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Lincoln did what he had to do to save the union and keep the capital from being surrounded and overrun. But I was talking about the steps secessionist feared he would take -- steps which were not so different from what Eisenhower and other Republicans took to break up the solid South.

It's true that Ike didn't wholly support the desegregation decisions. He didn't even talk much about them for three years, but when Governor Faubus directly challenged federal authority, Ike called out the National Guard. In this too, he was following in Lincoln's footsteps. People at the time -- both those who supported him and those who didnt-- recognized that.

[DiogenesLamp]

Lincoln did what he had to do to save the union and keep the capital from being surrounded and overrun.

I had never heard of this before. You are telling me that Lincoln sent a fleet of warships to Charleston with orders to force their way in... because the confederates were planing to surround and overrun Washington DC?

Why has this never been mentioned before? I've read a lot of civil war history, and i've never heard of a plot to takeover Washington DC. Where did you get this information?

but when Governor Faubus directly challenged federal authority, Ike called out the National Guard. In this too, he was following in Lincoln's footsteps.

Using the military force of the United States against the people of America is indeed a Lincoln like tactic, but unlike Lincoln, Ike did it to support the rule of law in the US, instead of to force his own control on the people.

Lincoln did not believe in equality, and he very much wanted to induce and encourage black people to leave the United States. But this is the sort of stuff people nowadays do not talk about because it makes Lincoln look bad by modern standards.