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On July 1, 1862, Lincoln signed the Revenue Act of 1862. It established the Office of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue which became the IRS later. It also introduced a system where taxpayers were separated into multiple categories according to their incomes and taxed accordingly. This progressive nature of income tax remains to this day.

So those are going to be some of the things President Trump will have to compete with.

1. He will need to “preserve the Union.” At a time when the country appears to be torn by various dividers, President Trump will need to find a way to re-unify the American people. Preferably in such a way that no side is blamed for the problems and both sides see moving forward as being mutually beneficial.
2. He will need to demonstrate himself as a competent Commander-in-Chief whose use of the military serves to elevate the nation. He will likely need to avoid conflicts which serve no clear, achievable national interest and when he does choose to use the military, it will need to be decisive. (Choosing a Secretary of Defense whose moto is “No Better Friend, No Worse Enemy” is a good start but there is quite a ways to go.)
3. He will need to learn to use soft power to encourage other nations to follow our lead on critical situations. Leading by example and encouraging other nations to meet their interests through skillful negotiation would be hallmarks of this accomplishment.
4. He will need to change the very fabric of the American (and potentially the world’s) culture. Most notably, he will need to fight for the oppressed and elevate their issues to a national concern.
5. He will need to use the expansive resources of this country to better the lives of its citizens providing them no hand-outs but opportunities. For Lincoln this meant giving them land and education. For President Trump, this will likely also involve some form of elevating their educational opportunities but also enabling them through some other resource as well. (Perhaps providing free access to the world’s fastest internet or something similar.)
6. He will need to embody the ideals of integrity and commitment. While no President is beyond reproach, what sins he does have should be considered within the context of the national interest. (There are many who consider Lincoln’s handling of the Civil War such as the censoring of newspapers, the elimination of habeas corpus, and the draft as being criminal acts worthy of impeachment…but these are a far cry from a President who commits criminal acts in the interest of his personal gain or baser instincts.)
7. Looking through the lists above, it is apparent that the ability to motivate the people through his speeches and his writings are likely to also be important skills. Being a recognized orator who can convey grand ideas not just to Americans but to the international community would also help to elevate his status.
8. Re-crafting American institutions to the betterment of the country as a whole would elevate his status. Maybe that means re-looking at taxes or healthcare or the development of new technologies. He has the potential to lead the US on a “Manahattan-like” or “Moon shot” drive to developing renewable energies that would make the US the envy of the world, collapse the oil regimes of the Middle East, and dominate China in area of untapped potential. Or he may find some other area to improve.

So will he become the greatest ever President? There are some areas on this list that I think he has a chance of meeting. I’m not saying he meets them now, I’m saying they fall within his wheel house. Numbers 3 and 8 and potentially 5 might be areas that he could choose to devote his energies.

Other areas are not likely to be as easy for him to conquer based on his chosen leadership style. I could be wrong but I think he is going to have a harder time with numbers 1 and 7. To date, that just isn’t who he is.

Number 2 is a tough one for anyone. Lincoln and Roosevelt both “benefited” from being the C-n-C during wars of immense impact. They had clear goals. They had clear measures of victory. And they were existential. There was no opportunity to fail to win those wars. I think President Trump’s best opportunity here is to stay out of unnecessary wars in favor of finding other solutions for security issues, improving alliances, leveraging soft power, etc. I think seeking to make a name for himself by being a strong C-n-C would actually be the worse thing he could do and would have incredibly bad effects on the US and the world.

Number 4 is hard for me to imagine. Not because of my opinions of President Trump but because of the subject itself. Lincoln freed the slaves! That’s a tough one to beat. While there are marginalized groups within the US, I don’t think anyone can honestly compare any of them to the slaves. He can certainly make life better/easier for many of these groups but even if he did, I don’t think it would have anywhere the impact Lincoln’s actions did.

Number 6 is going to tough. His history does not inspire this kind of image. And there are far too many people watching for him to make a mistake. There’s no saying he can’t do this but that he won’t get the benefit of the doubt in any case. There are far too many opinions against him at this point.