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"lincoln, the TYRANT & WAR CRIMINAL, was nothing more or less than a cheap,scheming shyster lawyer & POLITICIAN, who was of about the same moral sort as wee willie klintoon.
EITHER would DO/SAY anything to get $$$$$$$$$ & POWER! ANYTHING!"

I am at a loss as to how to even begin to respond to the above statement by stand watie. Please explain what unconstitutional act Lincoln committed to "force" South Carolina to secede. What defense can you give to demonstrate that secession would not be a threat to the national existence of the United States?

I'm certainly not saying that Lincoln had no ambition or political savvy, but the charges you (and certain anti-Lincoln writers) make against him indicates to me a lack of historical perspective and understanding on your part.

Didn't you know that Lincoln wanted the southern states to be allowed back into the Union as soon as possible - without penalties (loss of citizenship or voting rights, etc.) imposed on former Confederate soldiers or even their political leaders? He did not want to punish the South economically or politically in the postwar period. I really believe that if Lincoln had lived through his second term that reconstruction would not have been the horrible experience that it turned out to be under Grant.

John Wilkes Booth's bullet did more to destroy political, economic and racial harmony North and South than anything Lincoln did.

Believe me when I say that I can empathize with what the South endured during and after the Civil War. I even empathize with their fear of too much federal intrusion into the rights of the states. The courage and fortitude of the Confederate soldiers and their military leaders fill me with awe and admiration in what they were willing to endure and sacrifice for what they believed in - but, I do not see Lincoln as the monster that many are trying to portray him.

You must remember that in Lincoln's mind, secession meant the ultimate destruction of us as a nation. He believed it had to be stopped in its tracks. Any compromise with it would have implied endorsement of the principle of secession. That, he couldn't and wouldn't do. Secession took place even before he took office. He is not to blame for that. I do not even blame him for the harsh realities of war that occurred during the war. It was hard, cruel, terrible warfare that I still have difficulty comprehending that it ever happened in these United States. I believe the South must share some of the responsibility for the war's occurrence. They gave up on compromise and the rule of constitutional law and took it into their own hands with secession.

I say, "Thank God" he was President at the time. Whatever you can say, he never wavered from his goal of restoring the Union. If he hadn't, I think we would be regretting it today.