Whatever else he did, Lincoln did not rise to the level of a 19th C AD Cincinattus.
“Whatever else he did, Lincoln did not rise to the level of a 19th C AD Cincinattus.”
Yes, exactly. The way people talk about the union being broken as akin to an enemy force invading and destroying the Constitution and our liberty is weird. I don’t get it. The union wouldn’t cease to be, it just wouldn’t have been what it was.
Lincoln did not temporarily assume dictatorial powers to save the republic. He assumed them to keep southern states within the union. And we all know they ended up not being entirely temporary, though some of them were. Of course, Lincoln had no hand in extending abuses past the war, as he died with the war. But he shares responsibility for the infinite extension of federal prerogative.
More like a Seneca.