“What would you have had him do?”
My answer to that would be if there ever was a time for “nuance” this was it. From his words during the campaign, to his words after the election, everything he did could have restrained war. And if he knew that many people were going to die, I bet he would have done some things differently. I’m just saying if he was as great a man everybody gives him credit for, he could handled the situation better.
Of course we all know, Monday Morning QBing is so much easier.
Lincoln did everything within his power (and even overextended a bit) to prevent war. The only other thing he could have done was surrender. There is no conceivable circumstance that I, as an American, could envision him doing this.