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Lift others up, even at cost to yourself

Lincoln won the presidential nomination despite facing 3 men with much better reputations than him. At the end of the day it was because Lincoln was always doing the right thing, lifting people up for the cause (not himself), while other people like Chase betrayed people to play the political game and gain victory.

When faced with a choice of 3 prestigious, intelligent, and capable people, each of whom had fought and alienated others, they chose Lincoln who was unknown and untested, but had lifted and supported (and entertained) people instead.

After he became President, Lincoln would often take the blame on behalf of his cabinet for things that were certainly not his fault. He would apologize for his carelessness, heedlessness - he never threw his cabinet to the wolves. He wrote a letter to Congress on behalf of a friend who was convicted that he and his entire cabinet “were at least equally responsible for whatever error, wrong, or fault was committed.”


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