President Lincoln and the Sioux Indian uprising in Minnesota in 1862

[Eva Elisabeth]

These are some of the thoughts that would haunt me, had I been in Lincoln's shoes. I would like to know how he resolved them, or pushed them to the back of his mind so he could continue to function. I would especially like to know if he cursed the day he decided to become a politician, or did he not foresee until it was too late, situations such as this, that would drive the average conscientious person insane? Surely he did.

I second Gene.

Lincoln decided to become a politician long before he decided to become a lawyer. Sure it wasn't his objective to become president in wartime, but once (in 1862) stated that "perhaps he might be an instrument in God's hand of accomplishing a great work and he certainly was not unwilling to be". I think he did not regret his decision at all.

To deal with haunting thoughts I think is what drew him to God and the bible in later life (and you know what people and peoples can do and bear in the name of God, positive as well as negative, no judgement intended here).