Blog #69 – Politics in Lincoln
In the movie Lincoln, I had asked you to look for the different ways that Lincoln had exerted force, whether positive or negative, to get the 13th Amendment passed, a.k.a. politicking. Politicking is defined as “activities directed towards acquiring power and influence; achieving one’s own goals” (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/politicking).
Normally, we, as citizens, don’t usually see how laws are made and are not able to see the process that went into the lawmaking – the give and take between individuals, parties, etc. Sometimes, this process can be messy and may make us nauseous or uncomfortable with what kinds of compromises that politicians are willing to make. Are they really willing to compromise their principles to make this law?
Your job is to do the following:
1. List 3 ways in which Lincoln or his representatives exerted influence on others (usually Mr. Lathan or Mr. Schell) in order to get them to vote for the 13th Amendment. Be specific.
Here is the cast list for Lincoln: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0443272/fullcredits?ref_=tt_cl_sm#cast
2. Do you think that this is an undue or excessive use of Presidential power? Why or why not?
Lincoln had more than determination towards the abolishment of slavery, it was outstanding and groundbreaking. Abraham Lincoln wasn’t one to play dirty or cheat; after all, with one of his many nicknames being, “Honest Abe.” However, in the movie Lincoln, they demonstrate all of the underground sneaking and hustling Lincoln had to do in order to pass the 13th amendment. One of the three things I observed while watching the movie, Lincoln made white lies about the concern over the peace allegation. When asked about the peace allegation, Lincoln said he didn’t know of any peace allegation. Completely dismissing the concern to have congress focus on Lincoln’s main concern, the amendment. Secondly, the use of the spoils system is prominent in the office during this time. Lincoln had converted many citizens into governmental delegates, it was almost an alternate backbone for him in sticky situations. Lastly, Lincoln demanded the anti-slavery debate be discussed on the House floor, regardless of the pleas countering that the idea was pointless and a waste of time–knowing that the debate would be over in a short period of time due to many of the representatives’ close-mindedness. I think Lincoln did use an excessive use of Presidential power, but not entirely undue. Slavery was dividing the union, and had to be resolved or else the United States would’ve, quite literally, broken apart. Lincoln happened to take influential concern on this issue, although he was radical he was rational in most degrees during the Civil War. He kept his temper and cool for longer than most, and although he was twisting some minds in the process of passing the amendment, he did was he needed to do. Lincoln wasn’t using his power inappropriately, he was being a successful politician.
Manipulation and lying are processes that are extremely prominent in politics, whether hundreds of years ago or today. Our society often sees one person as the man who defied manipulative political battles. This man is Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln is nicknamed ‘Honest Abe’ because people believe him to consistently tell the truth and to be a figure of truth and perseverance. Lincoln is said to have run a campaign that offered his opinions on key issues, slavery, without twisting people to support him. While this viewpoint is great for Lincoln’s lasting impact on the world, the movie Lincoln shows what really occurred in Lincoln’s campaign. Lincoln shows quite the opposite of what we believe to be true now. It was obvious that the 13th amendment was controversial and people were very passionate about it. The debates about whether it should be passed or not were endless and intense. Lincoln, being very intelligent, knew that just stating his views on it wouldn’t win him anything but trouble. One of the main issues Lincoln faced, and didn’t respond entirely truthfully to, was the peace allegation. When asked about the peace allegation, Lincoln said he had no knowledge of it even though he was completely aware of it due to the people coming from Richmond, Virginia to vote no. By doing this the 13th amendment was passed and Lincoln used this lie to benefit himself and the country in the way he felt it should have changed. The spoils system was prominent as well because Lincoln offered many jobs as governmental delegates to those people who would have been unemployed in Congress. Another example of Lincoln manipulating people was when he told Blair that he would allow Blair to go to Richmond to bring a peace delegation back if Blair helped to find people who would support the 13th amendment. I personally think this was an excessive use of presidential power on Lincoln’s part, but I think it’s justified for the cause. I think slavery was a top notch issue and many people didn’t have the guts to fight for it the way Lincoln did. I don’t think that much change would have occurred without Lincoln twisting a few arms and lying a bit. Politics is a dirty business and I don’t think you can win without bending the truth a bit, I think that’s just how you become successful in politics. I think all of Lincoln’s negative actions were small in comparison to the impact the 13th amendment had on this nature back then and now.
The movie Lincoln outlined many details of the politicking that Lincoln used in order to pass the thirteenth amendment. First off, Lincoln sent out people to offer special favors to representatives if they would vote for the amendment. For instance, the guys he sent spent a lot of time influencing a representative from Ohio by offering to give him a good, high paying job if he voted yes. Another thing that had to be done in order for the amendment to pass was that it had to be passed before a peace treaty was signed, because many people, particularly the democrats and non abolitionist republicans, would only vote yes on the amendment because they believed it would end the war. But, if they were negotiating peace before the amendment, they would not vote yes because they would not think the amendment was necessary. However, there was a delegation from the south negotiating for peace. The democrats and non abolitionist republicans would vote to postpone the amendment until after peace talks if these rumors were true. So Lincoln replied, somewhat untruthfully, that there were no negotiators currently in Washington. This satisfied enough people so that the vote was mot postponed. One more thing that he did was get very radical republicans, such as Thaddeus Stevens, who did believe that slaves were equal to white men, to tone it down and become more moderate during the discussions about passing the amendment. They did this because most people who would potentially be convinced to vote for the amendment would not be supportive of giving blacks equal rights, so by going more moderate, he was able to convince more people to vote for the amendment. On the topic of whether or not Lincoln used excessive presidential power, I am unsure. When asked if there was a peace delegation in the south, he replied by saying that there were no negotiators currently in Washington. This is true in the sense that there weren’t negotiators in Washington, however, there were negotiators out there, and he did not mention them, even though that was really what the question was asking. So what he says was technically true, but not fully true. Also, Lincoln gave out quite a few special jobs and favors in exchange for votes, the legality of which can be questioned. However, I do think that he did the right thing in the sense that he did anything possible to get the amendment passed, and I think we are all certainly happy now, looking back on it, that he did what he did.
Lincoln used politicking throughout his time as president to help garner votes and support in his favor for things he needed to have done for the good of the nation. A huge example of this was the work on the thirteenth amendment. Beginning with the attempt to use Blair to gain support, Lincoln depended and campaigned on more than just his own word to get people to vote his way. He needed Blair to really gain support and sweet talk Republicans into voting to pass the amendment. Another example of politicking for the thirteenth amendment was the use of hired men to talk lame duck democrats into voting for the amendment’s passage. They were crucial in getting the 2/3 vote and through careful consideration and in some ways manipulation Lincoln was able to craft together a 2/3 majority. One way he did this was emphasis on the spoils system as an incentive to bring democrats closer and to get them working on his side. A third way Lincoln used politicking to get the vote was through denying the presence of confederates in Washington who might be ready to discuss peace. Lincoln knew that any talk of peace would drastically alter the vote so he turned a blind eye and in doing so just barely kept the vote in his favor. In all, Lincoln used rather an over abundance of political and Presidential power but the ends justified the means. He knew that the nation needed the amendment and it was a small but powerful group stopping this from happening, so he took the U.S.’ best interest and fought for it regardless of the possible politicking needed for that goal to be achieved.
To get the thirteenth amendment passed, abolishing slavery, Lincoln not only had to get all the republicans of his party in congress to vote yes but he needed some democrats too because he needed 2/3 of the congress vote. Lincoln’s secretary of state, Seward, found three men who would work on pursuing democrats to get votes. The three lobbyists for Lincoln, named Robert Latham, Richard Schell and W.N. Bilbo bribed congressmen to get the votes needed. They bribed some lame duck democrats with money, and jobs to get them to vote yes on the thirteenth amendment, in favor of abolishing slavery. For example, in the movie, a congressman on their list was leaving a bank and one of the lobbyists “accidentally” bumped into him and put all his money that “fell” into the congressman’s hands. Another underhanded trick of Lincoln was denying peace talks were occurring in hope of trying to end the war. Lincoln needed people to believe that the only way that the war could end was through the act of abolishing slavery. A third way Lincoln used shady politics was when he had the Radical Thaddeus Stevens hold the political seat of Alexander Coffroth over his head. Stevens threatened Coffroth, he told him that if Coffroth votes no on the amendment that he will lose his seat in the house. I do believe all these tricks Lincoln used to get the amendment passed were an excessive use of presidential power but justified. The wicked institution needed to end as soon as possible and Lincoln was just the man to make sure it was dismantled. Lincoln was put in the right place at the perfect time to do what he did. He was forced to twist arms and bribe but it was for the greatest good.
As a president, Lincoln did his fair share of “Politicking” in order to get passed what he and his party believed in, the end of slavery with the passing of the 13th amendment. The first way Lincoln used his powers to help pass the amendment was shown early in the film when Lincoln takes a carriage ride with Secretary of State Seward and discusses the possibilities of using bribes/ the spoils system to pass the amendment. Another way that Lincoln and his friends are seen using politics to get their way with the amendment is when Secretary of State Seward convenes with three lobbyists (Robert Latham, Richard Schell and W.N. Bilbo) in order to determine what “lame duck” Democrats they can recruit to vote for the passage of the 13th amendment. The biggest example of politicking that Lincoln or his friends use in the film is when the Seward lobby actually goes out and talks to the democrats they believe to be in favor of the amendment. This scene while shot is very impactful in the timeline of history because it shows just how far Lincoln would go to get this amendment passed. Although these actions may not have been legal it isn’t certain that those actions were ever carried out. To expand on this point, I believe that these actions by Lincoln were not an excessive use of presidential power. I believe this because Lincoln was trying to abolish slavery which was greater than any political evil that could have possibly be done in order to ensure the passing of the amendment.
1. Lincoln told his representatives to go out and get 20 democratic votes for the amendment so it would pass. They did this mostly by blackmailing them, using the spoils system, or guilting them into it. The representatives threatened to tell about one man who had slept with a prostitute if he didn’t give his vote up (so he voted yes). Most often, they offered them government jobs in order for them to say yes. Some people were still too afraid to risk it just for a job but others were more desperate. At one point Lincoln guilted a man into voting for the bill. The man was generally against slavery but he still wanted to vote no on the amendment. However, Lincoln’s words stuck with him and he ended up voting yes on the amendment. There was also some plain old violence and threatening in some cases.
(I tried to get the names of characters but I couldn’t remember what they looked like)
2. I think this was an excessive use of presidential power (by definition of what the president is allowed to do), however it was very much justifiable and there wasn’t much other choice. Lincoln was doing this because pretty much an entire race of people was being oppressed and treated as less than human. This was a matter of thousands of people going back into slavery after war for who knows how long! The decision also helped to end the war so both black and white lives were spared. That being said, it was still an overuse of what the president is allowed by the constitution (the very same constitution that kept humans in chains and would have continued too if he hadn’t taken such action against it). There had been many under looked abuses of presidential power in the past (Jackson for example) for much less justifiable reasons. Although Lincoln did more than he was allowed to, it was out of necessity. Although it was by definition excessive, it was not abusive.
In the movie “Lincoln”, Abraham Lincoln had to use politicking in order to pass the 13th Amendment. One of the more obvious examples occurs towards the end of the movie. There is a rumor that the Confederate peace delegation has come into Washington to discuss terms. This causes an outrage and they ask Lincoln if he knows anything about this. He says that, to the extent of his knowledge, there was no peace delegation in the capital. While this was technically true there was actually a peace delegation further south. Lincoln also hired out several lobbyists to gain votes in order to pass the amendment. Mr. Schell was a Democratic lobbyist and offered jobs to several of the Democratic lame ducks in an attempt to gain votes. One last example is how Lincoln tried to use a personal, emotional argument in an attempt to win over Representative Hutton’s vote. Hutton’s brother had died in the war and Lincoln told him to vote for the amendment so that his death would not have been in vain. Lincoln was not successful in gaining his vote, but it was still a flagrant display of politicking. The question still remains if what Lincoln did was an undue or excessive use of Presidential power. I personally believe that it was an excessive use of presidential power by Lincoln, but at the heart of the corruption there was only the best of intentions. Lincoln was a good man who was in a position in which he had to use corruption to remove corruption. There was a line in the movie that I think sums this up perfectly; “The greatest measure of the Nineteenth Century. Passed by corruption, aided and abetted by the purest man in America.” These have been just a few of the ways that Lincoln used corrupt politicking in order to make the country a better place.
While Lincoln was president, he played the political game in a way that he and his party got what they wanted and/or believed in, including passing the thirteenth amendment to end slavery. The first place Lincoln showed his political powers in the movie was when he visited Secretary of State Seward and they discussed whether or not they should use the spoils system to get the amendment passed. Lincoln then tried to find the weaker democrats. He then took time to convince and recruit them to the pro-thirteenth amendment side. The scene in which Lincoln and Seward did this in adds to an already powerful historical timeline because it justified and proved how far Lincoln would go just to make sure his plans were fulfilled. We aren’t positive if these actions were carried out, but it just shows how far he was willing to go to support what he believed in. I believe that Lincoln was not overstepping his presidential power because he was trying to fix something that would impact America for the better. He was trying to abolish slavery. And Lincoln believed that slavery was more evil than a political injustice would ever be, which is why he was willing to do it.
Skyeler McQ
Wickersham
APUSH
Our esteemed President Abraham Lincoln used politicking to pass the now venerated 13th amendment, which abolished slavery once and for all. Lincoln found some of his yes votes for the 13th amendment by making a deal with Mr. Blair. The president told this influential man that if he helped persuade congressmen to vote yes on the amendment, he would be allowed to go to Richmond Virginia. Blair wanted to travel to Richmond, the confederate capitol and stronghold, to convince Jefferson Davis, who presided over the south, to send a peace delegation to Washington D.C. In the end, both men received what they desired; Abraham’s 13th amendment passed and Blair’s peace delegation eventually reached Washington D.C. Ironically Lincoln also exerted his influence to delay the Richmond delegation, in order to pass the 13th. President Abraham Lincoln indirectly exerted his influence to recruit votes. Some representatives had been voted out of office for the next term, but still were able to vote on the 13th amendment. Lincoln’s associates, such as Mr. Bilbo, convinced out of work representatives like Clay Hawkins to vote yes on the 13th amendment. This was done by offering jobs as incentives. One final way Abraham Lincoln exerted influence on others to get them to vote on his amendment. When the time of the final vote for the 13th amendment came, a democrat (William Hutton? I’m not quite sure) brought up the supposed Richmond delegation that he said had arrived in Washington D.C. to negotiate for peace. Lincoln had made many people believe that the 13th amendment was the key to peace; if some congress members who had promised to vote on this bill heard of the confederate visit, they may switch their vote to no. Therefore, Lincoln exerted his influence by lying to the senate. He wrote out and signed that he did not know about any parties from Richmond coming to debate peace. Abraham used his influence as a trustworthy man, and president, to pass the monumental 13th amendment.
I believe Lincoln’s actions excessively used his power as president. I think Abraham made the vote unfair by influencing the vote. The entire point of having multiple branches in the government is to prevent corruption and balance power. By making these representatives vote yes, Lincoln basically became a monarch. He wielded almost unlimited power. Though I think president Lincoln excessively used his power, I believe it was worth it in this situation. When the cause is just, such as the abolition of the enslavement of thousands of people, the ends are worth the means.
Politics is a dog eat dog world, if you can’t hold your own then you’ll go under. In the movie, Lincoln showed knowledge when it came to passing the 13th Amendment. He would use everyday people, money, and partial truth. Lincoln would help out your everyday average Joes, in exchange for the good word of the Amendment with their congressmen. This assisted Lincoln, since word coming from the people wouldn’t sound like a conspiracy, but a voice of the people saying this is what we want to do, and you should vote for that. The old school politicking trick was always money. This was demonstrated in the film when one of the democratic congressmen was tripped and when the republicans were helping gather the money, they showed the Amendment in a folder and began to pile all of his money into the folder. In a less then poetic way, they were showing that they were buying his vote on the Amendment. Using the oldest trick in the book, Lincoln got most of the democratic votes that way, so it just goes to show there’s no school like the old school. Finally Lincoln was able to stretch the truth when it came to the peace allegation. He thought ahead when it came down to it, weeks before he changed the location for discussing the peace allegation, so when asked if it was true that they were in Washington, Lincoln honestly said no. That was true; they weren’t in Washington, they were in Philadelphia. Telling the partial truth was also another trick Lincoln used to get the Amendment passed. I don’t think that this was an excessive use of his presidential power because he didn’t do most of the dirty work. He was the brains yes, but not necessarily the brawn. He had his followers be the secret force behind the votes, so he wouldn’t be publicly shamed. It’s not playing dirty, it’s just politics. Lincoln wasn’t like Andrew Jackson who used the veto 12 times; he just simply acted like a politician.
1. Abraham Lincoln absolutely used his power to influence others to vote for and support the 13th amendment. There is a lot of things that the general public does not know about Lincoln seeing as he is nicknamed “Honest Abe” when some of his actions weren’t honest at all. President Lincoln used the spoil system to get support for the 13th amendment. Lincoln offered jobs and such to people who had lost previous elections or had lower positions in the government. For example, Mr. Lathan and Mr. Schell offered lame duck Democrats federal jobs to secure the necessary votes needed to pass the 13th amendment. Also, Lincoln and his men participated in much lying and manipulation to persuade people to support and vote for the 13th amendment. Finally, Lincoln vetoed any compromise that didn’t end slavery. He stated he was elected to end it and that’s what he would do.
2. I believe that some of Lincoln’s actions were an excessive use of Presidential power but it was absolutely for a great cause. Slavery was a horrid thing that needed to end and he took the necessary measures to get America to where it is today. I believe this because President Lincoln did hire people to persuade members of congress to vote for the 13th amendment instead of letting people decide of their own. He also used the spoil system to get votes and sway people’s decisions. I will address that I might judge him harshly because I am so surprised that he wasn’t the “Honest Abe” I was told he was as a child, but I still believe he was a great man who fought for what he believed in and ended a terrible time in history.
To pass the thirteenth amendment which abolished slavery Lincoln had to get a 2/3 vote in congress. This means that needs to get all of the republicans on his side and also he need some democrats too. Lincoln’s secretary of state Seward found three men who would work on pursuing democrats to get votes. The three campaigners for Lincoln, named Robert Latham, Richard Schell and W.N. Bilbo persuaded congressmen to get the votes needed. They persuaded some lame duck democrats with money, and jobs to get them to vote yes on the thirteenth amendment, in favor of abolishing slavery. For example, in the movie, a congressman on their list was leaving a bank and one of the campaigners bumped into him and put all his money that fell into the congressman’s hands. Lincoln refused to talk about peace throughout the time he was trying to abolish slavery. Lincoln tried to get people to believe that the only possible way to the war was abolishing slavery. A third way Lincoln used shady politics was when he had the Radical Thaddeus Stevens hold the political seat of Alexander Coffroth over his head. Stevens threatened Coffroth, he told him that if Coffroth votes no on the amendment that he will lose his seat in the house. I do believe all these tricks Lincoln used to get the amendment passed were an over use of the power that he had, but it was justified because he was trying to stop slavery. Lincoln was put in the right place at the perfect time to do what he did. He was forced to twist arms and bribe but it was for the greatest good.
In the movie, Abraham Lincoln used politicking to have people vote “yes” on the 13th amendment in congress, and get it passed. One of the ways in which Lincoln exerted influence on others in order to get them to vote for the 13th amendment was shown when he was talking to Representative Hutton. In order to influence Hutton’s vote, Lincoln started to bring up the death of Hutton’s brother. His brother died fighting in the war, and Lincoln said that Hutton’s brother died for this amendment, and this country, and to not let his death go wasted and be for nothing. Even though Hutton did not vote for the amendment in congress, it was still an act of politicking that Abraham Lincoln did. Another use of politicking in the movie “Lincoln” was when Richard Schell and others would go around to bribe people with money and jobs in congress or such for their votes on putting through the 13th amendment. The last use of Lincoln influencing people to vote for the amendment was with Seward. He went over to his house, and the discussed the spoils system, and whether or not to use it. Then going to the weakest democrats, and took time to convince them of the amendment, and how it would benefit our country greatly if it was passed. Personally, I think that this was an excessive use of the presidential power that Lincoln was using. Yes, the amendment was the right thing vote for, campaign for, and it drastically changed our country. But, at the same time Lincoln was bringing up personal stories, such as Hutton’s, invading people’s home, and offering them bribes that might not actually come true.
During Lincoln’s presidency, he did a good amount of bending the rules to get the thirteenth amendment passed. He knew that he would need 2/3 of congress’ vote, so Lincoln was going to have had to not only received republican votes, but a fair share of democrat votes to pass it as well. One way Lincoln used his power as president to his advantage was by the use of the spoils system. Lincoln was offering jobs to some democrats to sway them to see that the only way to end the war was to end slavery. Lincoln also used his lobbyists, Robert Latham and Richard Schell, to bribe certain congressmen to vote for Lincoln’s thirteenth amendment. In the movie, one of these lobbyists was to find a democratic congressman and accidentally bump into him and “drop” all his money into the congressman’s hands. Another way Lincoln lied to get people on his side for this amendment was him denying that there were any people going out and giving peace talks about how the war should end. Lincoln lied about this because he needed people on his side in believing that the only way to end the war was through the abolition of slavery altogether. Lincoln definitely used being president to his advantage, but for good reason. Lincoln’s overall goal was to get slavery abolished, any way that he had to. He was willing to twist peoples’ arms and bend the political rules a little in order to get what he wants. This wasn’t an excessive use of his presidential power though. He used his resources to get what he believed was necessary for the abolition of slavery and the passing of the thirteenth amendment.
Abraham Lincoln would politick when he would lie when he would talk about peace allegations, then declare he knew nothing about them. Lincoln had the House of Representatives discuss the anti-slavery debate, which caused some members to change their minds, mostly ones who would abstain. Lincoln was short 2 votes and said he would resort to any means necessary to obtain the votes. Lincoln also used the spoils system, where he would put company higher-ups into power and agree with him for money, to his advantage to gain support, as was commonplace for the time. Lincoln did use a lot of executive power, but I do not believe it was excessive use of power. Having the amendment signed was a race against the clock, he needed to have the amendment signed and ratified before the South could say anything about it, and then may have been the only time the amendment could be ratified, if the amendment was passed after the South re-joined they wouldn’t allow it to be ratified; they would resist as much as possible to keep the amendment from being signed. It is definitely not undue, since he was trying to abolish slavery which was a hellish institution and is shameful that it ever was legal. As previously stated, before the South was re-admitted into the Union would have likely been the only time Lincoln could have the amendment ratified. Lincoln used lots of executive power and thus expanded the power the President has by a very large margin, overall increasing the power of the Executive Branch.
Dylan Sutton
APUSH/ 3rd hour
12/15/14
Blog #69- Politics in Lincoln
There were many ways in which Lincoln had people persuade fellow opposites to the 13th amendment. One way was where one of Lincoln’s men chased a representative opposite to the amendment all throughout town. The representative kept saying no because one of the South’s men would kill him if he voted for the amendment. Lincoln’s man fell down breathless. This representative later voted for the amendment as he found that other representatives were also voting for it. Another way Lincolns men brought someone on board was they brought a representative in to Presidents Lincolns office. Again this representative argued heavily against the amendment for his was from the south. There was nothing Lincoln or his men could do. However, when it came time to vote this representative saw that other people not likely to vote for the amendment id so he voted for it as well. The final time was when one of Lincoln’s men took out a gun on a representative and tried to persuade him to vote for the amendment. (I’m not sure if this was for Lincoln or this was someone else trying to kill another person).
I think this is appropriate use of presidential power maybe a little excessive but for the right reasons. This amendment was to abolish slavery so I believe that Lincoln had total rights to do whatever he could to pass this amendment. Maybe he shouldn’t have sent people out to persuade fellow representatives, but he could have done this himself. You look at all the great speeches Lincoln has spoken over his life span and deep down you know it’s possible for him to persuade opposing representatives. Otherwise I think it was an appropriate use of Lincoln’s power.
The civil war was a time of great distress; especially politically. In order to end the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln had to find a way to pass the 13th amendment, ending slavery. Without sufficient backing from the House of Representatives, this would prove to be a difficult task. And as it turns out, honest Abe wasn’t always so honest. For example, to get his votes, he hired lobbyists to offer jobs to democrats who failed to win reelection (spoils system). Lincoln also bribed the democrats. For example, in the movie, it shows the lobbyist “accidentally” dropping money near a democratic representative who they needed the vote from. Lincoln also manipulated the thoughts of other representatives by saying that there were no peace talks going on with the confederacy, and that the only way to end this war was by voting for the 13th amendment and abolishing slavery. In this way, the representatives that wanted to preserve the union were further persuaded to vote for the amendment to end war. Basically, the main goal for Lincoln was to obtain votes from the democrats by any means necessary to get the two thirds vote in the House in order to do what he knew was right. I do, however, think that this is an overuse of presidential power. I do not think that representatives and presidents should manipulate each other for their own personal views and benefit instead of the benefit and views of the people. The bribing simply isn’t right, and it makes me extremely worried that this goes on today.
In Steven Spielberg’s 2012 film ‘Lincoln’ the audience is introduced to the final four months of the president’s life and his brutal fight to the death (literally) to end the civil war and completely abolish Slavery across the map in the USA. We are taken on an epic historical journey alongside Honest Abe himself as he progresses in his firm stand against Slavery and of the leadership of the greatest nation on earth out of slavery and cotton into the dawn of the Industrial Age of humanity as the country progresses into international spotlight and becomes what it is today. The disgust of Slavery is shown onto the audience, and the other side of his trials for the Thirteenth Amendment to pass and end the civil war is revealed.
The first amongst these trials is the excessive use of the Spoils System, in which politicians are gifted high-paying jobs in return for their votes on the thirteenth amendment. This campaign is led by Lincoln’s cabinet members. The men basically travel to the ‘lame-duck’ democrats that are soft on slavery and have no general purpose in the House, and convince them to vote on the amendment in favor of the President. As just mentioned earlier, they are then given political offices with generous salaries. This could be seen as indirect bribery, as Lincoln refuses to turn to bribery in the attempt to pass the amendment. Next, Lincoln refuses peace delegations from the South into Washington. This is because he believes that the amendment would never pass if it is not tied in together with ending the war, as that is the main agenda of the representatives instead of ending slavery. The third action Lincoln does is accept Mr. Blair’s request to travel to Richmond, which secures Blair’s attempt to get others to vote on the amendment.
Lastly, I believe Lincoln’s actions were justified although they were recognizably illegal and could be seen as an abuse of powers. I firmly believe it is an exception as a large portion of the Senate already believed in passing the amendment, just not a sure 2/3 vote. The passing of the amendment and ratification of the American Constitution also ended the war, which was highly valued as the most important thing by the entire country, for the most part.
“Honest Abe” may not have lived up to his nickname in regards to passing the 13th amendment. Lincoln and his representatives often exerted influence on others in order to get the amendment passed. In order to pass the amendment, 2/3 of the house would have to agree to it. Two prime examples of his politicking are when he bribed “Lame Duck” democrats to vote yes on the amendment and when he used the Spoils System to his advantage, promising jobs to democrats who would work on his side. These helped him get the 2/3 he needed. Another instance of politicking occurred when rumors of a peace conference began to spread. When asked if one was happening in Washington, Lincoln denied the existence of any peace conference happening there, though there was one occurring. Just not in Washington. I think this would be an excessive use of power in almost any other situation, but what stops me from thinking that this is just another corrupt person in power was the fact that Lincoln was trying to stop a war. He thought that passing the amendment would stop the war, so he did what he could to get it passed. I do think that the government should be a place where people are honest (not going to get that any time soon) and that votes should not be something to be bought and sold. But most of all I think a government should protect its people and that is what I think Lincoln was trying to do.
Robbie Juriga
Blog 69
Throughout Lincoln politicking was demonstrated by almost all of Lincoln’s cabinet and was most apparent in the time right before the final votes were tallied. Lincoln has received a reputation in history as honest hardworking man (which is true) but while he might have had a clean(er) reputation he was one to twist a few arms for his cause. In the movie I noticed three way that Lincoln’s “Henchmen” persuaded iffy democrats for their cause. The first of which was bribery. In the movie William Seward pays a visit to three men, William Bilboe, Robert Latham, and Richard Schell and tells them that in order to garner the two-thirds majority they needed to convince several democrats to ensure the passing of the amendment. The second way was with patronages, probably the most widely accepted ways of votes, people in Lincoln’s cabinet such as Latham and Schell use the probability of Lincoln’s re-election to secure votes in exchange for a job in his second term as president. The third way was that Lincoln tried to make everyone believe that the 13th amendment would end the war, but in actuality Lincoln’s cabinet knew if they made everyone think it was true more people would vote for the amendment if it meant ending the bloody and gruesome war that had negatively affected so many families.
I believe that this movie and Lincoln’s control in office is a perfect example of excessive use in presidential power. Lincoln had made himself a symbol of righteousness in America through the eyes of the people and from there politicians (I assume) would be wise to agree with the most loved person in America at the time (slight over exaggeration). Whether its bribes or patronages Lincoln was a determined man and had the resources to get others to “look differently upon the situation”. I think Lincoln exhausted every available resource within arms reach to get his way while still retaining his public image.
As president, Abraham Lincoln did everything in his power to get the thirteenth amendment passes, abolishing slavery. The first bit of politicking in the film by Lincoln was when he told his representatives to go out and get votes on the amendment from both republicans and democrats. A lot of the ways that these men would get these stubborn politicians to change their vote was by blackmailing them. An example is when Lincoln threatened to tell people about an event with one politician who had sexual affairs with a prostitute. Another way Lincoln persuaded people to vote for the thirteenth amendment was by promising desperate men with government jobs. An example of this is when Lincoln sent his men out to promise an Ohio representative to vote for the passing of the bill, consequently if the representative did so Lincoln would provide him with a solid government job. Another thing that Lincoln did to abolish the institution of slavery by getting the amendment passed was that he completely lied to politicians who asked if the confederacy had tried to negotiate peace with him. Lincoln knew that democrats and the non-abolitionist republicans would only vote on the thirteenth amendment if they knew it would end the war, therefore if he said yes then they would not vote on the passing of the bill. The final way that Lincoln would use “Politicking” to get his way is when he orders Steward, the secretary of state to meet with Robert Latham, Richard Schell and W.N. Bilbo. The goal of this meeting was to share what democrats they thought would be vulnerable to saying yes to the thirteenth amendment. I believe that Lincoln’s use of power was excessive however not undue. I believe this because the odds were against Lincoln with the passing of the thirteenth amendment and he knew that it wasn’t possible to get his way without corruption or bribes he knew that to make this colossal step for the human race he would have to play dirty.
1. List 3 ways in which Lincoln or his representatives exerted influence on others (usually Mr. Lathan or Mr. Schell) in order to get them to vote for the 13th Amendment. Be specific.
Lincoln is a movie that, instead of showing Abraham Lincoln’s final days as being somber and heroic, him finishing a chess game played against the south, portrays him as a man willing to twist arms, stretch truths, and look for loopholes in the interest of abolishing slavery and returning the Union to its former power. For instance, in the interest of gaining more votes for abolishing slavery, Lincoln and co. exploited Hawkins, a pro-slavery Democrat, who would soon leave office, saying that they would offer him a job, but only if Mr. Hawkins would vote for abolishing slavery. This twisting of arms shows exactly what you’d expect in a spy thriller, not in a biopic. Lincoln and his fellows also search for the weak-willed pro-slavery Democrats, seeking to exploit their wishy-washy nature for the sake of gaining more votes. Lincoln shows us here that he is not truly concerned with what Congress truly thinks about slavery. He is more interested in attaining what he believes is the only way for him to make an impact on the United States. Finally, and most shockingly, Lincoln stretches the truth, when confronted about the peace allegation. He says that he knows of no diplomats looking to make peace in the city of Washington, D.C. This is true, but cleverly hides the fact that there will be discussion of peace, just not in D.C. Lincoln is not the “Honest Abe” of elementary school textbooks. He is not afraid to run the long con to achieve his ends. It’s difficult for any moral person to say whether this is a misuse of presidential power, because it was a major step in the ongoing search for racial equality in America, an overall good thing. Were Lincoln to use these *ahem* draconian methods for some other purpose, like getting money for a purpose like simply funding armed conflict, I would be completely opposed to the idea. But, since it has only led to the freedom of slaves, I believe that his deceit is completely warranted, and even admirable.
To pass the 13th amendment Lincoln had to pull a lot of strings, some in his own newly formed republican party and some in the democratic party since a 2/3 vote was need to pass the amendment. First off Lincoln talks to secretary of state Seward talks about the possibility of bribes or implementing the spoils system to pass the amendment and get some democrats to his side. Also when the amendment was going to be voted on new was heard that a meeting discussing peace was going be held in the capital. They wanted to post pone to vote to see if the war was going to be settled at these meetings. They decided to ask Lincoln if this news was true to which he responded “there is no meeting being held in Washington DC” (paraphrased). There actually was a group heading to Lincoln but he changed the meeting to another city so that he would not be lying when he said this. It was the right time to vote, he also didn’t want anyone to change their minds. He also told very radical republicans, such as Thaddeus Stevens, who believed that blacks should have equal rights to whites to not be as radical. Lincoln didn’t want people to think that passing the amendment in turn gave equal rights to blacks because this would decrease the number of pro voters. I believe that Lincoln is trying whatever he can do to pass the most important amendment in the history of the US. He may be over extending his legal abilities as the president, but this will save countless lives in slavery and in the war effort.
1) The 13th amendment would be passed only if 2/3’s of the congress at the time voted yes. There were 56 Republicans and 64 Democrats which means Lincoln had to get 20 Democrats to vote yes. One way in which Lincoln persuaded senators to vote yes was to hire lobbyists to go out and talk to lame duck democrats and persuade them to vote yes. The lobbyists would follow the congressmen into restaurants, on hunting trips, and in the congress building until they would agree to vote yes. Another way Lincoln tried to get the amendment passed was to talk to senators themselves to try and persuade them. Near the end of the movie, he talks to one senator who wanted the war to stop but was unsure about voting yes or no for the amendment. Lincoln reminds him to think of his dead loved ones and who had started the war in the first place and mentions the benefits of the 13th amendment if passed. A third way the president got yes votes, was to allow lame duck democrats who would most likely lose their seats in the next election keep their seats only if they voted yes. It was a bribe, vote yes and keep your seat. Vote no, and lose your high paying federal job.
2) I think that the President definitely used excessive executive power. He used force to get people to vote yes. He said to his cabinet that he wanted this amendment passed now, now, now! He had lobbyists stalk congressmen until they said yes. He lied and manipulated people about the amendment saying that it would end the war and not abolish slavery. I also think that it was justifiable because he was trying to free an entire race of oppressed people who were being treated horribly and like animals. I think the amendment had not been passed at the time it did, the world would have been very different. Slavery and the racist traditions that developed within slavery would have lasted for at least 50 years if not 100 more year of human bondage in America. It would be a country of mass contradiction when most people would stress freedom and human rights in and out of the constitution in all situations under of law whereas on the other hand, slavery would build the economy and conflict with the reputation of the supposed free country of liberty. Therefore, his excessive use of presidential power to free the slaves was not abusive but is justifiable due to the circumstance in which the amendment was passed.
In Lincoln, the titular man represents an interesting dichotomy: He is fighting for what is perhaps one of the most morally right reasons possible, yet at the same time he utilizes means that are morally ambiguous or at times morally wrong to accomplish his ends. This brings up an important question: do the ends that Lincoln envisioned justify the means he used to reach these ends? Or is the righteousness of his cause lost because of the “dirty deeds” he did for this cause? Really, that depends on how wrong you consider what he did. Firstly, and most evidently, Lincoln “bought” votes for the 13th Amendment by offering jobs to lame-duck Democrats from the House of Representatives. Actually, that’s not entirely true: He authorized some of his cabinet members (primarily his Secretary of State, William Seward) to hire men who would go out and offer jobs to said lame-duck Democrats. This is perhaps the most significant thing that Lincoln did in order to directly get the 13th Amendment passed. This is actually not particularly underhanded, as the Spoils System grants Lincoln the power to do this. Next would be the presidents twisting of words in order to legally make his Emancipation Proclamation. This falls considerably deeper into a grey-area morally: He based the legality of the proclamation on heavy amounts of interpretation of the powers granted to him by the Constitution, interpretations that sometimes were in direct conflict with his own personal beliefs (for instance, Lincoln claimed that the Constitution granted him war powers, one of which was the ability to claim property from belligerent nations. This is what allowed him to emancipate the South’s slaves; however, it also implies that he viewed the slaves as property, which he did not). The constitutional-ness of his interpretation was not dealt with in the film, however some historians speculate that Lincoln would have been impeached because of it had he not been assassinated. Lastly, Lincoln carefully worded his own statements so as to conceal certain things. For instance, when asked whether a peace delegation had been sent by the Confederates and been met with by Union politicians, Lincoln slyly responded that there was no delegation that he knew of. Such uses of his power could be considered excessive or abusive. However, that requires one to ignore the reasons for what Lincoln did. His goal was to abolish slavery in America once and for all, which he did. In order to do that, he had to do some things that could be considered “wrong” or immoral. But, ultimately, I do not think that that matters. At least in this case, Abraham Lincoln’s ends did justify his means.
1. Abraham Lincoln did many things to influence people to vote for the 13th amendment. For example, he used the spoils system to his advantage to have people on the inside helping him with votes. The choice of people he trusted was incredibly useful in having them spread his ideas in places where he had no power. On another note, Lincoln used bribery as a way to get his votes, sometimes offering jobs to those who would support him with their vote. Finally, Lincoln exerted his influence by delaying the peace delegation. He believed that if they had declared peace with the south the amendment would have never been passed so he used his power to delay it as much as he could. If Lincoln had not used the power he possessed the 13th amendment may have never been passed.
2. Lincolns indirect and direct influence lead to the passing of the 13th amendment.
I believe this was an undue or excessive use of his presidential power. While I believe the reasoning behind his excessive use of power is justified, he may have done things that would not be accepted in today’s society. Bribing other representatives in order by using his presidential power should not be done. It is incredibly wrong to bribe somebody to get what you want, even in this situation. On another note, delaying the peace delegation may have incredibly helped his cause, but also lead to the continuous deaths of soldiers. Using his power to delay the delay could be seen as excessive because he was doing anything he could to pass the amendment even if it meant not stopping the war.
In the movie Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln used the strategy of politicking to persuade democrats in the House of Representatives to vote for the 13th amendment, which freed all slaves. One example in the movie that Lincoln used to persuade votes was his use of the spoil system. Lincoln used the spoil system to his advantage when he was talking with his friends about how to get votes for democrats. Lincoln talked with his Secretary of State, William Seward, on ways to get the 2/3 votes to pass the amendment. In the movie, Lincoln takes a carriage ride with Seward and they talk about ways to convince democrats, which leads to the second way Lincoln used politicking. Lincoln had three lobbyists go around to “lame duck” democratic representatives to persuade them to vote for the amendment. These lobbyists were Robert Latham, Richard Schell and W.N. Bilbo. In the movie, these three went to the debates within the House of Representatives and scoured the democratic side to see whom they could convince to vote for the amendment. At the beginning of the movie, the lobbyists took notes on which representatives they could convince, those who with some persuasion could switch sides, and a list of people who would not change views no matter what. A third way Lincoln used politicking was denying that he had any knowledge that Confederate presence was going to be in Washington during the vote. Right before the actual vote for the amendment happened, a democratic representative said that Confederate representatives were coming to Washington D.C. to discuss terms on the war and that this could change views of democrats voting yes on the amendment. After this accusation, the three lobbyists went to go see Lincoln and got in writing that Lincoln had no knowledge of Confederate representatives coming to Washington. Some people might say that Lincoln excessively used his presidential power through politicking, but I believe that when the President has the spoils system and is in the situation of the freedom of slaves than he is using his powers correctly. Lincoln used his connections and friends to help free slaves even though some might think he was using too much power. So overall, Lincoln used complex ways of politicking to get 2/3 votes for the 13th amendment but didn’t use too much presidential power because of the situation the country was in at that point in history.
3 ways in which Lincoln or his representatives exerted influence on others in order to get them to vote for the 13th Amendment was 1, by getting Mr. Lathan, Mr. Schell, and Mr. Blair to speak to democrats that can possibly change their votes and come to Lincoln’s side 2, by convincing individuals to do what he wanted (them to vote yes for the 13th Amendment) by offering jobs into the government, or also called the Spoils System, and 3, by lying to the opposite side (the confederates or senate) that he had no clue that there were other groups seeking a meeting for peace. Lincoln was notified of everything by his representatives and secretaries and lied to sneakily to get things working for the 13th Amendment. I think that this is an undue use of Presidential power because without all these sneaky acts, the 13th Amendment would’ve never been accepted into the nation through popularity vote in the government. Lincoln used his tactics and clever ideas to accomplish what he believed was right for the nation and what needed to happen to solve this slavery conflict that had been going on since the birth of the nation. I believe Lincoln was a man who did things for the good of the nation and not for himself. It might’ve been an excessive use of Presidential power if the outcome was bad. The nation became united and was finally able to come to an agreement on slavery that benefited both sides in a way. The North finally abolished slavery while the South no longer would be afraid of the danger slaves can make upon their families. Therefore, Lincoln rightfully owned the powers he used to pass the amendment because he was, in my opinion, a man of good will.
Still in this day and age lying, compromising on principals, or “politicking” is still very prominent in politics, although we do not always see it. Lincoln and his representatives spent a great amount of time and effort politicking in order to get the 13th amendment passed; something we do not often see or hear about when learning about amendments and laws passing. Lincoln accomplished this passing by hiring others to convince congressmen to vote “yes” on the amendment. They made a list of everyone who was borderline and worked on obtaining the 2/3 majority required for the amendment to pass. The spoil system was incredibly prevalent during this time. Congressmen would be bribed with high-level government jobs if they voted for the amendment. Also, many congressmen were bribed with money for the amendment. When one of Lincoln’s representatives “bumped” into a congressman, who was borderline and on their list, at a bank the representative then put money into the congressman’s hand claiming he had “dropped” it. That is another example of the bribes used to convince congressmen to vote “yes” on the amendment. On top of that some men voted yes, because of blackmail or guilt. For example, one congressman’s brother died in the civil war and Lincoln asked him if his brother died for nothing? Was this man really going to vote against something his brother had died for! That man ended up voting yes. Also, some men voted yes just due to peer pressure of other congressmen. When it came down to it some men voted “yay” because they knew it was the right thing to do, and when they saw other men voting yes they knew they should do the same. Although all of this politicking may have been an excessive use of presidential power I think it was justified. This was an amendment that needed to be passed, and I believe Lincoln saw the importance of it and did whatever it took for it to be passed. Although lying, bribing, guilting, and blackmailing are not very ethical practices the result of those practices was one of the most important changes our nation has made. So although the means required were a little extreme it was what was necessary for slavery to finally be abolished from America.
The use of politics that Lincoln used during his presidency, were to help him receive votes and more support from his followers. An example of his use of politics was by ignoring the confederates in Washington that might want to discuss the topic of peace. Lincoln knew that the talking of peace would greatly change the vote so he ignored talking about peace and therefore just kept the vote in his hands. Another way he used his politics was, which is also a very big and important way he used it, was during his work on the thirteenth amendment. He tried using Blair to gain some support for votes. Blair was used by Lincoln to get the Republicans to vote for and pass the amendment. Lincoln needed Blair, so his tactic was to campaign for some other people, including Blair, as well as himself, so he could point more votes into his own direction. A second example off the topic of Lincolns politicking over the thirteenth amendment was when he would hire his men to speak to democrats and getting them to vote for passing the thirteenth amendment. Lincoln’s hired men were very important to him. They helped in getting the two thirds vote, which helped Lincoln gain the two thirds majority. A way he was able to acquire these hired man was by using the spoils system. This made people want to help Lincoln and therefor do what Lincoln wanted them to do. Over all, Lincoln had many uses of his politics and therefore did better. He knew that the thirteenth amendment had to be passed, it would help the nation greatly, and I believe it was this action where his politics are best shown.
As much as one might try to “play nice” in politics, it really won’t get you anywhere. Though he was nicknamed Honest Abe, behind the scenes, he, too, had to scheme and manipulate in order to get ahead. One ofthe ways he did this was by using the spoils system. The spoils system was a way for President Lincoln to get more supporters of the 13th Amendment. In exchange for their vote “yes” to the 13th Amendment, they would get a job working for ol’ Honest Abe. Another way Lincoln got votes was simply by buying people’s votes. One example of this is when the congressman galls and his money goes everywhere, and is then put into the folder with the amendment. One more way Lincoln used politicking was making it more personal. Lincoln told Rep. Hutton that he should vote for the amendment so that his brother’s death wouldn’t have been in vain. Personally, I think that in most cases this would be abusing the president’s power, but, since it was for a good cause, in this case, I think the opposite. It was a good use of Lincoln’s power.
The movie Lincoln showed examples of many ways that Lincoln politicked to pass the 13th amendment during the civil war. One major was politicking was shown is that Lincoln was pressed to persuade congressmen to vote on the amendment before a peace treaty for the war was signed. The war was a primary reason for why these politicians would even consider voting yes for the amendment because they were under the belief that if the 13th amendment was voted in that the war would be brought to an end. Another strategy used by Lincoln to win over votes was his use of the spoils system. This is particularly exercised when Lincoln offers an Ohio representative a well-paying, high ranked job in the government. Adding onto Lincoln’s promise of spoils, he also had several lobbyists whose main job was to persuade and bribe any and all congressmen who were in opposition to the amendment. Another, yet untruthful, strategy used by Lincoln was his decision to deny the existence of any peace negotiations happening in the country to settle the war. If any talk of the peace negotiations were ruled legitimate, the congressmen would feel that there is no need for the 13th amendment to be passed and therefore, voting it down. A question still stands if whether or not Lincoln’s choices were an under-use or an exploitation of his presidential power. In my opinion, I feel like Lincoln took the necessary precautions and actions that were required to restore peace and union within our country. If these actions were taken in another time period with another amendment under different circumstances then I would agree that it would be a relative overuse of his presidential jurisdiction. Overall though, I feel like Lincoln did an adequate job in terms of doing what he felt was right for the country and the preservation of the union.
Abraham Lincoln was driven by the urge to complete the task that he had spent the last 5 years working towards. This resolve was the driving force behind the politicking and dirty plays Lincoln did. To pass his law through the House of Representatives, he was required to use underhanded tactics while maintaining the image of “Honest Abe”. In order to do this, most of the politicking was done by a third party. They offered good government jobs to people still “on the fence” in their side for the bill, as well as used their control over the election committee for the house to threaten others. This was all in order to secure the twenty extra votes required to pass the 13th Amendment. Abraham Lincoln also used the 13th Amendment as a way to end the war, even forgoing actual peace delegations to pass it.
I believe that Abraham Lincoln did stretch his rights as the president of the United States of America. However, that is not to say that he should be condemned for it, as the good that the 13th Amendment brought was indeed enough to swipe his slate clean. Plots and politicking are a gear in the machinery that is democracy, and without it decisions would be slow and wouldn’t really amount to much. The fact that the end product of Abraham Lincoln’s politicking was good as well as the fact that he didn’t hurt anyone to do it, makes it believable that it was worth it.
Apush blog 69
Jacob Bejune
All through the movie Lincoln Abraham Lincoln uses politicking to achieve the ratification of the 13th amendment. We see him using a team of associates to persuade people by any means to achieve the goal of swaying people to Lincoln’s cause. The first use of bribery is when Lincoln’s associates offer the position of postmaster to the representative from Ohio, Clay Hawkins. This tactic succeeded because Clay Hawkins was not going to be re-elected and was in need of a job. A career as a postmaster was very lucrative position for the time. Another example of politicking was when Tommy Lee jones, playing Thaddeus Stevens, intimidates a weak willed, lame duck representative into voting for the 13th amendment. He managed to convince a democrat to support an extreme republican. It was extraordinary that bribe was not required to convince him, only intimidation alone was forceful enough to convert someone to Lincoln’s cause. The 3rd technique used by Lincoln I passing the 13th amendment was deception. Before the final vote for the amendment Lincoln uses clever vocabulary to avoid the issue that there was a delegation. In reality Lincoln had “trapped” the delegation on board a steamship. He had the ship come to Washington at a crawl. This gave Lincoln enough time to pass the 13th amendment.
Abraham Lincoln used excessive power to achieve the abolition of slavery. In this situation the end goal easily justifies the methods used. Lincoln used his power to influence other people to support him. It is not just to bribe or manipulate people to achieve anything. It goes against the political system in place in America.
President Lincoln and his representatives used politicking as a way to accomplish their goal of passing the 13th amendment multiple times, but not for the wrong reasons. For example, in order for the Republican part to get the votes of congressmen and senators that were either in the middle, or didn’t even care, the political party (mostly Lincoln’s advisors Mr. Lathan or Mr. Schell) would go to the people in office or trying to get higher up in the system and use the spoil system to win their votes. The system would include promising people places in the President’s advising team or actually get them their own chairs on office such as a sop in either the senate or congress. Another way the film showed the ways in which Lincoln was politicking to get what he wanted was when the President, Lincoln himself, had agreed to read the peace agreement the south was bringing to him, even though he was never going to sign it. He did this for two reasons, he didn’t want the politicians in the house and senate from the south to get wind that there was a possible peace agreement and he refused to look at it,. He wanted to give the idea that he was able to keep an open mind about ending the war. He did end up reading the treaty so the people from the north would still have the idea the President is still against slavery and isn’t going to back down, but instead fight until slavery was abolished. Over all Lincoln was just trying to keep everyone happy and thinking that he was on their side because happy people equals positive vote for whatever the president is trying to pass. Finally, Lincoln used his power to make speeches in the house as tool to help him get the final votes he need to pass the amendment from those who where still undecided. He gave speeches that convinced people who don’t exactly care which way the vote went to vote for the amendment, and that have the amendment the majority vote, passing it. I don’t feel like this was an over use of presidential powers. I think that president Lincoln saw the monumental change that need to be done to this country and he didn’t play around when it came to getting that change made. I would have thought of his many instances of politicking as excessive had he used it for the wrong reasons. Lincoln was a president who tried to move the country forward in the right direction, and if that means he had to “play dirty” or bribe people to get that done, so be it. I mean, he got the job done didn’t he?
In the movie Lincoln, we get to see the “behind the scenes” work of Lincoln and what he had to do in order achieve what he thought was best for the country. To get the 13th amendment passed, which abolished slavery once and for all, President Abraham Lincoln had to do some politicking. It was crucial that the 13th amendment was voted upon before any peace treaty was signed ending the war between the union and the confederates. This is because many voters were trying to pass the amendment to put an end to the war, chances are, if the war was already ended, many of those voters would have voted no to the passing the amendment because they were not abolitionists. some were trying to postpone the vote because there were Southerners negotiating for a peace treaty. Because he needed 2/3 of the vote, Lincoln, somewhat untruthfully, replied that he did not know of a peace treaty in Washington, and the vote was not postponed. Another way that Lincoln used politicking to get what he wanted during his presidency was with the spoils system. Lincoln and his representatives targeted democrats and offered them government jobs in return for a yes vote. I personally believe that Lincoln was indeed using an excessive amount of presidential power, but he was using it for, what he thought, was best and most fair for the nation as a whole. While Lincoln did have an influence on the vote, the vote that abolished slavery, I believe, was worth it.
Throughout the movie, Lincoln used politicking to get votes and support on the things that he needed to accomplish during his time as president. Lincoln used politicking the most in order to get the 13th amendment passed. He first attempted to use Blair to gain more support and depended on other people besides himself to gain support and votes. In order to pass the amendment and talk republicans into voting for the amendment, he really needed Blair. Lincoln also used politicking to pass the amendment by hiring men to persuade lame duck democrats into voting for the amendment. Lincoln used the spoils system like this in order to get more people to vote for the 13th amendment. By using the spoils system and asking favors of people, he was able to gain more votes to get to the 2/3 vote needed for the amendment to pass. Lincoln also denied the possibility of peace with the Confederacy in Washington. If he had said that there was a possibly of peace, the amendment would have never passed because people would have voted against the amendment. By lying about the possibility of peace, he was able to get the 13th amendment passed which meant that slavery was now abolished. Lincoln went above and beyond his political and presidential powers, but at the end of the day, it was for something that would completely alter the U.S. for good. He knew that the amendment was necessary in order to grow as a nation and even though he may have crossed boundaries, he did what was best for the United States as a country and for the people living there.
There are many things politicians do to get the results they want, even Abraham Lincoln. While watching the movie “Lincoln,” I noticed three things Lincoln and colleagues do. When the 13th amendment was being debated, Lincoln denied to the Senate he had any knowledge of a peace commissioner meeting in Washington; rather he gave a lawyer’s answer stating he knew no knowledge of a peace commissioner in Washington. By doing this the amendment was able to pass, which was Lincoln’s main goal. He also took advantage of his advisor Blair; he made a deal with his advisor. His advisor said he would get the rest of the votes needed to pass the 13th amendment if he (Lincoln) would let his advisor go to a peace conference. His advisor then hired three lobbyists: W.N. Bilbo, Robert Latham, and Richard Schell to buy the votes needed. They went around and convinced/ bribed senators to vote for the 13th amendment. For example, two of the hired men went to the bank and “ran” into him; they then helped pick his things up and placed money in his lap while the other puts a folder in his face. I think what Lincoln did was an excessive use of his presidential power. I think this because when he had his advisor Blair pull together the votes needed, he could assume he would be buying votes. Instead of finding other means of collecting votes he turns the other cheek. He also used his advisor Blair to gain votes but had no intention of talking about peace, which is what Blair wanted until he had all the votes needed.
Lincoln was a very passionate and dedicated man when it came to his work. Lincoln was very much against slavery and he never let anyone forget that. His determination to abolish slavery was something that this country has never seen before. Even though he wasn’t always right with what he was doing he still did it. Without the dedication he had who knows when the 13th amendment would have been passed. One of the things I saw was Lincoln used shady politics when he had Thaddeus Stevens hold the political seat of Alexander Coffroth over his head. He then told him that if Coffroth votes no on the amendment that he wouldn’t have a seat in the house anymore. Another example was to get the thirteenth amendment passed he needed more than just the republican votes in congress he needed 2/3 so that would involve having democrats vote for it also. Since Lincoln needed some more votes from democrats the men who worked for him Mr. Lathan and Mr. Schell to do anything possible to get those votes. Mr. Lathan and Mr. Schell bribed some congressmen to get the votes they needed. Not only did they pay them off they would use the spoil system or blackmail them. Although this was illegal, it was for the country and Lincoln knew it was for the best. Thirdly I observed in the movie was when Lincoln would make little lies up about Peace allegation he would pretend he didn’t know of it when someone would bring it up with him. He only wanted people to focus on passing the 13th amendment so that was one way of avoiding another situation.
I do think that Lincoln used an excessive amount of presidential power but I don’t necessarily think it was wrong. He did a lot of sneaky things to get what he wanted. If he wasn’t the president a lot of it wouldn’t have been possible or gotten done in the first place. Lincoln was a very strong headed man who when was determined for something he was going to get what he wanted. But the politicking he did was for the country to put us in a better place. Lincoln trying to abolish slavery was greater than any little trick he played on the people. Without Lincoln our country could have been a lot different.
Blog 69 – Politics in Lincoln
After watching the movie Lincoln, I realized how much of Lincoln’s story we didn’t get in elementary school. We were told that “Honest Abe” abolished slavery with the 13th amendment, but we were never told how he did it or what he had to sacrifice to get the amendment passed. This movie made Lincoln seem more human in my eyes and less of a perfect god-like figure. Three ways Lincoln or his representatives influenced others was by bribing them, threatening them, or just convincing them. For example, Lincoln would send his representatives to offer special jobs or gifts to a representative if they were to vote “yes”. I also recall a scene in the movie where one of Lincoln’s representatives talked to a Southern Democrat and basically said the war wouldn’t end unless this amendment was passed and that he would lose his seat if he voted no. Other times, Lincoln would talk to the representative and convince him that if he wanted the war to end or for the Union to survive, that he must vote yes. Even after watching this movie, I still believe that Lincoln was rightfully doing everything he could to end this horrific habit, but I could see how it could be a bit excessive under Presidential power. I do agree with the way he convinced people to vote yes for the amendment because they can still make their own choice, but I didn’t agree with how he lied about the potential peace corp. That action was necessary and I understand why he chose to do it, but under the means of presidential power, I think it was stretching it a bit.
In Lincoln, there were many ways that the president twisted people’s arms in order to pass the Thirteenth Amendment. There was many times in which he rewarded the people who voted for it. The targets were mainly Democratic Representatives who had lost their seats in the House with the elections. Lincoln targeted a representative from Ohio who, if he voted yes on the Thirteenth Amendment would receive a position as postmaster. A Democrat from Pennsylvania who was soft on Slavery was convinced to join the Republican Party for its strength if he voted yes on the Amendment. The last was when Lincoln lied about peace talks in Washington D. C. the day of the vote, and risked impeachment, in order for it to pass.
I do not think that it was an excessive use of presidential power to force the representatives to vote yes on this particular issue. Lincoln knew that millions of people were being mistreated and abused in the South for economic gain. Lincoln knew that he risked impeachment and the alienation of many people if they found out what he had specifically done to pass the amendment. If the Thirteenth Amendment has been created under less circumstances, it could have been viewed as an overstep of presidential power. It is, however a slippery slope from strong-arming people for a noble cause or for personal bias and gain. I believe that many politicians think that they are doing the right thing without thinking through the long-term effects of what their goals will actually do.
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One example of politicking in Lincoln is when Abraham Lincolf denies his knowledge of a peace offer from the South in Washington D.C. This happens right before the 13th amendment is about to be voted on. The House decided that they were not going to vote on the amendment unless they new more about the presence of a peace offering in Washington D.C. Lincoln quickly wrote a letter to the House saying that he did not have any knowledge of a peace delegation committee from the South in D.C. This is politicking because Lincoln is lying to the House in order to get the 13th amendment passed.
Another example of politicking in Lincoln is when Lincoln and his Secretary of State hire Richard Schell, Robert Latham, and W.N. Bilbo to “persuade” lame duck democrats to vote for the 13th amendment. These lame duck democrats are democrats who have already lost re-election, so they will vote for whatever they want to without fear of repercussions from their party. Lincoln uses his cronies to “persuade” these democrats by guaranteeing them government jobs if they vote for the 13th amendment. This is politicking because Lincoln is bribing them to vote his way.
One last example of politicking is when Lincoln’s men tell the Confederate representatives to re-write the peace agreement on the River Queen. This is politicking because they are denying peace negotiations in order to extend the war so that Lincoln has time to pass the 13th amendment.
I do not think this is an excessive use of power because anyone can give and take bribes. Even if Lincoln was not the president, he could still try to give bribes to these congressmen. I also do not think Lincoln is abusing his power because without his actions, nothing would get done because of how opposed the viewpoints of congressmen were. Without a little nudge, provided by Lincoln, congress would be gridlock and no positive or negative change would occur.
In the movie Lincoln, President Lincoln without a doubt used bribery to secure that the 13th amendment was passed during the Civil War. Lincoln knew from the beginning that in order to pass the 13th amendment, he needs a two-thirds vote, so he knows there must be a change in some of the Democrat votes and there’s a need for a change in many, many votes. Ways in which Lincoln and his representatives exerted influence on others in order to get them to vote for the amendment include Lincoln bribing Blair to be part of his movement by his support and supporting the amendment. Also, Lincoln started looking for the twenty party members that could be bribed with political support. From Lincoln giving these members jobs, they would then, in return, vote for the amendment. Lastly, Lincoln personally talks to Hutchins persuading him to vote for the 13th amendment and in favor of the Republican Party.
I think this is an excessive use of Presidential power because, as president, Lincoln wanted the 13th amendment to be passed, so he had to do what he had to do. It wasn’t as if Lincoln was using his Presidential power to pass a law so utterly dumb that nobody in the country agreed with him, because obviously at least two-thirds of the country did, but he was passing an amendment for the entire country that would end up doing a lot of good for the country once the tension was at ease. Also, in my opinion, President Lincoln was not doing anything wrong by bribing the people to vote for the amendment, because if people really didn’t agree with it, they could have easily voted no.
I think Lincoln did a lot of politicking when trying to get the 13th amendment past. Not all of it was good or honest but it was all to get a bill past that changed America forever. He would offer people jobs in certain positions if they were to vote for this bill. He would try and talk to other senators and try to influence them to go in his direction. He was very passionate about getting slavery abolished. He would ask other senators in his party to talk to other people in his party and so forth to try and get them to vote yes on passing the 13th amendment. I do not believe that Lincoln used an unreasonable amount of power to try and get this bill passed. Alo of presidents from the past would use their different presidential powers to try and get bills past. One example is of President Andrew Jackson where he would use his power of presidential veto so often that he would be called King Andrew in slanderous publications. Other presidents have done similar things to what Lincoln has done. They will use their immense power to get different bills passed to go with their plan of what they want the country to look like. They have to do a lot of arm twisting to get the different bills passed that they want. They will give favors to different people in the senate so this is not a new thing. This is why I believe Lincoln was justified using his presidential power.
Lincoln and his representatives influenced other politicians to vote for the 13th Amendment by using the spoils system. They influenced others by bribing them with money, offering them jobs, and lying about peace treaties. Lincoln’s representatives approached Democrats that were easy to convince and offered them a lot of cash to try to make them vote for the amendment. With others, they used the spoils system and offered people good jobs if they voted for the amendment. With one man, Lincoln convinced him to vote yes for the amendment then after the vote, switch to the Republican Party. Another example of Lincoln influencing the voting was a letter about the peace negotiations. On the day of the vote, some of the men wanted to postpone the vote because they were concerned about peace negotiations occurring. A few people that wanted the amendment passed ran to Lincoln and had him write a letter saying there were no peace negotiations in Washington D.C. Technically, Lincoln didn’t lie when he said this because they weren’t going on in Washington D.C. it was in another part of the country. I don’t think this is an excessive use of power because it still goes on today and he was doing something good for the country. I don’t think it’s excessive because if the people that he paid or spoiled accepted his offer, they obviously cared more about having power than the future of the country. I think that it is okay what Abraham Lincoln did to get the 13th Amendment passed because he was doing it for a good purpose.
The passing of the 13th amendment was passed in the Senate but needed 20 more votes in the House of Representatives. In order to get these votes, Lincoln needed to make some back door deals. Seward hired three lobbyists to promise government jobs to people who voted for the 13th amendment. The lobbyist’s names were W.N. Bilbo, Robert Latham, and Richard Schell. Lincoln himself even had to go get votes trying to push the amendment to get passed. He went out trying to persuade people to vote for the amendment. Lincoln also signed a piece of paper saying he knew nothing about a peace treaty and that the people should continue to vote. This allowed for a last minute sway and slight push by Lincoln to finish the voting and to push towards the passing of the 13th amendment. All of these things were excessive use of the presidential power, but it had good intentions. He abused his power by offering jobs to people and doing backdoor deals, but he was doing it for the good of the country. Slavery needed to be stopped and he was doing everything possible to end it. He lied and manipulated to get the 13th amendment passed, but because it was to abolish slavery, you can almost look past all the lying and it doesn’t look as bad. He wasn’t being a nasty and forceful president as much as a man who knew what he wanted and knew what was best for the country. Therefore, he might have abused his power, but because it was to abolish slavery it was okay.
In order for President Lincoln to even have a chance at getting the 13th amendment passed, he would have to do his fair share of “politicking”. The 13th amendment had already been passed in the senate, where the republicans controlled the power. But in a more democratic House of Representatives, Lincoln would need a little help to pass the amendment. Lincoln needed to obtain a certain amount of democratic representatives to vote for the 13th amendment. Now how would one go about doing this? The most obvious way is to make voting in your favor worth the voter’s while. There was one scenario where Lincoln and his cabinet offered high up jobs in the White House to a group of democrats who would vote for the amendment. Another way Lincoln went about trying to secure votes was to tone down the more vocal, radical members of the Republican Party that were scaring away democrats who were on the fence about where to vote. Lastly, as the amendment is being put to a vote, when evidence of a peace treaty being discussed with the south came to light, Lincoln denied any knowledge of a peace treaty, even though he had known about it for a while. By denying any knowledge of a peace treaty, those who believed peace could be reached without freeing slaves were pushed to vote for the amendment to end the war. At this point in time, I would argue that this was not an excessive use of presidential power. My reasoning behind that is simple, drastic times call for drastic measures. Lincoln wanted to end the war, but he also wanted to free the slaves in the process. The only way that he saw possible to do both of those things was to pass the 13th amendment by any means necessary. The war had been raging not stop for four years, some action needed to be taken. Lincoln just used his power to make it happen.
Unfortunate as it is to say, the arena of American politics have always been an arena of manipulating people into giving into the demands of one party. Although he is called honest Abe, he was using questionable strategies to get votes to pass the 13th amendment in congress and would often send out his allies in the senate to convince other congressmen to vote in his favor. For example, they blackmailed a democrat senator’s reelection committee saying that they would not nominate him for senate unless he stayed a democrat supporting the passing of the 13th amendment. Lincoln was equally guilty of participating in politicking, he made white lies about the Peace Talks with the Confederacy, saying he had no knowledge of them in D.C, when he knew there were talks going on, but not in D.C. He said this mainly because if there was any knowledge of the peace delegation amongst any of Lincoln’s enemies in the senate, any chance of their support for the amendment would surely disappear, because many of the supporters only chose their positions because they assumed the amendment would bring an immediate end to the conflict. Lincoln also offered jobs to people who would be in support of the amendment. Now, Do I think that this is excessive constitutional power, or even corrupt? Yes, this is definitely slander but it was right. I don’t think the way Lincoln convinced all the senators and representatives to vote for the amendment was right but it was morally the correct thing, whether he was just using the race card as an excuse for political power or if he was actually committed to the rights of African Americans.
I think lying and manipulation are something that is used very often in politics. Many politicians lie and manipulate to achieve their goal, and Lincoln was a politician who was very focused on his task which was to preserve the Union. I think his task was something that was very beneficial for the Americas and therefore believe that the way Lincoln influenced others to vote for the 13th Amendment was not an excessive use of Presidential power. It was for the greater good, without the excessive use of his power the South would probably be their own nation and they’d continue to have slavery. Lincoln was a very intelligent and cunning man, but he wasn’t as great as textbooks make him out to be. He had to use a lot of manipulation to get the 13th Amendment passed. One way he used manipulation was by the spoils system. He gave many jobs away to men who would most likely been unemployed in Congress, which put this in his favor. Another way he influenced others to vote for the 13th Amendment was disregarding peace talk. He did this to show people that peace wasn’t something that would bring the Union together, the only way to do that was to abolish slavery. Lincoln also blackmailed men into voting yes for the 13th Amendment. Specifically he had Thaddeus Stevens blackmail Alexander Coffroth into voting yes to the Amendment. Stevens did this by telling Coffroth if he didn’t vote “yay” for the Amendment, he would lose his seat in the House. Overall, Lincoln’s lies and manipulation were for the greater cause and not an undue use of his power.