After winning the 1860 presidential election, Abraham Lincoln appointed Edward Bates, Salmon P. Chase, and William H. Seward to his...

Let's begin by understanding the meaning of this sentence. We'll use our understanding of pause points and segment the sentence as shown - understanding and assimilating the meaning of each segment bit by bit!

Sentence Structure

• After winning the 1860 presidential election,
• Abraham Lincoln
  • appointed Edward Bates, Salmon P. Chase, and William H. Seward
    • to his cabinet.

• Lincoln's decision
  • was surprising,
    • since each of these men
      • had run against him,
• but historians
  • have praised it,
    • noting that Lincoln [?] his rivals' diverse talents
      • to strengthen his administration.

[?] = has leveraged / is leveraging / will leverage / leveraged

Understanding the Meaning

Let's start reading from the beginning:

First sentence: 'After winning the 1860 presidential election, Abraham Lincoln appointed Edward Bates, Salmon P. Chase, and William H. Seward to his cabinet.'

• This is telling us about a historical event in 1860
  • Lincoln won the election
  • He then appointed three specific men to his cabinet

Second sentence starts: 'Lincoln's decision was surprising, since each of these men had run against him,'

• His decision to appoint these men was surprising
  • Why? Because each of them had competed against Lincoln for the presidency

The sentence continues: 'but historians have praised it,'

• Even though it was surprising, historians (from Lincoln's time through today) have given this decision positive recognition

Now we reach the blank: 'noting that Lincoln ______ his rivals' diverse talents to strengthen his administration.'

This is where we need to fill in the blank. Let's look at our choices:

• has leveraged (present perfect)
• is leveraging (present continuous)
• will leverage (future)
• leveraged (simple past)

So we're choosing between different time frames for when Lincoln used these rivals' talents.

Now let's understand what this part is telling us:

• 'noting that Lincoln ______ his rivals' diverse talents'
  • The historians are pointing out WHY they praise the decision
  • The reason is that Lincoln used (took advantage of) the different skills and abilities his rivals had

• 'to strengthen his administration'
  • This was Lincoln's purpose - to make his government stronger

What do we notice about the timing here?

• The entire passage is describing completed historical events:
  • Lincoln appointed these men in 1860 - that's done
  • The decision was surprising - past observation
  • These men had run against him - happened before the appointment

• What historians are noting is what Lincoln DID back then in 1860
  • This is a completed historical action
  • It's not something happening now or in the future
  • It's what Lincoln accomplished when he made those appointments

So we need simple past tense: leveraged

The correct answer is D. leveraged

GRAMMAR CONCEPT APPLIED

Choosing the Right Verb Tense for Historical Narratives

When writing about historical events that are completed and in the past, you need to match your verb tenses to the timeframe of the actions:

Simple Past Tense for completed historical actions:

• Abraham Lincoln appointed his cabinet in 1860 (happened and finished)
• Lincoln leveraged his rivals' talents (what he did back then)
• The decision was surprising (past state)

Past Perfect Tense for actions that happened BEFORE other past actions:

• These men had run against him (they competed for president BEFORE he appointed them)

Present Perfect Tense when describing ongoing assessments or relevance from past to present:

• Historians have praised it (from Lincoln's time through today, this praise continues)

In this question:

The action of leveraging rivals' talents happened in 1860 when Lincoln made his cabinet appointments. It's a completed historical action, so it needs simple past tense: "leveraged."

Using present or future tenses would incorrectly suggest Lincoln is still acting now or will act in the future, which is impossible for a historical figure. The historians are noting what Lincoln DID (past action), not what he is doing or will do.