Lincoln's Political Thought

One of the most influential philosophers of liberalism turns his attention to the complexity of Lincolns political thought. At the center of Lincolns career is an intense passion for equality, a passion that runs so deep in the speeches, messages, and letters that it has the force of religious conviction for Lincoln. George Kateb examines these writings to reveal that this passion explains Lincolns reverence for both the Constitution and the Union. The abolition of slavery was not originally a tenet of Lincolns political religion. He affirmed almost to the end of his life that the preservation of the Union was more important than ending slavery. This attitude was consistent with his judgment that at the founding, the agreement to incorporate slaveholding into the Constitution, and thus secure a Constitution, was more vital to the cause of equality than struggling to keep slavery out of the new nation. In Katebs reading, Lincoln destroys the Constitution twice, by suspending it as a wartime measure and then by enacting the Thirteenth Amendment to abolish slavery. The first instance was an effort to save the Constitution; the second was an effort to transform it, by making it answer the Declarations promises of equality. The man who emerges in Katebs account proves himself adequate to the most terrible political situation in American history. Lincolns political life, however, illustrates the unsettling truth that in democratic politicsperhaps in all politicsit is nearly impossible to do the right thing for the right reasons, honestly stated.