Constitution, and defend it during the civil war. Abraham Lincoln was the 16th and first Republican president, he believed in serving and protecting his country. Lincoln’s election victory created a crisis, as many southern Democrats feared that it would be only a matter of time before Lincoln would move to kill slavery in the
South. In due time that is exactly what he did as he issued the Emancipation Proclamation on
January 1, 1863. The Emancipation Proclamation declared that “all slaves in the rebellious states “shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.” The Proclamation didn’t free a single slave it a turning point in the war, revolutionize the fight to conserve the nation into a battle for freedom. Protecting the nation at all cost was most important to Lincoln when he was president. During the four years of the American Civil War, the president steered the North to victory. Lincoln authorized Grant to destroy the civilian infrastructure that was keeping the Confederacy alive and able to continue in the war. Lincoln focused on defeating armies rather than capturing cities. Abraham Lincoln is known as the best president for his brilliant thinking with war strategies and the Emancipation Proclamation. Lincoln was for protecting the nation at all cost. That's what he did by freeing the slaves and winning the civil war.