Lincoln's Political Mind

"The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here." 
I would like to quote this line from Lincoln's Gettysburg Address for its irony. Ironic because the speech itself has been memorized as a requirement in high schools everywhere, quoted, and referenced incessantly since it was given. It has been remembered for it's words, the very substance Lincoln insisted would be forgotten, however, I think the concept of this quote is true for Lincoln's own politics in general. Lincoln will be forever remembered for freeing the slaves. That is what he did. However, freeing the slaves was secondary priority to preserving the unity of the United States. This intention, I think becomes forgotten in comparison to the action Lincoln took to accomplish his goal. Additionally, although separating the two goals, freeing the slaves and preserving the union, is easy, Lincoln's second inaugural address shows how interconnected the two became in his time. Connecting the two, as he so eloquently did, serves as a strong political strategy to make progress on the divisive issue of slavery that our nation's politics up until that point had worked so hard to avoid. He always brought the focus back to preserving the union. He truly believed that was most important to prove that America's, at the time, unique political system could endure. However, by focusing on the war as a crucial test of democracy he was also able to free the slaves, which prior generations  could not figure out how to do. Thus, even though Lincoln's legacy is freeing the slaves, I think the credit really lies in his original priority of preserving the union, for enabling the slaves to be freed.