In honor of Presidents’ Day next week, I’m going to share several posts on Abraham Lincoln this week.

1: Following the defeat at Gettysburg, Robert E. Lee and his Confederate Army retreated toward the refuge of Virginia.

“At that moment Lee was more vulnerable than ever before,” write Raymond Kethledge and Michael Erwin in Lead Yourself First. “Lee’s remaining troops were in enemy country, disoriented by defeat, and … continue reading

1: Today we celebrate the life of Martin Luther King, Jr., perhaps the most influential American of the 20th century.

And yet, the greatest American civil rights leader was at first unwilling.

In September 1954, at age 25, Martin had just completed his doctorate at Boston University. Soon after, he and his wife, Coretta, moved to Montgomery, Alabama, so he could pursue his goal of becoming a pastor. … continue reading

1: Eleven days after the Union victory at Gettysburg and ten days after General Ulysses S. Grant’s crucial triumph at Vicksburg, Abraham Lincoln suffered what was likely his most gut-wrenching setback as commander-in-chief during the Civil War.

At Gettysburg, Robert E. Lee “had been forced to relinquish the battlefield for the first time, his Army of Northern Virginia reduced by almost twenty-three thousand men,” write Raymond Kethledge and Michael Erwin … continue reading

1: Dwight Eisenhower was furious.  

D-Day was only weeks away. As the Supreme Commander of the Allied invasion of Europe, Ike was under tremendous pressure. Daily, he confronted leadership questions of the utmost complexity, write Raymond Kethledge and Michael Erwin in Lead Yourself First: Inspiring Leadership Through Solitude.

And, General George S. Patton had stepped in it. Again.

In a speech to a British social club, Patton had said: … continue reading

1: Five days after Pearl Harbor, Dwight D. Eisenhower received orders to report immediately to the War Department in Washington, D.C. Stationed in San Antonio at the time, Ike was a one-star general and had no idea why he had been summoned. He took the next plane to Washington, write Raymond Kethledge and Michael Erwin in Lead Yourself First: Inspiring Leadership Through Solitude.

Upon arriving, Ike was ushered immediately into … continue reading