Learning from Lincoln: Leadership in a time of crisis

An Aspen Institute program about another president who led during a time of national crisis — Abraham Lincoln. Two historians discuss the leadership lessons we could learn from President Lincoln.

The Aspen Institute, like many organizations, is trying to resurrect some of their programs using remote connections. Their "Socrates Program" featured a session on April 3, 2020, called "Learning from President Abraham Lincoln: Leadership in a Time of Crisis."

Colleen Shogan of the White House Historical Association connected with Harvard University history professor John Stauffer. They talked about the lessons we might learn from President Lincoln, who took office with little political experience and an immediate major crisis, the Civil War.

They say he recognized the fragility of democracy and knew that listening, trust, empathy and respect were important. Both conclude that Lincoln's words have considerable relevance to the crisis we face today, particularly his rhetoric in the Gettysburg Address and his second inaugural address.

• Colleen Shogan is senior vice president and director of the David M. Rubenstein National Center for White House History at the White House Historical Association, and is an adjunct professor of political science at Georgetown.

• John Stauffer is a professor of English, American Studies, and African American Studies at Harvard University. He writes and lectures on the Civil War era and is the author of “The Black Hearts of Men and other books on the Civil War era, including “Giants: The Parallel Lives of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln.”

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