An "out-of-character" moment for Lincoln?

[Eva Elisabeth]

(I agree with Liz and Fido.)

(05-12-2014 05:35 PM)Lewis Gannett Wrote:  How did the warmly empathetic Lincoln fight the Civil War? I've never understood it.

I think he relied on that the end justifies the means, and he saw no other way.

"Fellow-citizens, we cannot escape history... No personal significance, or insignificance, can spare one or another of us. The fiery trial through which we pass, will light us down, in honor or dishonor, to the latest generation. We say we are for the Union. The world will not forget that we say this...We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best hope of earth."
(Annual Message to Congress, December 1, 1862)