Existing comment:
Abraham Lincoln, 1809-1865:
Abraham Lincoln is regarded as one of the greatest men to occupy the presidency. Yet in his day, there were those who accused him of moral cowardice when he initially insisted that the purpose of engaging in a war with the South was to preserve the Union and note to eliminate slavery. His wartime suspension of basic civil rights gave rise to charges of despotism, and when the conflict went badly for the North, the blame inevitably fell on him. But as Union forces advanced toward victory in the field, Lincoln's eloquent articulation of the nation's ideals and ultimate call for an end to slavery gradually invested him with a saintly grandeur. Following his assassination in 1865, his reputation became virtually unassailable. |