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The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from The Boys' Life of Abraham Lincoln by Helen Nicolay: letters to confidential friends. This feeling grew until it soon
reached a mark of open disrespect, but the President's conduct
toward him did not change. Mr. Lincoln's nature was too
forgiving, and the responsibility that lay upon him was too heavy
for personal resentment. For fifteen months he strove to make
McClellan succeed even in spite of himself. He gave him help,
encouragement, the most timely suggestions. He answered his
ever-increasing complaints with unfailing self-control. It was
not that he did not see McClellan's faults. He saw them, and felt
them keenly. "If Gen. McClellan does not want to use the army, I
would like to borrow it," he said one day, stung by the General's
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