Abraham Lincoln – War President
USA Today wonders if the Republican Party has room for those who disagree with the party’s conservative platform. An August 31, 2004, front-page article asked whether Abraham Lincoln, women’s rights pioneer Susan B. Anthony, and New York governor Nelson Rockefeller would be welcomed into the Republican tent. A better question to ask is whether they would be welcomed into the Democrat tent.
Lincoln: The War President
Let’s consider Lincoln. A majority of Democrats are against the war in Iraq. The claim is made by pro-war advocates that the war liberated the Iraqis from a terrible dictator. The Iraqi people are now free to choose their own political course. The transition from oppression to freedom, however, has proved difficult and deadly. We hear daily death totals to remind us that war is hell. The loss of life, even if the cause is just and necessary, is tragic. A soldier’s death means grieving parents and most often an anguished widow. With these facts in view, Democrats conclude that the war wasn’t worth it.
Lincoln, a hero of the liberal and anti-war left, started the deadliest war in American history and destabilized the nation in the name of freeing former slaves from oppression and giving them a stake in the political process. To accomplish this lofty goal, more than 600,000 men died in the conflict, more than the number of American casualties in World War I and World War II combined. The number of dead is staggering when you consider that only 7.5 million soldiers participated in the Civil War compared to 21 million active soldiers who fought in World War I and World War II. The Great Emancipator, America’s first true War President, would not be welcomed into the Democrat tent, not only because he was a Republican, but because he was a man of war.
Gary is a graduate of Western Michigan University (1973) and earned his M.Div. at Reformed Theological Seminary in 1979. Author of countless essays, news articles, and more than 27 book titles, he also hosts The Gary DeMar Show, and History Unwrapped—both broadcasted and podcasted. Gary has lived in the Atlanta area since 1979 with his wife, Carol. They have two married sons and are enjoying being grandparents to their grandsons, Calvin and Paul. Gary and Carol are members of Midway Presbyterian Church (PCA). 
Need I remind you, the Civil War was not started over slavery, but money, as in tariffs and taxes. Abolitionists brought slavery to the forefront and Lincoln turned it into a war cry, hoping to bring in more soldiers. Lincoln’s own words show he didn’t care about the fate of the slaves, that is, until it helped his cause.