I’ve read McPherson’s Battle Cry of Freedom and he is far more generous to Lincoln in that book than most of the anti-Lincoln posters here. That is expect for the Epilogue where he morphs into the typical modern day liberal college professor. As far as Lincoln on the slavery issue, it would be Frederick Douglass whom I would quote, especially his speech dedicating a monument to Lincoln in 1876.
That the country dramatically changed after 1865 is undeniable, but it was much closer to the ideals of 1776 than it had been previously. Slavery is simply not compatible with the Declaration of Independence, and anyone who thinks it wasn’t about slavery hasn’t read the secession documents approved by the South Carolina or Georgia legislatures.
As for books to read, I would recommend Harry Jaffa, The New Birth of Freedom.
I can’t think of one government bureaucracy Lincoln created that remains with us today. Starting with T. Roosevelt and the FDA, they are too numerous to mention.
Yeah. Michael Holt, he's an idiot.
(My guess is that you are more selective than the folks like Holt in what you read and how you interpret it.)
ML/NJ
That may be because McPherson, like anyone in his profession is limited in what he can write, or because he would rather not write the ugly truth. Look up the Baltimore Plot in BCoF. You will find a rather mysterious short paragraph about it. There was word of an assassination plot to be effected in Baltimore so Lincoln changed trains to avoid notice in Baltimore. McPherson reports that Lincoln "regretted the decision." Hmm? What's wrong with this picture? Die in Baltimore, or arrive alive in DC? What's to regret? There is a "rest of the story," as Paul Harvey might call it, and it doesn't reflect very well on "Honest" Abe's character. Leaving it out is such an honest omission.
ML/NJ