Dumbledore exerted control and influence over a great many things but he wasn't necessarily manipulative.

At all times Dumbledore needed to balance his responsibilities as a leader with his wish/desire to encourage the freedom and happiness of individual. His natural instinct is to let things be, to allow people to do what they want and be happy, but sometimes he has to exert control in order to further Voldemort's defeat.

A good example of this is when Dumbledore told Harry the prophecy. A lot of people say Dumbledore was manipulative for not telling Harry the prophecy sooner, but the opposite is actually the case: Dumbledore didn't tell Harry the prophecy because the prophecy would make Harry unhappy, because he cared about Harry too much as an individual. We are told as much in OotP. Dumbledore telling Harry the prophecy earlier would be him giving greater priority to war than the development of Harry as a normal person. Interfering with a child's natural development to prepare them for a war is manipulative; withholding uncomfortable truths about the world from children until they're mature enough to hear them is normal good parenting. In an ideal world, Dumbledore wouldn't have told Harry the prophecy until he was an adult.

Dumbledore seemed to have arrived at a particular compromise for Harry, That compromise was in letting Harry decide for himself how much he wants to be involved. Throughout the series Dumbledore empowers Harry's ability to choose, and every bad situation Harry enters is either through his own (often very stupid) choice or through the plans of Voldemort.

Philosopher's Stone: Biggest One: Harry chooses to go down the trapdoor when he could have stayed safe in the Common Room.

Chamber of Secrets: Biggest One: Harry chooses to go down into the Chamber instead of telling the staff where the entrance is and/or what the monster is at any earlier point.

Prisoner of Azkaban: Biggest One Harry chooses to follow Sirius Black to the Shrieking Shack when he kidnaps Ron, then chooses to try to protect and rescue Sirius.

Goblet of Fire: It's all Voldemort's plan. (Harry likely shouldn't have taken Cedric's body, because it being 'tracked'/etc to Little Hangleton would have given more credence to Voldemort being back.

Order of the Phoenix: Harry chooses to go to the Department of Mysteries to rescue Sirius (ignoring Dumbledore's instructions not to pay any heed to his visions in the process and just about everything else he could have done because Harry is apparently the only one who can be the hero).

Half-Blood Prince: Harry chooses to go with Dumbledore to the cave, he chooses to come out from under his invisibility cloak and fight.

Deathly Hallows: Harry chooses to go to the forest to die, when he could have stayed in the castle and continued to fight (or flee).

Dumbledore set things up to help Harry and quite often Harry screwed everything up for his own interest.

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REASON: PLAGIARISM.​

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You know, you could have at least given Taure credit when you basically copy-pasted his post from earlier on this thread...