Barack Obama and Abraham Lincoln Cabinets

The Presiden-Elect is Following Some of Abe’s Team-Building Strategy

Dec 1, 2008 Carroll Trosclair

Barick Obama's cabinet will not be "A Team of Rivals" as Lincoln built, but it may produce the diversity of opinion that his role model sought. Here's how they compare.

In nominating Senator Hillary Clinton for Secretary of State, Robert Gates for Secretary of Defense and James Jones for National Security Advisor, Obama has given his administration at least a Lincoln look. It also confirms that he does not want to be surrounded by "yes" men, or women, a fault attributed to his predecessor, George W. Bush.

Clinton was a bitter rival for the Democratic nomination and both Gates and Jones previously served rival Republican leaders. As leaders of Obama’s international and security team, the three should stimulate considerable debate in coming White House meetings.

They do not come to the team as Lincoln’s cabinet members did, or with the same attitudes. Nor do they share the same presidential attitude toward them. They do share similar urgencies as they take office.

Cabinet Included Lincoln’s Major Rivals

However, the Obama cabinet will not be the "Team of Rivals" that Doris Kearns Goodwin described in her book about Lincoln’s inner circle. According to "Mr. Lincoln’s White House.org," Lincoln’s cabinet included "all of his major rivals for the Republican nomination for President in 1860—William H. Seward, Salmon P. Chase, Simon Cameron and Edward Bates.Some of these men had been effectively promised positions as part of the negotiations that led to Mr. Lincoln's nomination at the Republican national convention in May 1860."

In other words, the cabinet was a collection of shotgun weddings and most of the marriages ended in divorces before Lincoln’s death. Only Seward and Gideon Welles remained with Lincoln throughout his administration, which ended with his assassination one month into his second term. Cameron, the Secretary of War, resigned under pressure after just one year.

Obama, on the other hand, seems to be nominating people with talents that he really wants in his cabinet, including some members who have criticized and outwardly disagreed with him in the past.

Hillary Appointment

"Hillary's appointment is a sign to friend and foe of the seriousness of my commitment to renew American diplomacy and restore our alliances," Obama said in nominating Clinton for secretary of state.

The challenge for Obama, as it was for Lincoln, is to keep the cabinet working together despite differencies in philosophies and strategies. In nominating Clinton, Gates and Jones, he said that he believes in "strong personalities and strong opinions."

Lincoln had difficulty controlling his cabinet. Attorney General Edward Bates wrote: "In truth, it is not an administration but the separate and disjoined action of seven independent officers, each one ignorant of what his colleagues are doing."

Welles Called Seward Meddlesome

Navy Secretary Gideon Welles, for instance, wrote that Seward was "assuming and presuming, meddlesome, and uncertain, ready to exercise authority always, never doubting his right until challenged." Welles said Lincoln accepted Seward’s behavior graciously because he appreciated the Secretary of State’s "ready shrewdness."

In "Intimate Memories of Lincoln," Rufus Rockwell Wilson quotes Chancey Depew, a New York politician, saying "no President ever had a cabinet of which the members were so independent, had so large individual followings, and were so inharmonious."

Americans may never hear the upcoming White House conversations between Clinton, Gates, Jones and Obama, but their memoirs could be very interesting.

References:

• Mr Lincoln and freedom.org
• "A Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln," by Doris Kearns Goodwin, reviewed in abrahamlincolnsclassroom.org
• Mr. Lincoln’s White House.org, a project of The Lincoln Institute

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The copyright of the article Barack Obama and Abraham Lincoln Cabinets in American Affairs is owned by Carroll Trosclair. Permission to republish Barack Obama and Abraham Lincoln Cabinets in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Abraham Lincoln

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