Lincoln's Emergence as a Military Realist - Lecture 2

No one, least of all the incoming President, could foresee what the future portended as he took the oath of office in March, 1861. In fact, he would be the only President (with the exception of FDR's 3rd term) to begin and end his tenure with the imminence if not actuality of military conflict.  In the space of four years, he evolved into a military realist with the ability to implement harsh military policies that insured the successful outcome of what had become the bloodiest war in Aerican History This transforation is the subject fo the second lecture.