31abraham lincoln was an extraordinary wartime leader. He led the
country through its most trying ordeal, a civil war that spanned nearly
his entire presidency and took a greater toll in American lives than all
the other conflicts with which this book will deal put together. At
several points during the struggle, he faced the prospect of both mil-
itary and electoral defeat, either of which would have spelled the end of
the nation. His decisions and determination led to a triumph that also
ended the brutal system of chattel slavery. Th e republic took the fi rst
tentative steps toward the “new birth of freedom” that he articulated as
the ultimate goal of the terrible sacrifices the war imposed. O u r
martyred sixteenth president accordingly, and appropriately, has been
elevated to a kind of secular sainthood.
Lincoln’s performance still calls for critical reappraisal. Even his
admirers acknowledge its fl aws. Th is should be no surprise: Lincoln
may have been extraordinary, but even he could not escape the impos-
sible leadership demands and inherent confl icts that all wartime presi-
dents face. It is unreasonable to hold them to a standard of perfection.
We should instead weigh their full record, recognizing the challenges
they met as they guided a nation through military confl ict, challenges
that grew in magnitude with the scale of the war.