Abraham Lincoln played the Southern fire-eaters like a fiddle. His secret was to use jiu-jitsu politics.
These techniques were developed around the principle of using an enemy’s energy against him,
I think I read somewhere that Lincoln had stated he would do anything needed to keep the Union together.
Including finding a way to keep slavery going as an institution, if necessary.
Lincoln's personal secretary John Nicolai agreed. He wrote a book about the outbreak of the Civil War and stated that Lincoln was very careful about putting the South in the wrong, for his political purposes; it was his key objective in starting the war.
True enough. Most people are very energetic when they defend their families and homes. A southern shortcoming Yankees apparently can not fathom.