Lincoln's Gamble: The Tumultuous Six Months that Gave America the Emancipation

[RJNorton]

This does not speak to the question being discussed, but it's a favorite quote of mine from John Nicolay. Regarding the Emancipation Proclamation, Nicolay wrote:

"And for this New Year's gift, the man who has wrought the work, amid the doubts of friends, the aspersions of foes, the clamors of faction, the cares of Government, the crises of war, the dangers of revolution, and the manifold temptations that beset moral heroes, Abraham Lincoln, the President of the United States, is entitled to the everlasting gratitude of a despised race enfranchised, the plaudits of a distracted country saved, and an inscription of undying fame in the impartial records of history."