A weak central government would have seen the United States newborn ripped apart by the European lion. Fortunately our greatest leaders, Washington and Hamilton, made sure that the Nation would be possessed of sufficient means to defend itself. Remember that our country was a small portion of a continent controlled by three huge empires. Napoleon was scheming up until the sale of LOuisiana to attack North America through Domingo. Jefferson was clueless to this helping the Frence destroy the slaves revolting there.
Despite the dangers we faced the "weak government" advocate proceeded to cut our ability to defend ourself and blunder his way into weakening our military and navy so much that we were treated with contemp by the Europeans. His embargo (rightly pointed out here as one of the greatest blunders) was an attempt to get around the fact he had weakened the Navy so much.
Our Constitution provides the means to defend the Union and Lincolns rightly used them. FDR was a different situation but not widely appreciated by those for whom ideology is all.
Lincoln would be second just for his literary ability to speak to the heart of man over the ages and express the deepest thoughts within them. Shakespearean and remarkable.
Yes, defending the States from OUTSIDE invaders was one of the primary reasons they became united. It was not formed so that the Federal government could impose its will on the individual states in virtually all matters. My initial point was that Lincoln helped set up the mechanisms which resulted in the overgrown Federal government we have today. I never said he was evil and I never said he did not do anything good.
Since I want the Federal government out of my life except in the areas expressly noted in the Constitution, I consider Lincoln's effect on the relationship between the Federal government and the states to be a net negative one. For that reason I do not consider him one of the greats.
If you like a Federal government having ALL the power in the U.S. then you are probably quite pleased with things just the way they are today. In that case I am happy for you. I, however, think my Federal taxes are being wasted by a power-hungry, over-grown bureaucracy and I do not like that so I attempt to put in office those who will help shrink the size of the Federal government. Unfortunately, they are few and far between.