Lincoln and Hamlin?

[Eva Elisabeth]

You forgot Moon Pies! But great points!

Do you think that some of the Union politicians were wise enough to realize that they needed the Confederate leaders, who were very intelligent men, on their side in order to ensure better reconstruction of the defeated South?

Not only had the war destroyed the infrastructure and economics of the area, it had badly decimated the generation of educated men that would be needed to guide their own people through the turmoil and change. Instead, much of the process fell into the hands of the vengeful military, carpetbaggers, and the uneducated classes.

Your points are two I think that were Lincoln's politics and beliefs - the way he put together his first cabinet speaks for the first, and the Morrill Land-Grant Acts speaks for his interest in the second of your points, Laurie. I think both would have been part of his reconstruction politics.

And I second Gene's being valid points...