Will Lincoln go down in History,as America's Dictator President?

[Rob Wick]

This is a situation where one takes something that did happen, and turns it around using 20th century sensibilities to say "just look how bad he was." Lincoln's use of prior restraint on the newspapers of the day was clearly unwarranted, but it wasn't as widespread as Di Lorenzo would have you believe. More often than not an order to shut down a paper or imprison someone was countermanded shortly thereafter.

I don't know of any serious historian who looks at the record of Lincoln with blinders and says that Lincoln was the model of perfection in office. He made mistakes and did things that should be questioned. But in the end, I still would have rather had him in office than any of his opponents in 1860. And just think what would have happened if McClellan had been elected in 1864.

Best
Rob