Our Presidents

I have undertaken to try to read a biography of each of our presidents - it will not be easy because there is so much misinformation about them that gets printed these days - revisionist historians who want to remove religious motives from our founding fathers; slanderers who want to make anyone with fair skin prejudiced; the list could go on. Nonetheless, I have found some excellent bios. The latest one I read was A. Lincoln by Ronald C White, Jr. It is absolutely excellent! The personality of Lincoln just jumps off the pages. The turmoil of the Civil War weighed heavily on the heart and mind of this great man; he was against slavery, but equally against the division of the United States of America. His thoughts, prayers, sense of humor are all in this book. It is well worth reading!
There are a few incidents reported in the book that really struck me. One was a quote from Lincoln as he deliberated the war and divine will: "In the present civil war it is quite possible that God's purpose is something different from the purpose of either party--and yet the human instrumentalities, working just as they do, are of the est adaptation to effect his purpose." I believe this to be a comfort for Lincoln, as so many Union battles bore heavy losses during the course of our Civil War. I think it helped him overcome his bouts of depression and anxiety.
The other incident was just before the first Union victory in the field. Lincoln wanted to free the slaves with his Emancipation Proclamation, but not before there was a Union victory. Lincoln firmly believed that God was in control of the outcome of the war, but his faith was being tested. Finally, just the night before the first Union victory, Lincoln went upstairs to his private chamber, fell to his knees, and prayed that God might give his army a win so that he could free the slaves. He had carried the speech in his pocket, sometimes in his hat, but refused to issue the proclamation prior to getting some backing from Union loyalists; they needed something to bolster their courage, bring in recruits, before he made his daring move of emancipation, which so many of his supporters thought a disastrous idea. So, though without much backing, convinced that it was the right thing to do, and that God would ultimately decide the fate of the nation, Lincoln gave his now-famous Emancipation Proclamation.