Abraham Lincoln’s capacity to forgive was astonishing.
After four years of bloodshed, hatred, and unimaginable loss, Lincoln did not seek revenge. He sought reconciliation. He famously urged:
“With malice toward none, with charity for all.”
He planned a Reconstruction rooted in healing, not punishment. He wanted the South restored, not humiliated. This was not naïveté. It was moral courage.
His forgiveness was not merely personal. It was national. It paved the way for a future in which Americans could stand together again. Leaders today often pursue vengeance disguised as justice. Lincoln pursued unity disguised as mercy.
Lincoln’s humor humanized him and disarmed his critics.
Lincoln used humor not to belittle but to enlighten. When accused of being two-faced, he replied:
“If I had another face, do you think I’d wear this one?”
His humor softened tension, deflected hostility, and reminded people that he was human — approachable, relatable, real. In the darkest hours, he used humor to survive the emotional burden of war.
Leadership is heavy. Humor lightens the load.
Lincoln’s vision gave America its second birth.
Lincoln did not simply preserve the Union. He transformed it. Before Lincoln, America tolerated slavery. After Lincoln, America stood on a new moral foundation: freedom.
He redefined the nation’s purpose in 272 words at Gettysburg:
A new birth of freedom….that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
This was not poetry. It was prophecy.
Lincoln saw beyond the war. He saw the America that could be — more just, more united, more humane. His vision expanded the meaning of citizenship, dignity, and equality. He turned a divided republic into a moral experiment worthy of its founding ideals.
Today we drift not because we lack resources, but because we lack vision. Lincoln reminds us that nations rise or fall not by the power they wield but by the ideals they embody.
Lincoln’s character helped make America America.
Because he led with empathy.
Because he governed with humility.
Because he acted with honesty.
Because he forgave with generosity.
Because he persevered with courage.
Because he suffered with dignity.
Because he believed in something bigger than himself.
Lincoln showed that leadership rooted in character can hold a nation together even when everything else falls apart.
And these qualities are the qualities America needs today:
Truth in place of deception.
Courage in place of fear.
Humility in place of arrogance.
Forgiveness in place of vengeance.
Empathy in place of cruelty.
Self-control in place of ego.
Vision in place of division.
America is America because Lincoln revealed what leadership looks like when anchored in principle.
He did not merely guide the nation.
He redeemed it.
He expanded it.
He elevated it.
He saved it.
The more we drift from his virtues, the more we drift from the country he preserved.
If America is to remain America, it must rediscover the spirit of the man who defined its soul.
And that is what makes America America.
By Medard Laz
This selection is from my newly published book, WHAT MAKES AMERICA AMERICA.
My book has 62 Chapters and 335 Pages.
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For Your Information: The above passage was written when Joe Biden was President.
What qualities of Abraham Lincoln are needed today in our country?
YOUR GIFT TO GOD IS HONESTY. GOD’S GIFT TO YOU IS TRUTH!
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