Lincoln as secular saint

[Angela]

Laurie, first of all - THANK YOU!
That was a very interesting article to read and I yet have to educate myself on some of the finer points Mr. Guelzo makes.
I agree with the overall sentiment of the article, especially on the problem of viewing history through 21 century goggles and a limited attention span that is generally paid to very complicated political matters that existed at the time!
I was wondering about one argument the author makes early on and was curious as to what the general opinion is on this.

It is stated that “the abolitionists were never a political constituency large enough be worth factoring with” – I am not sure that this is a valid argument for, and that is only one reason, the 13th amendment easily passed the senate in 1864.

I think this could have been a bit more refined and am curious to learn what others think of this; however I think the statement following right after concerning the “Radical’s record of accomplishment” is genius and sums up the whole problem.

Many years before and many years after Lincoln, this huge topic was debated. Yet, the only person who ever accomplished anything of meaning at the time….was Lincoln.