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Essay on Lincoln and Obama: Cut from the Same Cloth

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Abraham Lincoln assumed the office of the President of the United States 153 years ago. Barack Obama did the same 148 years later. Nearly fifteen decades separate these two historical events and astounding men. While one man has gone to great lengths to model himself after the other, there was possibly a connection there all along. The differences between Lincoln and Obama are evident and expected, but the similarities are remarkable and extraordinary.
When looking at the disparities between these two great men, their education and opportunities definitely stand out. Obama did his undergraduate work at Columbia University, receiving a B.A. in political science with a focus on international relations. He later went on to graduate …show more content…

This would prove to be an impossible burden to resolve. When Lincoln took office he was facing a nation in true turmoil. The current slavery dispute between the north and south had triggered an upheaval and eleven states succeeded from the Union (Miller). He actually took leadership of a country that was falling apart. The most profound difference between Lincoln and Obama definitely have to be their prior political qualifications before running for President, specifically the depth and duration of partisan involvement. Abraham Lincoln spent nearly three decades in party politics. This experience included working and campaigning for numerous candidates and political causes. Everyone knew who he was. From the age of 25 on, Lincoln continuously tried for leadership roles within the Republican Party with much success. He held various governmental roles to include floor-leader for the Whig Party, chairman of the finance committee, and played a leading role in organizing the new Republican Party in Illinois (Library of Congress). Unlike most up-an-coming politicians, Barack Obama played no significant role in any political causes prior to his own run for presidency. Furthermore, there is no evidence that he participated in any prior Democratic elections before 2008. No one really knew who he was.
Every new president is compared to one or two of his predecessors. Some sort of similarities are always easy to find; however, with Lincoln and Obama they seem

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