Explore Lincoln

LINCOLN. Abraham Lincoln was an American original.  His genius is unquestioned.  His niche in history—and it is a large one—is secure.  And so is his place in our affections.  It is hardly possible to talk about the North’s effort to win the war—and just as importantly, to secure a compassionate peace—separate from Lincoln.  There was always something lofty, something different, something special about the tall, lanky President. 

He emanated a kind of parochial grandeur, itself rather unique in this country’s annals…   As is the case with many historic figures, it is futile to expect consistency in his genius, and he abounds with contradictions.  But they served him well: he was a politician in the crudest sense of the term, but at the same time a man of moral stature; he was a genuine intellectual, but also a man of uncommon street sense; he had no executive experience whatsoever, and only the most modest preparation for the highest office in the land, but when the country was suddenly confronted by the mightiest challenge since its auspicious birth, he somehow managed to ascend to the occasion.  He was a figure who could give heroic life to what the Union was and, just as importantly, to what it might become.  And perhaps most strikingly, he was a leader of such inexhaustible magnanimity and vision that by April 1865, he could put himself in a position of finally rescuing not just the North’s depleted and bloodied young men, but in his own distinct manner and his own distinct way, those of the South as well.