American Civil War
Most historians also think that Abraham Lincoln was a better leader than Jefferson Davis. Don E. Fehrenbacher says that Lincoln's skills helped keep the Border States and ordinary people on his side. Lincoln left his generals alone if they did a good job and fired them if they did not. Davis lacked a clear plan, tried to do too many tasks at once and often chose people to do jobs just because they were his friends. He annoyed his generals and other Confederate politicians. William Cooper says that better leadership helped the Union, but they were already more likely to win.