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Scholars have long acknowledged that Lincoln was the GREATEST American President.

Lincoln was not for the abolishment of Slavery, he was for containining it in the states where it allready existed. That in effect would have been its death knell over time.

Lincoln also stood for reelection in Nov 1864, fully expecting to lose to McClellen whose platform was to make peace with the South.

There is a new book out which I have started reading on the Lincoln Presidency called "A Team of Rivals" by Goodwin Knight. Lincoln in effect hired his rivals for the Repblican Presiential nomination to be in his Cabinet...Seward, Chase and Edward Bates...along with Stanton they were the Best and the Brightest the country had to offer...Seward was a Senator, Chase Govoner of Ohio and Bates one of the founding fathers of St. Louis, Missouri. Lincoln by his own estimation only had ONE YEAR of formal eductaion. The rest was on his own hook.