Moral Lessons from the Lives of the Presidents

The odd couple---Lincoln retains the distinction of being the tallest President the United States ever had.  Grant was one of the shortest Presidents.  However, they were both rather modest and sensitive men, and they both had lived in several states, but ended up in Illinois just before the Civil War.  What is one of the moral lessons these two Presidents can offer?

Their backgrounds can teach us to be cautious in how we judge others, and....how we judge ourselves.  We may fail to appreciate the potential for greatness others have or which we ourselves may possess since it may not always be readily obvious.

Consider Lincoln in 1859.  He had served as a Representative in Congress for a single term...nothing extraordinary there.  And he had lost an election for Senator when he ran against Stephen Douglas.  So, at the age of 50, his checkered political career seemed to be quite undistinguished.

Consider Grant in 1859.  He had enrolled in West Point, primarily on account of the push he received from his father.  In fact, his father may have applied for him without his knowledge.  He graduated 21st out of 39 in his class.  However, there had been 79 cadets in his class when he entered West Point, so his record was not so mediocre as it might appear.  He entered the Mexican-American War as a Lieutenant and was still a Lieutenant when the war ended.  Some accounts of his life claim that he ran afoul of his superior officer after the war on account of his drinking.  Possibly, under the threat of being court-martialed, he was encouraged to resign; however, he may have simply wished to leave California and the military life in large part so that he could be with his family.  In any case, he resigned from the army in 1854.  Once out of the military, he tried farming and small business with little success.  So in 1859, at the age of 37, he was still trying "to find himself".

Despite exhibiting such indifferent underachievement up to 1859, these two men did as much as or more than practically anyone else to shape events in the United States over the next 6 or 7 years.  By 1865, their fame was assured.