.

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There was no food for the horses, there was no, you know, sometimes even the creeks themselves were full of blood and muck and mud and it just was not good.

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And then, frankly, lee, just like a good general, needed to secure much needed supplies for the Confederate army.

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He knew if he could get to the north there would be much better fields, much better supplies for his Confederate Army.

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Now, the failure to achieve those goals at Gettysburg dashed Southern hopes.

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Dashed Southern hopes because they wanted a swift end to the war on favorable terms.

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But it wasn't all doom and gloom for the South.

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Yes, gettysburg pretty much ended the Confederacy's ability to mount a large-scale offensive, especially offensive operation in the Eastern Theater and in the North.

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But the Union didn't comprehend that.

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For, like another year, lee's Army of Northern Virginia suffered heavy casualties, nearly losing a third of its strength.

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And after Gettysburg, lee's Army was forced to adopt a more defensive posture in Virginia.

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But the union, all the union generals, didn't understand that.

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They didn't perceive that.

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So by the fall of 1863 and early into 1864, frankly, as we get into that re-election year of 1864, northern public opinion was finally moving towards a grudging support of the war with the theme of okay, we finally have whipped the rebels, they're going to lay down their arms and this brutal war is going to be over.

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What we thought was going to be over in a year to a year and a half is and it has dragged on for going into its fourth year that we're finally going to get that.

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We're going to get this war over at cold Harbor, uh, and the other various battles in early 64, that just just.

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You know.

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Everybody's just shaking their head in the North.

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And Lincoln, um, uh, lincoln was buoyed by the prospects in 1863 after Gettysburg.

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But right after Gettysburg you know he's very disappointed that General Meade did not pursue Lee.

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Now, southern opinion that viewed the Battle of Gettysburg in July of 63 thought it was no such defeat.

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Such defeat, many people.

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There's a myth that many people in the South view Gettysburg as the oh no, now the whole thing is gone.

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No, that's not what the Southern opinion was.

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If you go to the Battle of Gettysburg, I think I've been there four or five times now you will get from the battlefield guides, you will get that understanding the Southern opinion after the battle.

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They don't believe it's any defeat at all.

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I mean, yes, it was a defeat, but General Lee was on Northern territory, he was on the offensive.

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He had never been on the offensive before.

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So it was no defeat to them.

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Yes, general Lee lost, but he lost very little support in the hearts and minds of the South and the Confederates.

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There was no blaming of General Lee about Pickett's charge initially, after the very act in the battle in 1863.

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So keep in mind, lincoln can't find a general who will fight and pursue, fight and pursue.

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That is the main takeaway coming out of Gettysburg Meade.

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General Meade wins at Gettysburg but he doesn't pursue Lee after the defeat to finish him off.

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He didn't finish off Lee while he was in Pennsylvania, crossing over into Maryland and then from Maryland back into a southern state of Virginia.

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And that was Lincoln's mantra the whole fall of 1863.

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Now Meade continued to lead the army through subsequent operations, including the Bristow Campaign and the Battle of Mine, run late into 1863.

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Frankly, lincoln didn't have any other general 1863.

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Frankly, lincoln didn't have any other general.

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He did have Ulysses S Grant in the West, but Grant doesn't come east until March of 1864 to retain formal command of all the Union armies.

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Now remember too that Grant achieved the incredible victory at Vicksburg on the same day as Gettysburg happened, in the east July of 1863.

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The Western theater of the Civil War is almost always forgotten in remembering the whole Civil War history.

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The Chattanooga campaign is in the Western Theater too.

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Following a Union defeat at Chickamauga in September of 1863, grant was called upon to break that stalemate at Chattanooga, tennessee.

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He successfully led Union forces to victory in the battles of Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge on November 24th and 25th 1863, very late into the year to be fighting.

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The roads were would have been rained on and some snow in the higher elevations very hard to move.

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Uh, in 19th century warfare, um that late into the year, most of the fighting took place in the spring, after the spring rains were gone, and into the summer months and into the fall.

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But by the time you get to late November there usually was not much fighting.

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Now I've visited both battlefields of Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge.

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So if you're a Civil War aficionado I recommend them.

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Now, don't be confused Little FYI here.

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Don't be confused.

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When you visit the battlefield for Lookout Mountain, you will see many references on all the placards and the signs for its nickname.

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The Battle of Lookout Mountain is also known as the Battle Above the Clouds.

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Also known as the Battle Above the Clouds.

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That is what took place on November 24th 1863, near the city of Chattanooga, tennessee.

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This battle was part of a larger Chattanooga campaign during the American Civil War and the battle occurred on Lookout Mountain, like we said, and it has a beautiful overview, overlooks the city of Chattanooga, tennessee.

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Union forces under Major General Joseph Hooker assaulted the mountain and defeated the Confederate forces commanded by Major General Carter Stevenson.

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The nickname Battle Above the Clouds comes from the foggy conditions that day, which obscured much of the fighting from the observers below.

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They couldn't see who was winning, and the fog and the mist around the mountains created a dramatic scene, with the battle taking place amidst the clouds that shrouded the upper parts of Lookout Mountain.

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So don't be confused, you're in the right spot.

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It just goes by a nickname.

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The Battle Above the Clouds is also the same as the Battle of Lookout Mountain.

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Okay, back to our 50,000 foot view of Lincoln's reelection campaign in 1864.

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We've covered of the five major topics we've covered two war weariness and the military setbacks in 1863, late 1863, and early 1864.

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Now let's move on to number three, the inner party challenges.

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Lincoln, frankly, faced so many potential rivals within his own party, including John C Fremont and Salmon P Chase.

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Chase was part of his cabinet of all things, a grown cabinet member trying to take the place of winning your own position.

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So Lincoln had to dance around that it was dicey.

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The radical Republicans within his own party criticized Lincoln for not being aggressive enough in his war strategies and in the emancipation policies.

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Some political leaders Benjamin Wade and Horace Greeley, the famous editor from New York initially opposed Lincoln's renomination believing, frankly, he couldn't win.

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So there were some brutal inner party conflicts that were happening, even amongst his own cabinet members.

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Now our major topic, number four the Democratic opposition.

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Like I said, it was very shrewd and calculating up a former, very popular former Union General, george McClellan, who had campaigned on the peace platform, as their candidate in 1864.

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And the Democrats were generally unified in their opposition to emancipation, which was a key part and plank of Lincoln's policy and reelection effort.

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So they were almost just stealing his own policies and plank from underneath him and, frankly, the fact that McClellan was a Union general that Lincoln had dismissed after 1862 just contributed to Lincoln's ability not to win the war and many in the North starting to lose belief in Lincoln.

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And then, finally, our fifth major topic, that the re-election uncertainty was there as late.

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Check this out as late as August 23rd 1864, lincoln himself believed he had little chance of being re-elected.

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He even wrote a memorandum asking his cabinet of all people to accept the grim prospects of his re-election.

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And so it is with all of that background and context that we're going to pick up our book of the day.

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That book is Lincoln, 1864.

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Title is 1864 Lincoln at the Gates of History, by Charles Breslin Flood.

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It is an excellent book about Abraham Lincoln and the pivotal year of 1864.

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What I loved about the book is you get a view of Lincoln as a 360-degree view.

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It's a complete portrayal of how Lincoln viewed the world from his shoes.

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It focuses on Lincoln's leadership during that critical year of the Civil War, examining both the military and political events, and we've all studied those from our history classes.

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But what I liked is it also portrays Lincoln as the skilled political strategist working to secure his re-election while also managing the war effort.

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You're taken behind the scenes and into the rooms as Lincoln feels out his rival competition for re-election in 1864.

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In fact, let's go to the book for that insight, because it's a great little piece.

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Go on to the book Lincoln, or rather 1864, lincoln at the Gates of History by Charles Braceland Flood.

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Go on to the book.

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During early February of 1864, butler tried a raid in force in from the coast to Richmond, which failed.

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Soon after that, back in his headquarters at Fort Monroe, he became the object of backstage political maneuvering.

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Butler later claimed to have been approached about the vice presidency by a Treasury Department official acting on the behalf of Secretary of the Treasury Chase.

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That's a guy actually going after Lincoln's job.

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No-transcript of Lincoln's continuing to keep chase in his cabinet.

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I have some time thought that Lincoln was more patient than I should have been.

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In fact, let's keep going because this gets really fascinating.

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Butler's decline of the offer had.

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Lincoln received only vague reports of what Butler's political intentions might be.

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So in late March had Colonel Thomas H Ford, a former lieutenant governor of Ohio, go and sound out Butler Ford returned with the news that Butler had nothing to do with the rumors.

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According to one of Butler's friends.

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This greatly delighted Lincoln.

00:26:25.060 --> 00:26:38.310
Then, in thinking of how to learn more of Butler's political views and ambitions, lincoln turned to Simon Cameron, his first Secretary of War, who had used his office to enrich his pre-war political cronies.

00:26:38.310 --> 00:26:42.721
In January of 1862, lincoln had brusquely dismissed him.

00:26:42.721 --> 00:26:58.928
The president's initial memorandum to Cameron simply informing Cameron of his dismissal in favor of Stanton and telling him he was to hold the far less important post of Minister to Russia, which shocked Cameron to tears.

00:26:58.928 --> 00:27:11.826
But he wisely disguised his hurt and his anger and Lincoln later defended Cameron when he was censured by the House of Representatives in November of 1862.

00:27:11.866 --> 00:27:20.226
After six months in Russia, cameron returned to his native state of Pennsylvania, which he had served both as governor and as four-time US senator.

00:27:20.226 --> 00:27:26.714
He began working for Lincoln's re-election, often consulting with the president in the White House.

00:27:26.714 --> 00:27:39.146
By January 9, 1863, he was able to present Lincoln a petition from all of Pennsylvania's Republican state legislators that asked the president to run again.

00:27:39.146 --> 00:27:40.471
A very good thing.

00:27:40.471 --> 00:27:44.423
State legislators that asked the president to run again A very good thing.

00:27:44.423 --> 00:27:47.209
Pennsylvania was a very important electoral state for Lincoln in 1864.

00:27:47.209 --> 00:27:54.108
Now Lincoln quietly sent Cameron to make what Cameron described as a direct offer to have Butler as his running mate.

00:27:54.108 --> 00:28:08.345
Years later, butler said that Cameron told him that Lincoln believed your candidature would add strength to the ticket, especially with the war Democrats, and he hopes that you will allow your friends to cooperate with him to place you in that position.

00:28:08.345 --> 00:28:33.253
Thus, in the middle of the war, the emissary of Lincoln, who was both president and commander-in-chief, was exploring with a third general from Massachusetts the possibility of becoming Lincoln's running mate on the Republican ticket If Lincoln had dumped his present vice president, hannibal Hamlin Jeez.

00:28:34.621 --> 00:28:44.928
So you can see, lincoln is taking time to sound out his potential political rivals and again, that's the reason I love this book.

00:28:44.928 --> 00:28:52.854
You get a 360-degree view of Lincoln as just a masterful tactician sounding people out.

00:28:52.854 --> 00:29:03.442
And then, finally, the book provides insight into Lincoln's personal struggles, including his challenges with his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln.

00:29:03.442 --> 00:29:08.942
Now there are many books about Mary and Abraham's marriage which we won't cover here.

00:29:08.942 --> 00:29:17.729
But you have to remember and this book does a great job of helping you to remember about Mary and Abraham's personal lives.

00:29:18.730 --> 00:29:20.374
You know the Lincolns were human beings.

00:29:20.374 --> 00:29:27.300
So many times in history we forget that, that they have emotions, they have personalities, they have shortcomings, they have virtues.

00:29:27.300 --> 00:29:35.565
They are complex, like we are complex, not to mention that the Lincolns had lost one of their children while living in the White House.

00:29:35.565 --> 00:29:42.859
William Wallace, known as Willie Lincoln, was born December 21, 1850.

00:29:42.859 --> 00:29:48.012
He died on February 20, 1862 at age 11.

00:29:48.012 --> 00:29:50.828
His cause of death was typhoid fever.

00:29:50.828 --> 00:30:04.814
And before Willie died, in 1862, during the Civil War, the Lincolns had lost another child, edward Baker Eddie Lincoln.

00:30:04.814 --> 00:30:13.013
He was born March 10th 1846 and died February 1st 1850 at the age of three years and 11 months.

00:30:13.013 --> 00:30:17.188
His cause of death was believed to be tuberculosis.

00:30:17.188 --> 00:30:27.509
So in addition to this horrific civil war that was going on throughout the country, the Lincolns as a family were going through a lot.

00:30:28.431 --> 00:30:41.029
Lincoln himself was trying to help manage his wife's grief over losing their children, as well as his own grief, let alone managing the grief of the whole country being torn apart.

00:30:41.029 --> 00:30:54.987
There's many times in the book you will read of Lincoln going down to the wharf down by Alexandria on the Virginia side and watching the casualty trains come back.

00:30:54.987 --> 00:31:32.934
They would have the wounded first coming off the boats, then on to the shore and either if they were able to walk, walking up to begin the walk to the 20th, 20 to 25 various overcrowded hospitals all throughout the District of Columbia, or they would go by horse or they would go by wagon if they could not walk to those same hospitals.

00:31:32.934 --> 00:31:44.038
Many times Lincoln would come just to kind of sit back in the side and watch the wounded come back, just to kind of sit back on the side and watch the wounded come back.

00:31:44.038 --> 00:31:51.440
So you can only imagine the grief that he's being torn apart as the commander-in-chief.

00:31:51.440 --> 00:31:54.067
Let's go to the book for a day in the life of our 16th president and something else he had to go through.

00:31:54.067 --> 00:31:55.070
Go on to the book.

00:31:57.420 --> 00:32:02.813
Lincoln's life continued to swing between dealing with great issues and with personal matters.

00:32:02.813 --> 00:32:08.853
On February 10th, a White House coachman named Patterson McGee was dismissed.

00:32:08.853 --> 00:32:18.568
The reason was uncertain, but McGee had previously refused to run such errands as going out to buy a newspaper that Lincoln wanted to see that Lincoln wanted to see.

00:32:18.568 --> 00:32:26.477
At 8.30 that night a fire started in Lincoln's private stables, a brick building on the White House grounds between the mansion and the Treasury Department.

00:32:26.477 --> 00:32:34.724
A witness said that Lincoln jumped over the boxwood hedge, threw open the doors to try and get the horses out, but it was too late.

00:32:34.724 --> 00:32:54.109
Lincoln's two horses and two belonging to his secretaries, nicolay and Hay, his personal secretaries, perished by screaming in the flames, as did Tad's pony, the one on which Willie had ridden around the White House grounds so often in the year before he died.

00:32:55.535 --> 00:33:01.990
Hours later Lincoln and others were standing in the East Room of the White House looking at the still burning stables.

00:33:01.990 --> 00:33:03.894
Lincoln was weeping.

00:33:03.894 --> 00:33:13.925
Nicolay wrote about this to the other Secretary Hay, who was in Florida as part of the effort to create a pro-union government in the recaptured territory.

00:33:13.925 --> 00:33:23.563
He said Tad was in bitter tears at the loss of his ponies and his heaviest grief was his recollection that one of them belonged to Willie.

00:33:23.563 --> 00:33:27.329
It was as if Willie had died all over again.

00:33:27.329 --> 00:33:37.663
The next day the coachman who had been fired was arrested on the charge of arson but was later released for lack of evidence.

00:33:37.663 --> 00:33:54.162
Man, that is just terrific about a fire in the White House private stables and Tad, lincoln's son, mary's son, in bitter tears at the loss of the ponies, let alone the loss of Willie's pony.

00:33:54.162 --> 00:34:21.490
So the Lincolns as a family again were going through a lot and Lincoln himself was trying to help manage his wife's grief over losing their children as well as his own grief, let alone, like we said, managing the grief of the whole country being torn apart by this brutal civil war.

00:34:21.510 --> 00:34:26.222
So all of this is reason I would rank Abraham Lincoln as our greatest president, over George Washington.

00:34:26.222 --> 00:34:31.291
Lincoln had to battle so much, had to battle so much more.

00:34:31.291 --> 00:34:36.692
Washington was surrounded by many in his cabinet who just adored the president.

00:34:36.692 --> 00:34:45.166
Yes, we were a young country during Washington's time, just trying to get our sea legs, so to speak, back in the late 18th century.

00:34:45.166 --> 00:34:48.925
But Lincoln's challenges were far greater than Washington's.

00:34:48.925 --> 00:34:52.699
Certainly I would put Washington as our second greatest president.

00:34:52.699 --> 00:34:56.505
But Lincoln was masterful at almost every turn.

00:34:56.505 --> 00:35:02.414
He was truly going through a high wire act on everything he had to manage.

00:35:02.414 --> 00:35:09.804
He didn't have a Jefferson or a Hamilton or an Adams around, as many historians have said.

00:35:09.804 --> 00:35:28.572
Lincoln had a team of rivals around him, and this book really brings home that fact too, that once Lincoln found General Grant from the West, a general who would fight, he had finally felt he had someone who would work with him and not against him at every turn.

00:35:28.572 --> 00:35:32.547
In fact, there's a great little antidote from the book to share.

00:35:32.547 --> 00:35:33.650
Let's go to the book.

00:35:37.840 --> 00:35:53.434
As for the Confederates, their armies were capable of striking severe blows, as they had recently shown, but the hopes of their statesmen were shifting to the prospect of a democratic election victory followed by negotiations for peace.

00:35:53.434 --> 00:35:58.751
Jefferson Davis urged that the fighting continue until Mr Lincoln's time is out.

00:35:58.751 --> 00:36:02.541
Then he said the North might then compromise.

00:36:02.541 --> 00:36:18.306
Looking at all this the bad war news, the growing disaffection of the general public and the array of opposition to Lincoln even within his own party the mainstream Republicans saw his chances for a second term disappearing before their eyes.

00:36:18.306 --> 00:36:26.248
On some days Lincoln felt he might indeed lose, but his inner strength did not desert him.

00:36:26.248 --> 00:36:35.507
The man of whom a Chicago reporter long ago said there is no back down in old Abe intended to play the cards he was dealt.

00:36:35.507 --> 00:36:43.730
That included rock-ribbed support for his general-in-chief, the object of a great deal of criticism himself.

00:36:45.840 --> 00:37:10.161
When General Grant received Halleck's warning that some of his troops might be withdrawn from facing Lee to go north and guard against the Copperhead uprisings and anti-draft riots, he responded to General Halleck, his Secretary of War, by saying he hoped that Lincoln would have the governors of the northern states use their militias to quell such activity.

00:37:10.161 --> 00:37:16.621
That will enable him, grant, to continue battling Lee with all the men he had had.

00:37:16.621 --> 00:37:30.768
Grant also pointed out that if he had to reduce the forces opposing Lee in Northern Virginia, the Confederate commander would immediately send reinforcements south to try and break Sherman's stalled siege in Atlanta.

00:37:30.768 --> 00:37:44.949
Lincoln saw Grant's message to Halleck and he reassured him with this I have seen your dispatch expressing your unwillingness to break your hold where you are.

00:37:44.949 --> 00:37:56.679
Neither am I willing' Hold on with bulldog gripe and chew and choke as much as possible A Lincoln.

00:37:57.922 --> 00:38:16.273
The telegram delighted Grant, had him laughing so much that he showed it to his staff officers who had walked over to see what had pleased their unusually undemonstrative chief, and said the president has more nerve than any of his advisors.

00:38:16.273 --> 00:38:37.114
Then, as quickly as the days of 1864 moved for Lincoln and his administration and the immense pressure of the re-election campaign that had happened upon them and the war effort that had bogged down, those glorious six words came to A Lincoln.

00:38:37.114 --> 00:38:43.802
That had happened upon them and the war effort that had bogged down, those glorious six words came to A Lincoln as he often signed his name.

00:38:43.802 --> 00:38:53.295
After all those telegrams he sent those glorious six words from his general that was besieging Atlanta, a very major city in the South.

00:38:53.295 --> 00:39:05.454
Let's pick up the book there, because this is a pivotal nugget of history, in fact a great nugget of wisdom too.

00:39:06.340 --> 00:39:15.750
Six in the morning on Saturday, september 3rd, general Sherman sent a telegram north from Georgia that said, quote Atlanta is ours and fairly won.

00:39:15.750 --> 00:39:16.952
End quote.

00:39:16.952 --> 00:39:37.224
Here was the great, unmistakable success for which the North had hungered Union soldiers had captured the southern city, second in importance only to Richmond, a vital manufacturing center and strategic rail hub in the heart of the Confederacy.

00:39:37.224 --> 00:39:45.384
Triumphant joy exploded in every northern city and town Church bells rang, bands played.

00:39:45.384 --> 00:40:03.355
Grant sent a message in code to his friend Sherman telling him, in honor of your great victory, he had ordered every piece of military on the Petersburg front to fire a salute, using real cannonballs aimed at enemy lines.

00:40:03.355 --> 00:40:07.650
He added the salute will be fired within an hour amidst great rejoicing.

00:40:09.141 --> 00:40:27.514
On the same day that Sherman's telegram reached Washington, lincoln issued a proclamation of thanksgiving and prayer, citing the glorious achievements of the Army under Major General Sherman in the state of Georgia, resulting in the capture of the city of Atlanta.

00:40:27.514 --> 00:40:47.855
President wrote an order of thanks in which he said the marches, battles, sieges and other military operations that have signaled this campaign must render it famous in the annals of war and have entitled those who have participated therein to the applause and thanks of the nation.

00:40:47.855 --> 00:40:58.728
Later, grant could pause from giving all of the orders necessitated by this and other developments, he wired Sherman again.

00:40:58.728 --> 00:41:11.733
I feel you have accomplished the most gigantic undertaking given to any general in this war, with a skill and ability that will be acknowledged in the history as unsurpassed, if not unequaled.

00:41:17.880 --> 00:41:22.192
The editors of Northern Papers leapt on this victory even more swiftly than they had rushed to kick Lincoln when he was down.

00:41:22.192 --> 00:41:37.505
Joseph Mendel of the Chicago Tribune, who had recently said thanks to Mr Lincoln's blunders and follies, we will be kicked out of the White House, dashed into print with this Union men, the dark days are over.

00:41:37.505 --> 00:41:39.469
We see our way out.

00:41:39.469 --> 00:41:43.155
Thanks be to God, the Republic is safe.

00:41:43.155 --> 00:41:50.951
The Southern press did not deceive its readers In Georgia.

00:41:50.951 --> 00:41:56.668
The Augusta Chronicle and Sentinel came out with we have suffered a great disaster.

00:41:56.668 --> 00:42:02.072
We cannot conceal from ourselves the magnitude of the loss we have sustained.

00:42:02.072 --> 00:42:06.291
That loss had many aspects.

00:42:08.240 --> 00:42:15.934
Some of the Confederate High Command had seen the defense of Atlanta as a political as well as a military priority.

00:42:15.934 --> 00:42:30.556
General Joseph E Johnston said later his goal was to keep Sherman from taking Atlanta before November and thus to help the Democrats to carry the presidential election, which would have brought the war to an immediate close.

00:42:30.556 --> 00:42:36.219
Which would have brought the war to an immediate close.

00:42:36.219 --> 00:42:42.759
But those six words Atlanta is ours and fairly won.

00:42:42.759 --> 00:42:46.329
Oh, what joyous words to come over that electronic lightning that they called the telegraph at the time.

00:42:46.329 --> 00:42:48.505
Joyous words indeed.

00:42:48.505 --> 00:42:57.505
As an aside, I can highly recommend the book Southern Storm Sherman's March to the Sea by Noah Andre Trudeau.

00:42:57.505 --> 00:43:07.172
It is the definitive and comprehensive account of General William Tecumseh Sherman's famous march through Georgia, including Atlanta, during the American Civil War.

00:43:07.172 --> 00:43:14.833
It's highly recommended for civil war enthusiasts and those interested in this pivotal campaign of the war.

00:43:14.833 --> 00:43:16.206
I found it on Audible.

00:43:16.206 --> 00:43:29.692
The Audible book is very well done too, of Atlanta in September of 1864,.

00:43:30.952 --> 00:43:38.467
This military success, combined with the internal divisions in the Democratic Party, helped to secure Lincoln's re-election.

00:43:38.467 --> 00:43:50.766
Lincoln faced congressional and gubernatorial elections in October, some five weeks before his own re-election in November, which gave the president some concern and hesitation.

00:43:50.766 --> 00:43:55.755
But Lincoln encountered that he had done everything he could.

00:43:55.755 --> 00:44:07.128
He had done everything he could for everybody, for the congressional elections, for the gubernatorial elections in the states and for his own re-election.

00:44:07.128 --> 00:44:16.967
He in the end had managed it all quite well and Lincoln was vindicated 1864, he won a landslide.

00:44:16.967 --> 00:44:23.532
He defeated McClellan by more than 500,000 popular votes and 191 electoral votes.

00:44:23.532 --> 00:44:33.315
This victory validated Lincoln's leadership and war policies and set the stage for the final push to end the Civil War in 1865.

00:44:33.315 --> 00:44:40.791
When reflecting on Abraham Lincoln, I'm always brought to God's providence in history.

00:44:40.791 --> 00:44:42.960
Think about this.

00:44:42.960 --> 00:44:46.023
Connect the dots with me on this.

00:44:47.545 --> 00:45:00.797
Abraham Lincoln drove General Ulysses S Grant in 1864, who then drove his general William T Sherman to march from Chattanooga in the breakout to Atlanta.

00:45:00.797 --> 00:45:17.155
Once Sherman captures Atlanta, he requests on his own the ability to march to the sea, to Savannah, and Grant grudgingly approves it.

00:45:17.155 --> 00:45:32.793
The original plan from Union officials was for Sherman to head west after the capture of Atlanta, to Alabama, but Sherman convinced Grant that going to Savannah or Charleston was a better move.

00:45:32.793 --> 00:45:45.746
Grant ultimately trusted Sherman's assessment and gave him the permission, sending a telegram on November 2, 1864, simply stating Go as you propose.

00:45:45.746 --> 00:45:55.028
Grant himself said that he would never have allowed anyone other than Sherman to attempt such a march, indicating the high level of trust between the two generals.

00:45:56.460 --> 00:46:04.985
Sherman's march is considered one of the largest emancipation events in American history, freeing thousands of enslaved people.

00:46:04.985 --> 00:46:19.271
As the Union army moved through Georgia, attracting freed slaves, sherman's army progressed and a growing number of formerly enslaved people saw the Union forces as liberators.

00:46:19.271 --> 00:46:22.429
They began following the army.

00:46:22.429 --> 00:46:30.489
They began following the army as Sherman's refugees seeking to secure their own freedom.

00:46:30.489 --> 00:46:38.431
Sherman estimated that by the time his army reached Savannah he had as many as 20,000 freed refugees following in his wake.

00:46:40.425 --> 00:46:51.750
I often think of Abraham Lincoln and those connected dots of the generals, and then I connect it with Martin Luther King Jr.

00:46:51.750 --> 00:46:57.360
All of these dots connected by God's providence.

00:46:57.360 --> 00:47:09.599
How so Did you know that Martin Luther King Jr was born in Atlanta, georgia, in 1929?

00:47:09.599 --> 00:47:14.679
And that he had great-grandparents who were essentially freed by Sherman's march to the sea in 1864.

00:47:14.679 --> 00:47:14.679
?

00:47:14.679 --> 00:47:24.550
And you know, king viewed Lincoln as a crucial figure in the fight for equality and used many of his writings to help the cause of equality.

00:47:24.550 --> 00:47:32.806
We're going to study more of Martin Luther King, as well as Booker T Washington and Lincoln's friend Frederick Douglass.

00:47:32.806 --> 00:47:48.023
Yes, the relationship between Douglas and Lincoln was complex in the beginning, but in the end they were both aligned and Frederick admired Lincoln more and more as his presidency wore on.

00:47:48.023 --> 00:47:50.929
But back to Martin Luther King.

00:47:50.929 --> 00:48:06.422
King used Lincoln's legacy to rightly argue for the urgent need to continue the work of creating a truly equal society, as Lincoln often said, a more perfect union.

00:48:06.422 --> 00:48:10.108
The connection of those dots is just incredible.

00:48:11.972 --> 00:48:20.617
Reflect and think about all of that From 1864 to 1964, and you have the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

00:48:20.617 --> 00:48:25.452
And one year later you have the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

00:48:25.452 --> 00:48:46.976
Now, as an aside, in the House of Representatives, the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act received overwhelming support from Northern Democrats and Republicans, but Southern Democrats largely opposed it.

00:48:46.976 --> 00:48:55.273
Even more so did Sherman, in his March to the Sea, get it right in 1864.

00:48:55.273 --> 00:49:15.253
Specifically, you can see this for the members of the state of Georgia All the members of Congress from the state of Georgia, both in the House and the Senate, voted against the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act some 100 years later.

00:49:15.253 --> 00:49:33.213
Let me repeat that Specifically all the members of the state of Georgia, all the members of Congress from that state, both in the House and the Senate, voted against the Civil Rights Acts and Voting Rights Acts over 100 years later.

00:49:33.213 --> 00:49:35.911
So Sherman was Right.

00:49:35.911 --> 00:49:48.280
He was supposed to march to the sea To prove the point that there is Equality, and those 20,000 freed slaves that followed in his wake Knew that intuitively.

00:49:50.867 --> 00:49:57.663
So let's remember what happened From Abraham Lincoln To Martin Luther King Jr, all in God's providence.

00:49:57.663 --> 00:50:04.646
Martin Luther King Jr had the famous quote about character of a man that I've always liked.

00:50:04.646 --> 00:50:16.114
But before we go there, how about the year of 1864 for our country and for our greatest president of the United States, abraham Lincoln?

00:50:16.114 --> 00:50:22.373
My Lord, what a brutal and tumultuous year for him and for our country.

00:50:22.373 --> 00:50:29.072
So in today's Mojo Minute, let us remember Abraham Lincoln as our greatest president.

00:50:30.260 --> 00:50:39.478
Let us also read history to understand the times and the thinking of the people who lived through them, especially that tumultuous year of 1864.

00:50:39.478 --> 00:50:41.141
Think of those people.

00:50:41.141 --> 00:50:43.226
They were just like you and me.

00:50:43.226 --> 00:50:47.494
They had lived through those tough times.

00:50:47.494 --> 00:50:50.184
Let's live history through them.

00:50:50.184 --> 00:51:02.766
Let's also remember Martin Luther King Jr as our greatest civil rights leader and let us always remember God's providence in the affairs of men and women In this world.

00:51:02.766 --> 00:51:09.550
After all, it's history, it's His story.

00:51:09.550 --> 00:51:14.291
Remember it's always his story.

00:51:17.681 --> 00:51:28.668
Here's the Martin Luther King quote I had promised the ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.

00:51:28.668 --> 00:51:33.338
Amen, challenge and controversy, amen.

00:51:33.338 --> 00:51:39.539
Thanks be to God for Abraham Lincoln for getting us through that tumultuous year of 1864.

00:51:39.539 --> 00:51:45.788
Thanks for General Sherman and essentially helping to win re-election for Lincoln.

00:51:45.788 --> 00:51:50.369
Thank you for General Grant for his belief in Sherman.

00:51:50.369 --> 00:52:08.179
And then, 100 years later, thank you to Martin Luther King Jr for helping create, help us to create a more perfect union with the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act of 1964 and 1965.

00:52:08.179 --> 00:52:13.369
Thanks be to God for all of that and, as always, let's keep fighting the good fight.

00:52:17.400 --> 00:52:18.626
Thank you for joining us.

00:52:18.626 --> 00:52:22.010
We hope you enjoyed this Theory to Action podcast.

00:52:22.010 --> 00:52:31.188
Be sure to check out our show page at teammojoacademycom, where we have everything we discussed in this podcast, as well as other great resources.

00:52:31.188 --> 00:52:35.030
Until next time, keep getting your mojo on.

MM#370--The Resilient Leader: Lincoln's 1864 Journey Some 160 Years Ago

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