Abraham Lincoln: "Big enough to be inconsistent."

[LincolnMan]

A friend of mine asked me about Lincoln being so loved today. I basically told him that he is and is not. In fact, I expressed to him that he was very much hated in his day. Still, as the title of this thread states, Lincoln was "big enough to be inconsistent."
Here is part of what I wrote to him about Mr. Lincoln:
Abraham Lincoln was absolutely hated in his day. He had incredible internal fortitude to withstand the vitriol leveled at him from all sides. There were even calls within some circles for his assassination right from the start. There was a serious threat of assassination against him that resulted in changes in his arrival plans for the inauguration. He keep a file of some of the death threats he received from John Q. Public. He was shot at one night while riding a horse. The round went through his top hat. Years afterward, other assassination plans came to light. Some of them were known some not. One plan was to blow up the WH! Another was to infect him with small pox. Another one was to poison him. Every faction had their "reasons" for hating him. Through it all he remained steadfast. He knew slavery was evil--but he also knew that first and foremost the Union had to be saved--in order preserve the country and finally for it to be in a position to end slavery. Even today he is hated among some. Some of it is due to ignorance. We live in a "sound-bite" world. A headline on the internet says: "Lincoln cared nothing about ending slavery-" and people accept it as gospel. Others hate Lincoln but have studied the matter and can at least offer intellectual arguments. At any rate he still greatly resonates with so many people. The ill-educated country bumpkin who rose to the highest heights, helped free millions of people, and preserved the United States of America with that "new birth of freedom." Then he was killed at the very height of his accomplishment--sending him into secular sainthood and forever fixing him in our imaginations inspiring countless others to greatness, duty, and positive virtue. Pretty good for the country hick who could barely spell but wrote some of the world's greatest political documents. Shine on Mr. Lincoln...