He understood well the
nature of the problem. In his first message to Congress he defined it in
admirably pointed language: "Must a government be of necessity too strong
for the liberties of its own people, or too weak to maintain its own
existence? Is there in all republics this inherent weakness?" This
question he answered in the name of the great American republic, as no
man could have answered it better, with a triumphant "No...."
It has been said that Abraham Lincoln died at the right moment for his
fame. However that may be, he had, at the time of his death, certainly
not exhausted his usefulness to his country. He was probably the only
man who could have guided the nation through the perplexities of the
reconstruction period in such a manner as to prevent in the work of peace
the revival of the passions of the war. He would indeed not have escaped
serious controversy as to details of policy; but he could have weathered
it far better than any other statesman of his time, for his prestige with
the active politicians had been immensely strengthened by his triumphant
re-election; and, what is more important, he would have been supported by
the confidence of the victorious Northern people that he would do all to
secure the safety of the Union and the rights of the emancipated negro,
and at the same time by the confidence of the defeated Southern people
that nothing would be done by him from motives of vindictiveness, or of
unreasoning fanaticism, or of a selfish party spirit.
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