New Delhi, India: July 6, 2010 - Balaji Chandramohan - 

When 44th American President Barack Obama took the centre stage in the politics, he was often compared to the legendry and mythical 16th President Abraham Lincoln. Barack Obama was tall, slim and had a perfect rag to rich story to be compared to Lincoln.

On the other hand, when Barack Obama took office he said that there will be a "Team of Rivals" in his Presidential cabinet. Of course, he was quoting from the book Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln was written by esteemed historian Doris Kearns Goodwin. In that it was well documented on how Lincoln used his political genius to in his relations with three men he selected for his cabinet, all of them were opponents for the Republican nomination in 1860: William H. Seward, Salmon P. Chase, and Edward Bates.

These men who were  accomplished, nationally known, and presidential, originally disdained Lincoln for his backwoods upbringing and lack of experience, and were shocked and humiliated at losing to this relatively obscure Illinois lawyer.

However, Lincoln not only convinced them to join his administration--Seward as secretary of state, Chase as secretary of the treasury, and Bates as attorney general--he ultimately gained their admiration and respect as well. How he soothed egos, turned rivals into allies, and dealt with many challenges to his leadership, all for the sake of the greater good, is largely what Goodwin's fine book is about.

This was exactly the analogy that Barack Obama used when he nominated Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Vice President Joe Biden. The US was though exactly not in the same peril as when Lincoln took office.

he time now is not very easy as the US is dragging into two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and having problems with Iran and North Korea, the economy has not recovered fully and so it needs to counter the rising power in China which has a super-power ambitions and redeems the lost pride in the "Hundred years of Humiliation"

Against this back ground, Obama's team of rivals is performing well till the time when a "Runaway General" McChyrstal threw the tantrums. General McChyrstal was the Commander of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and Commander of U.S. Forces Afghanistan (USFOR-A).

Well, McChyrstal wanted to be another General MacArthur, the World War II hero in the US. MCChyrstal failed to understand that though he had no chance to match MacArthur, he was trying to match him to take on the President on that day. Even MacAthur had to be removed from his services by then President Truman on the eve of the Korean War. In the US, the thumb rule, civilians rule the gun than the other way around.

This was well taught to the "Runaway General" by Obama in a private dressing down. Now, the baton is passed to General Petraeus. General Petraeus is famous for his ‘surge" in Iraq and turned the tables on the Counter-Insurgency in the destroyed Mesopotamia after the Saddam Hussein rule was thrown away.

In this way, General Petraeus is reportedly having an eye for the 2012 US Presidential elections. He is now compared to the legendry Ulyss Grant who was the General in the Union army during the civil war in the US. Ulyss Grant was spotted by Lincoln and he helped the latter to find a place in the history book as a great emancipator.

In a similar game, it is still to watch whether General Petraeus will help Obama and his "Team of Rivals" to find a place in the history book.

Obama following Lincoln's step has taken a leaf out of the 16th President that to be successful in politics "You need to keep your friends close and your enemies closer". This was exactly the reason for Obama to form his "Team of Rivals" which will be tested much in the run up to the 2012 Presidential Election.

{The above article was written by Balaji Chandramohan, Editor World ecurity Network. (The article carries the view point of the author and not of International Reporter). The author can be contacted through his email ohanbalaji20032004@yahoo.co.in, mohanbalaji2003@gmail.com}