Lincoln, Conservatism, and Liberalism

[tpfkaw]

From Lincoln's first annual message to Congress:

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Lincoln would be a very conservative Republican today.  It doesn't really make sense to talk about "conservatives" and "liberals" back in his time - people voted along ethnic and regional lines, not ideological, and, if anything, people would describe Lincoln as a "conservative" and Breckinridge as a "liberal."