[socal_parrot]

Abe Lincoln, himself, did not consider it an issue, until forced into a corner to be re-elected.

Lincoln did consider slavery an issue in the Civil War. On June 16, 1858, before the war, Lincoln declared that the issue of slavery would not be resolved until the nation was all slave or all free, "A house divided against itself cannot stand". While he may have not taken a stance on the right or wrong of slavey, he did realize that it was an issue. To say otherwise is revisionist tripe that is common on these threads.

[Conservababe]

What Lincoln realized in his mind...and what he did for political gain are two different things, methinks. If he was a man of principle, he would have listened to his mind, instead of his politics in the first year of the Civil War.