Wanted: Another President Lincoln

Country needs a leader to advance its interests

There’s no set resume required of presidential hopefuls. Consider Abraham Lincoln.

Few individuals have had less impressive credentials for America’s highest office before assuming it than our 16th president. Yet when it came to matters of foreign policy and defense, no president since has demonstrated more remarkable leadership.

From a military perspective, no conflict is more treacherous and unforgiving than a war that rips a nation in two. Lincoln had virtually no preparation the kind of struggle experienced during the Civil War.

In his brief volunteer service in the Black Hawk War, his most notable achievement was getting his horse stolen. He ignominiously walked home.

Yet as Elliot A. Cohen detailed in his 2002 book, “Supreme Command,” Lincoln during the Civil War persevered through terrible defeats, pressed tirelessly for a winning strategy and demanded that his commanders work for nothing less than total victory.

Too little remembered is that Lincoln, who never crossed the seas, was a fair statesman as well.

While he was vehemently anti-slavery, in geostrategic terms, it might have been easier to deal with two Americas rather than one. Yet he steered a foreign policy course that did not widen the war.

America could certainly use a president today just as determined and skilled at foreign policy. By any objective measure, U.S. interests are more at risk in the three key regions of the world — Europe, the Middle East and Asia — than when the last president took office.

In all three of these regions, America’s best interests require a larger measure of peace and stability — one that minimizes the potential for future large-scale regional conflicts or the proliferation of transnational Islamist terrorism.

In Europe, the Middle East and Asia, what is needed is a president who is willing to press American interests from a position of strength.

That starts with a military that is equal to the task of protecting the nation’s global interests — not the anemic armed forces that President Barack Obama will bequeath to the next president.

The next president also has to demonstrate rock-solid solidarity with allies that matter. There are nations that share America’s vision of international community.

They see mutual security not just in terms of common interests, but in terms of common effort. They believe in shared burdens, shared commitments and shared solidarity.

The next president could start out by signaling determined leadership. This means showing, in each part of the world, that the United States is determined to protect its interests and won’t show reluctance to act. For example:

In Europe, the next administration could announce its determination to return to the four brigades we had permanently stationed there before Obama took office.

In the Middle East, it could signal that the Iran deal, as it stands, is unacceptable.

In Asia, it could move to honor our national obligations under the Taiwan Relations Act and meet Taiwan’s requirements for military sales to ensure its self-defense.

The next president needs a foreign policy team that truly works as a team.

Running the world from a bloated, self-absorbed National Security Council has been a disaster. Outsourcing the job to squabbling secretaries of defense and state doesn’t work either.

What’s needed in not just a team of talents, but a talented team — one that works together in trust and confidence. Presidential leadership is combination of skills, knowledge and attributes — ones not simply defined by past duties and accomplishments. As Lincoln proved, there are measures of leadership that blossom under adversity.

We may never have another leader of his caliber, but for the sake of our security, let’s hope someone comes close — and soon. Our future depends on it.

James Jay Carafano is vice president of the Davis Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy and the E. W. Richardson Fellow at The Heritage Foundation, 214 Massachusetts Avenue NE, Washington, D.C. 20002; Web site: www.heritage.org.