James Swanson in the Wall Street Journal

[LincolnToddFan]

I don't believe Reconstruction would have been quite as harsh for the freedmen or the former Confederates if Lincoln had been president...but yes. It would still have been a difficult pill to swallow for both sides.

And just like during the war, extremists on both ends would have been bitterly disappointed with Abraham Lincoln.

There is probably no way he could have navigated it with his reputation unscathed...in other words there would probably be no Lincoln Memorial on the Mall today.