President Lincoln was, in some people's opinions, our most powerful president - able to hold the nation together in the face of civil war and to do so as he simultaneously strengthened the issue of abolition that led to it. What many people today don't realize is that he did this with a cabinet full of rivals. He did not just win the Republican nomination for his second term of office, he did so by incorporating his opponents into his cabinet. Four of his cabinet members, full of infighting and personal ambition, were given their positions to seal the Republican nomination for Lincoln. The president had to win not just a war in the trenches, but against his own political enemies within his administration which was constantly undercutting and straining the cohesion of national policy. It is a tribute to his power that President Lincoln could keep a lid on this boiling pot while at the same time solving our nation's most critical historical crisis.
The glory of a leader is made more obvious when he can gather about him and lead other powerful leaders. The people surrounding God changed the world ... He changed them.