The Lincoln Way: Turning Critics into Allies

A note to young leaders.

Promote people for their character and competence, not because they like you or support you.

In 1860, as Abraham Lincoln rose to prominence, one of his most vocal critics was Edwin Stanton – who once mocked Lincoln as a “long-armed ape” and dismissed him as unfit for high office.

So imagine the uproar when, after assuming the presidency, Lincoln appointed Stanton as Secretary of War.

Lincoln was unmoved: “I am aware of all the terrible things he’s said about me. But he is still the best man for the job.”

Stanton would go on to become a tireless and loyal Secretary of War, instrumental in leading the Union to victory in the Civil War. Lincoln would later describe him as “the rock on the beach of our national ocean.”

And when Lincoln was assassinated in 1865, it was Stanton who stood by his side and delivered the iconic tribute: “Now he belongs to the ages.”

Stanton once tried to bring Lincoln down. But Lincoln – rather than despise him – saw instead his intelligence and resolve, turned enmity into respect, and respect into friendship.

Of such is the alchemy of leadership.