Lincoln uses this story to reprimand one of his Captains for engaging in a fight and verbally abusing another officer. As Phillips (1992), notes, there are not many leadership courses that would advise a leader to avoid a confrontation with another, instead, they teach the “can do” viewpoint. In Lincoln’s story, he describes how a man with bigger things to do, does not have time to quarrel, not to mention the consequences that come from the fight. It is simply better to avoid the fight from the beginning. Lincoln uses the dog as a metaphor for the fight. Saying it is better to give the dog your path, rather than get bit by the dog for the right of the path. Even if you were to kill the dog (win the fight), you are still going to have to deal with the bite (the …show more content…
In fact, Lincoln was against executing any Confederate officials while others pressured for it. If it were up to Lincoln, he would let them all go free and scare them off. One day, Sherman asked Lincoln if he wanted Jefferson Davis to be captured or allowed to escape when the time came. Lincoln replied with a short story about an old lecturer who was very by the book. One day, while out on a ride in the hot son, he stopped by a friend’s house. The friend offered him a drink of lemonade and even offered to add in a little something stronger. The man replied saying he was opposed to it on principle, but if he added some in unbeknownst to him, he wouldn’t be opposed. Lincoln then looked over at Sherman and replied he was bound to oppose Davis’ escape, but if it happened unbeknownst like, well that would be fine