Abraham Lincoln as Negotiator, Problem-Solver and Manager of Conflict

Overview
At a time when much attention is being paid to the role of political leaders in managing and resolving conflict, Abraham Lincoln’s character, virtues, struggles and personal evolution offer unique insights. Our sixteenth president piloted the Union through the crucible of conflict that was our Civil War, and played a pivotal role in ending the enslavement of more than four million African Americans. He was also a skilled trial lawyer and appellate advocate, a workaday politician, and a husband and father who daily wrestled with human conflict—both with others and within himself.

Professor Thomas J. Stipanowich, director of Pepperdine’s Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution, will take a fresh look at Lincoln and some of the lesser-known aspects of Lincoln’s life and career. Joshua Wolf Shenk, executive director of The Black Mountain Institute and author of the acclaimed Lincoln’s Melancholy, will also offer comments.