George Washington and Abraham Lincoln were among the most famous presidents of the United States. One led the U.S. during the bloodiest war in history while the other was a great instrumental in founding the country. The two presidents are memorialized and remembered in the present US currency, Statues, and Mount Rushmore (Ellis, 2018). Despite their success in making the United States a great nation, there existed differences between the two presidents. These included their policies and perspectives in different issues such as how they led the U.S. through war, their presidency and their personal life.
George Washington served as America’s first president, and he was a brilliant military general who led the Revolutionary Army to victory over the British. Washington was a Colonel in 1754, and he led an expedition to drive out the French Canadians from Fort Duquesne. He also aided the British General Edward Braddock in 1755 on the Monongahela expedition. He was elected by the Congress to be the commander-in-chief, and he was also appointed as Major General in 1755 (Ellis, 2018). Washington was a great president who fought several fronts, and he also delivered the final blow to the British.
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On the other hand, Abraham Lincoln was the 16 th president of the U.S., and he has been frequently rated as the greatest president of all because he faced an open revolt of slaveholding states against the union. Lincoln had the most difficult term as the Commander-in-chief of the United States (Burlingame, 2018). Despite his limited military exposure, he saw the country through the bloodiest war ever. Lincoln was a brilliant orator, and he is forever remembered to have signed the Emancipation Proclamation which led to the end of slavery in the United States.
During his presidency, Abraham Lincoln strived to lead the country through the American Civil War which was a great internal crisis in preserving the Union. Lincoln also defused the Trent Affair which was a war scare with Britain (Ellis, 2018). His main achievement during his presidency is that he promoted the passage of the 13 th Amendment which led to the abolition of slavery. He was also a Republican who issued the Emancipation Proclamation.
Unlike Lincoln, George Washington sided with the Federalists and presided over the convention in Philadelphia which drafted the constitution of the United States in 1787. The Virginia Legislature was convinced by his support to vote ratification by all the 13 states. Washington avoided foreign conflicts through his unilateral Promulgation of Neutrality (Ellis, 2018). In contrast to Lincoln, Washington is known to have passed the Fugitive Slave Clause law which made assisting escaped slaves a criminal offense.
In his personal life, Abraham Lincoln was Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Lincoln second child and was born on 12 th of February 1809 in Lau Rue County. Lincoln was not born from a wealthy family. His mother died when he was only nine years old, and his father remarried Sarah Bush Johnston, whom Lincoln called mother. Lincoln disliked killing animals which made him avoid fishing and hunting. He had great respect for animal life. During his early life, he served as a postmaster in New Salem while studying to become a county lawyer (Burlingame, 2018). He was an Illinois state legislator. Lincoln married Mary Todd who came from a wealthy family, and they had four sons.
On the other hand, George Washington was the firstborn son of Augustine Washington, born in Virginia on February 22, 1732. Unlike Lincoln, Washington came from a wealthy family. When he was 11 years old, his father died after which George’s half-brother was his surrogate father. In contrast to Lincoln, Washington’s favorite leisure activity was Fox hunting. He disregarded animal life and treated them as game. In his early professional life, Washington was a tobacco farmer and plantation owner (Weems, 2015). He married a rich widow named Martha Custis, he adopted her children, and they together had two children.
In conclusion, the two presidents are famous for making the United States a better country. Despite their achievements the two presidents have three major differences including; how they led the US through war, their presidency and their personal life. Through their achievements Abraham Lincoln was given a nickname for the Illinois state which was known as ‘Land of Lincoln.’ George Washington was also called ‘Father of the Nation.’
References
Burlingame, M. (2018). Memories of Lincoln and the Splintering of American Political Thought.
Ellis, R. J. (2018). The development of the American Presidency . Routledge.
Weems, M. L. (2015). The life of Washington . Routledge.
