The Art of Winning: How Lincoln Made Arrogance Look Silly

Print by Lloyd Ostendorf

Abraham Lincoln handled between three and six thousand cases during his twenty‑three years’ practice as an attorney‑at‑law. [1] This is one of the earliest — and one of the most revealing.

In the early days of his Springfield law practice, Lincoln found himself in a jury trial in Sangamon County with a young attorney eager to prove himself.

His name was James C. Conkling — fresh from Princeton (then called The College of New Jersey), full of confidence, and determined to show Springfield what an educated young man could do.

Conkling delivered a long, polished, self‑important argument.
He quoted authorities.
He gestured.
He thundered.
He made sure the jury knew exactly where he’d gone to school.

Lincoln sat in total silence and waited for the young man’s showy performance — all puff and polish and Princeton pride — to end.

When he finally stood up, the courtroom leaned in.
Here came the rebuttal.
Here came the logic.
Here came the famous Lincoln clarity.

But none of that happened.

Lincoln didn’t even mention the case.
Not once.

Instead, Lincoln quietly read a four‑line epitaph written by Johnnie Kongapod, a Native American resident of Sangamon County who had learned to read and write from frontier missionaries and developed a love for poetry. Before his death, Johnnie composed his own epitaph:

Here lies poor Johnnie Kongapod;
Have mercy on him, gracious God,
As he would do if he were God
And you were Johnnie Kongapod. [2]

The courtroom erupted.
The poem had nothing to do with the case — and everything to do with the moment.

He didn’t need to dismantle Conkling’s legal points; Lincoln's plain-spoken approach made him more believable. By contrasting his humility with the young lawyer’s puffed-up display, he shifted the jury’s trust toward his client and won the verdict.

And Conkling — who later became one of Lincoln’s staunchest political allies — never forgot the lesson: Using direct, unpolished language punctures elite pretension.

This populist approach reveals a deep-seated truth about the American electorate. From the frontier courtrooms of 1840 to modern presidential campaigns, juries and voters have long distrusted credentialed elites and rallied behind those who talk and act like they do.

Another glimpse into the archives of Abraham Lincoln, Storyteller.

Mac

📚 Works Cited

[1] Mintz, Steven. Abraham Lincoln and the Law. Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. Mintz offers a conservative estimate of roughly 3,000 cases during Lincoln’s legal career. The Papers of Abraham Lincoln (Illinois Historic Preservation Agency) document more than 5,600 cases based on surviving docket books and filings. Together, these sources place Lincoln’s total caseload between three and six thousand cases.

[2] Browne, Francis Fisher (1913) The Every-Day Life of Abraham Lincoln. Chicago, IL: Browne and Howell Company; pages 241–242.