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RE: Who did Lincoln admire?
Depending on what (extent) "admiring" means all seem valid suggestions at least for a period in his life. As for Seward - I think Abraham Lincoln appreciated, valued him, held him in high regard, but I personally (my understanding of "admiring") wouldn't think he admired him like Shakespeare or the political "idols" of his "youth".
I would add Burns to the list as Abraham Lincoln even directly expressed his admiration:.
"...at the annual banquet of the capital’s Burns Club in January 1865, he replied: 'I cannot frame a toast to Burns. I can say nothing worthy of his generous heart and transcending genius. Thinking of what he has said, I cannot say anything which seems worth saying.' " (Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, Volume VII, p. 237)
At all I think it were the writers that had the greatest as longest lasting (throughout his life) influence on him. What about Henry Clay, Daniel Webster etc. in Lincoln' s later life? I am wondering and asking for your opinion as I am thinking of William Seward who as a young man admired Quincy Adams and when he later happened to visit and meet him still respected him highly, but, if I recall correctly (I think it was in in Kevin Peraino's "Lincoln in the World"), he was a bit disappointed and disenchanted to see he was a quite "normal" elderly man (and, too, put his pants on one leg at a time) - the magic had gone.
What about those Abraham Lincoln admired - which of them stood the test of times until the end of his life?
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Whom did Lincoln admire?
