An oxymoron is contradicting words (deafening silence, jumbo shrimp, etc), a paradox is contradicting ideas (I must be cruel to be kind)
I believe the answer is D
If the underlined phrase is <em>born in New York in 1856, </em>then that would be a participial phrase, which often functions as an adjective in a sentence, like is the case here.
Gerund is always used as a noun, and infinitive has the form <em>to + verb </em>(to go, to be...)
<span>A great leader listens to his men and considers their thoughts and opinions.</span>