Abraham Lincoln, long considered one of the nation's most able presidents, had until now been characterized as a decisive leader regarding the tough decisions he was required to make during the American Civil War. Documents recently discovered in Hawaii, however, cast doubt on this assertion and show the commander in chief acting in ways very similar to President Obama.
The first set of documents shows Lincoln being more cautious than previously thought when his generals requested more troops in 1863, prior to the Battle of Gettysburg. Instead of quickly providing the troops his generals required to reverse the momentum in a losing war, Lincoln instead took months to decide the issue saying, "I don't want to rush this grave decision." He eventually instituted an unpopular draft to secure the troop levels his field commanders felt were necessary, but not before months of deliberations with his cabinet, lobbyists, and the media.
Other similarities to President Obama were revealed in his behavior towards enemy combatants and military tribunals. Rather than keeping tens of thousands of suspected Confederate sympathizers imprisoned without trial during the war, as originally thought, he graciously released nearly all of them while the war was still being fought. Five of the most dangerous suspected Confederate agents were put on trial in the civil court system, where they were eventually released due to legal technicalities.
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