I think he was a brilliant politician and I admire him for it. And I said that at the very beginning of the argument.
But of course, since I argue also for the South... I must be belittled and demeaned and my words twisted...
Alright, fair enough. Sorry. We Union partisans on these threads are used to seeing Lincoln described, by the southern brigade, as the single worst human being between Atilla the Hun and Hitler, and ourselves likened to Nazis for supporting the United States position in that war (see post 838)
I just believe that he wasn't politically naive to think that he could sail into the harbor and not get a war.
Maybe not, but it still left the choice to actually start shooting in southern hands, and as I showed earlier today, the south had very good, expedient reasons to want the shooting to get started, e.g., to stiffen softening southern public opinion and to swing the upper south into their camp.