Why was Lincoln "great?"

[My Name Is Kate]

Something sure isn't making sense. Why is it that Lincoln is always, or almost always portrayed as either super-humanly good, or bordering on demonic? Can't he be somewhere in between, like (almost) every other human being who ever lived?

I still don't know enough about Lincoln to know why he was, or wasn't great. But after I finish this post, I think I'll finally break down and buy "Sic Semper Tyrannis" to try to understand better why Booth and most of the South hated him so much. I say "break down" because I had no intention when I joined this forum, of delving into Lincoln lore or history, and I thought I would be long gone after the few questions I wanted to ask were answered when I first joined.

As for benevolent racism, sometimes it almost seems that some people wish slavery was re-instituted so they personally could abolish it all over again. Or maybe they are so hung up on...something (rooting out original sin?) that they don't even realize it has been abolished.

Here is an article I came across that I thought was quite interesting:

http://americancivilwar.com/authors/blac...owners.htm

The following is intended as a humorous aside, to show another side to Mozart (and Beethoven). Their music may have been sublime, but their character wasn't always. In his later years, Beethoven didn't always bother to empty his chamberpots before visitors came over.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozart_and_scatology