Abraham Lincoln is often regarded as one of the country's greatest presidents. In passing, he is commonly thought of as intelligent, diligent, and a groundbreaking leader. However, many people do not know that Abraham Lincoln suffered from chronic depression throughout his life. Despite living with this debilitating disease, Lincoln became one of the most successful and respected people in American history. It can be assumed that the personality of a person with two characteristics of such extreme juxtaposition would be a complex one.
[...] Throughout his life Lincoln was a hard worker. He studied numerous subjects out of pure interest. He had an extensive background in both law and politics. His political career, from all of the minor offices up to the position of President, is filled with successful speeches, long hours of research, and persistence to no end. To add to this point, Lincoln was a self-driven man who was not influenced by any type of external pressure. His drive to succeed only seemed to come from inward. [...]
[...] Overall, it seems that Lincoln experienced a large amount of emotional distress from seemingly nothing, but was largely unaffected by factors that would warrant a more negative reaction out of others. Still, Lincoln was often characterized as depressed and suffered internally for most of his life. I will place him as an 8 for Neuroticism. Agreeableness is a factor that is associated with maintaining relationships, a desire to be compliant, and emotional supportiveness. Lincoln held a healthy balance of this factor. [...]
[...] With all of that said, Lincoln was not totally avoidant of extraverted activities. Most obviously, Lincoln was a politician who peaked as the president of the United States. Occupations of these types require large amounts of interaction with other people. With this line of work, Lincoln probably spent more time doing extraverted activities than introverted ones in his lifetime. Also, Lincoln was an amazing speaker and was considered a great comedian by many (Shenk 114). In general, Lincoln was a natural introvert who could act extraverted if needed. [...]
[...] In regards to psychoanalysis, Abraham Lincoln is a very interesting subject. He had a traumatic childhood and was chronically depressed, which can make for some complex psychoanalysis. One of the core aspects of Psychoanalytic theory is the idea of the personality being constructed id, ego, and superego. The id drives people to partake in pleasurable activities, the superego urges people to do what is socially and the ego balances the id and superego in a realistic manner. Lincoln seemed to respond mostly to his superego. [...]
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