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I said he knew him, ie. he understood Lincoln's primary political objectives were to preserve the union and prevent slavery's spread to the territories, not to abolish it. He also understood that slavery was a huge political headache for Lincoln and that he would be content just to ship black people off to foreign shores to fend for themselves.

Complete nonsense. Lincoln was a supporter of voluntary emigration for former slaves. Emphasis on the 'voluntary'. In that he was no different than other evil men who shared the same beliefs. Men like James Madison, Robert Lee, and John Breckenridge. Unlike Jefferson Davis, Lincoln never advocated forced deportation for freed blacks.

Lincoln did not openly support a 13th Amendment until after his re-election, when it became clear that the union would be victorious and resettlement was not an option.

That is incorrect as well. Lincoln ran for reelection on a platform strongly supporting the 13th Amendment, and made his complete support for that plank known in letters to the platform committee.

Yes, complete emancipation was in the platform. And, yes, Lincoln did not contest it, in fact supported it in letters to the platform committee. But, as I've stated, he did not run around making public speeches about it. That would have still been poltically risky and his re-election in 1864 was far from a slam dunk. Better to let the public attribute its inclusion in the platform to others. It was well-known at the time that he was often at odds with the radical wing of his own party.

Once the returns were in, he became quite public in his support of such an amendment. Still, it wasn't even passed and signed until the war was almost over. And, even then, his public declarations bearing on full equality, such as black enfranchisement, remained lukewarm even after his re-election. He advocated the vote only for select blacks, ie. the educated and those who served in the union army.

My point is that, during the war, Lincoln always moved with caution on issues concerning blacks, especially in his open public statements. He did sign enabling legislation commissioning the Freedman's Bureau, but beyond that, his intentions for federal assistance to freed black people were not at all clear -- nothwithstanding the reports we have of his comments at Hampton Roads.

And finally, nobody has said he favored forced relocation of blacks. He proposed to Douglass and other black leaders that the government would supply things like land, passage and initial material support if they would encourage emigration and actively assist in the founding of a nation for these people. That alone suggests he was not so confident that blacks would successfully integrate themselves and be accepted in their newly emancipated condition.