However, there is still debate as to whether Lincoln’s actions were constitutional or merely justifiable. Many studies on the topic of Lincoln’s executive power during the Civil War are compiled into a larger theory focusing on the “proper relation between constitutionalism and prerogative,”20 implying that the greater good can, at times, serve as a motivator to potentially infringe and impugn upon constitutional rights. Lincoln fully grasps the immense power of the executive and understands that this extraordinary power should not be exploited, “regularized, institutionalized, or legalized,”21 but used in blanket moderation. While unsympathetic criticisms claim that Lincoln is a democratic despot favoring tyranny, a more rational criticism is that he was a “constitutional dictator”—a man “pressed by necessity into becoming a dictator, though a benevolent [one]” serving the common good and
However, there is still debate as to whether Lincoln’s actions were constitutional or merely justifiable. Many studies on the topic of Lincoln’s executive power during the Civil War are compiled into a larger theory focusing on the “proper relation between constitutionalism and prerogative,”20 implying that the greater good can, at times, serve as a motivator to potentially infringe and impugn upon constitutional rights. Lincoln fully grasps the immense power of the executive and understands that this extraordinary power should not be exploited, “regularized, institutionalized, or legalized,”21 but used in blanket moderation. While unsympathetic criticisms claim that Lincoln is a democratic despot favoring tyranny, a more rational criticism is that he was a “constitutional dictator”—a man “pressed by necessity into becoming a dictator, though a benevolent [one]” serving the common good and