December 31, 1862, Lincoln connected his name to a document that many of his adherents and later apologists would gladly forget: a contract with Bernard Kock, an ambitious and unscrupulous venturer, to use federal funds to remove some five thousand black men, women, and children from the United States to a small island off the coast of Haiti. It was Lincoln's last effort at colonizing blacks outside the United States, executed only one day before he was to sign a proclamation...
Interesting subject.
Kock was certainly ambitious, but it's unclear how unscrupulous he was. At the least, he put his own life on the line, going with his colonists (<500, not 5000) to Haiti. It should be noted that all colonists were volunteers, and that Kock got stiffed by his investors, who did not forward supplies as agreed.
Here's a link to the story.
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=69893
An interesting account by one of Kock's descendants.
http://thompsongenealogy.com/2011/12/bernard-kock-colonized-cow-island-with-freed-slaves/
Lincoln's proclamation rescinding his agreement with Kock.
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=69893
It's unclear to me why this story should be considered discreditable to Lincoln. It's usually coupled with implication that colonists were deported, rather than volunteers, which is flatly untrue.
While colonization projects failed, that doesn't mean they were inherently wrong or evil.