Socratic Seminar: Governor vs. President “Who has the most Responsibility?”

Abstract

The Civil War throughout the history books has shown the power and the prestige of President Abraham Lincoln, and what all he had to do to prepare for war. However, not much is talked about in terms of the responsibilities of the states involved. That gives a look at the governor of each state, and in particular the governor of our own state of Indiana. After looking through the first pages of dispatches sent and received from Governor Oliver P. Morton, he had a tremendous amount of items and requests he had to take care of. Therefore, the argument could be made that Governor Morton had just as many responsibilities in getting his state on a war footing as did the President. But, the debate could be, who had more?