April 14, 2009
Jimmy Carter Missed the Point Posted by American Heritage Staff at 07:00 AM EST I have just finished reading my first copy of your wonderful Winter 2009 issue of American Heritage. I particularly enjoyed the section on Lincoln's legacy. I must say however, that in my opinion, President Jimmy Carter's commentary on page 51 missed the point. He argues that the Civil War could (should) have been avoided altogether. It could have been, but only by either accepting the spread of slavery into the border states or by allowing the South to secede. Lincoln considered the prevention of the latter to be his sworn duty as president of the Union; the former would, at best, have delayed emancipation for many many years. Carter's argument provides us with a vivid demonstration of why most of us consider Lincoln to have been our greatest president and Carter to have been one of our worst. Charles Springett
Annapolis, MD
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