FadeToBlack&Gold
Microlot Marxist
Re: 2020 Democratic Challengers: Who ISN'T Running At This Point?
I wonder if it could be argued (perhaps incorrectly) that Lincoln's presidency was made less effective by the "radical liberal" nature of his party at the time.
IIRC, Lincoln was a brokered candidate at the 1860 Republican convention. After his debates with Douglas in 1858 brought him some national notoriety, Lincoln was considered the moderate voice. It took him the first 2 years just getting the fellow Republicans also-rans whom he nominated to his administration to A) Realize he wasn't a country bumpkin they could easily manipulate and B) Unite them behind the cause of holding the union together, rather than running against him in 1864.
Of course, Lincoln was assassinated before the end of the war and before we could've known how he'd approach the post-war Congress full of even more "Radical Republicans". I'd like to think that Reconstruction under Lincoln would've gone smoother and better than it actually did. As we know, it was an abject failure.
I wonder if it could be argued (perhaps incorrectly) that Lincoln's presidency was made less effective by the "radical liberal" nature of his party at the time.
IIRC, Lincoln was a brokered candidate at the 1860 Republican convention. After his debates with Douglas in 1858 brought him some national notoriety, Lincoln was considered the moderate voice. It took him the first 2 years just getting the fellow Republicans also-rans whom he nominated to his administration to A) Realize he wasn't a country bumpkin they could easily manipulate and B) Unite them behind the cause of holding the union together, rather than running against him in 1864.
Of course, Lincoln was assassinated before the end of the war and before we could've known how he'd approach the post-war Congress full of even more "Radical Republicans". I'd like to think that Reconstruction under Lincoln would've gone smoother and better than it actually did. As we know, it was an abject failure.
