In the autumn of 1842he ridiculed a vain，pugnacious politician by the name of James Shields.Lincoln lamned him through an anonymous letter published in Springfield Journal.The town roared with laughter.Shields，sensitive and proud，boiled with indignation.He found out who wrote the letter，leaped on his horse，started after Lincoln，and challenged him to fight a duel.Lincoln didn’t want to fight.He was opposed to dueling，but he couldn’t get out of it and save his honor.He was given the choice of weapons.Since he had very long arms，he chose cavalry broadswords and took lessons in sword fighting from a West Point graduate；and，on the appointed day，he and Shields met on a sandbar in the Mississippi River，prepared to fight to the death；but，at the last minute，their seconds interrupted and stopped the duel.
That was the most lurid personal incident in Lincoln’s life.Ittaught him an invaluable lesson in the art of dealing with people.Never again did he write an insulting letter.Never again did he ridicule anyone.And from that time on，he almost never criticized anybody for anything.
Time after time，during the Civil War，Lincoln put a new general at the head of the Army of the Potomac，and each one in turn—McClellan，Pope，Burnside，Hooker，Meade—blundered tragically and drove Lincoln to pacing the floor in despair.Half the nation savagely condemned these incompetent generals，but Lincoln，“with malice toward none，with charity for all，”held his peace.One of his favorite quotations was “Judge not，that ye be not judged.”
And when Mrs.Lincoln and others spoke harshly of the southern people，Lincoln replied：“Don’t criticize them；they are just what we would be under similar circumstances.”
Yet if any man ever had occasion to criticize，surely it was Lincoln.Let’s take just one illustration：
The Battle of Gettysburg was fought during the first three days of July 1863.During the night of July 4，Lee began to retreat southward while storm clouds deluged the country with rain.When Lee reached the Potomac with his defeated army，he found a swollen，impassable river in front of him，and a victorious Union Army behind him.Lee was in a trap.He couldn’t escape.Lincoln saw that.Here was a golden，heaven-sent opportunity—the opportunity to capture Lee’s army and end the war immediately.So，with a surge of high hope，Lincoln ordered Meade not to call a council of war but to attack Lee immediately.Lincoln telegraphed his orders and then sent a special messenger to Meade demanding immediate action.
And what did General Meade do？He did the very opposite of what he was told to do.He called a council of war in directviolation of Lincoln’s orders.He hesitated.He procrastinated.He telegraphed all manner of excuses.He refused point-blank to attack Lee.Finally the waters receded and Lee escaped over the Potomac with his forces.
Lincoln was furious.“What does this mean？”Lincoln cried to his son Robert.“Great God！What does this mean？We had them within our grasp，and had only to stretch forth our hands and they were ours；yet nothing that I could say or do could make the army move.Under the circumstances，almost any general could have defeated Lee.If I had gone up there，I could have whipped him myself.”
In bitter disappointment，Lincoln sat down and wrote Meade this letter.And remember，at this period of his life Lincoln was extremely conservative and restrained in his phraseology.So this letter coming from Lincoln in 1863was tantamount to the severest rebuke.
My dear General，
I do not believe you appreciate the magnitude of the misfortune involved in Lee’s escape.He was within our easy grasp，and to have closed upon him would，in connection With our other late successes，have ended the war.As it is，the war will be prolonged indefinitely.If you could not safely attack Lee last Monday，how can you possibly do so south of the river，when you can take with you very few—no more than two-thirds of the force you then had in hand？It would be unreasonable to expect and I do not expect that you can now effect much.Your golden opportunity is gone，and I am distressed immeasurably because of it.
What do you suppose Meade did when he read the letter？
Meade never saw that letter.Lincoln never mailed it.It was found among his papers after his death.
My guess is—and this is only a guess—that after writing that letter，Lincoln looked out of the window and said to himself，“Just a minute.Maybe I ought not to be so hasty.It is easy enough for me to sit here in the quiet of the White House and order Meade to attack；but if I had been up at Gettysburg，and if I had seen as much blood as Meade has seen during the last week，and if my ears had been pierced with the screams and shrieks of the wounded and dying，maybe I wouldn’t be so anxious to attack either.If I had Meade’s timid temperament，perhaps I would have done just what he had done.Anyhow，it is water under the bridge now.If I send this letter，it will relieve my feelings，but it will make Meade try to justify himself.It will make him condemn me.It will arouse hard feelings，impair all his further usefulness as a commander，and perhaps force him to resign from the army.”
So，as I have already said，Lincoln put the letter aside，for he had learned by bitter experience that sharp criticisms and rebukes almost invariably end in futility.
Theodore Roosevelt said that when he，as President，was confronted with a perplexing problem，he used to lean back and look up at a large painting of Lincoln which hung above his desk in the White House and ask himself，“What would Lincoln do if he were in my shoes？How would he solve this problem？”
The next time we are tempted to admonish somebody，let’s pull a five-dollar bill out of our pocket，look at Lincoln’s picture on the bill，and ask.“How would Lincoln handle this problem if he had it？”