PanThe Wall Street JournalIn making his case, the author demonstrates an infirm grasp of history, garbling the Dred Scott decision, garbling the Emancipation Proclamation, garbling habeas corpus. Elementary mistakes abound ... In fact, far from being a reluctant emancipator, Lincoln hated and loathed and despised slavery from the time he was young...Abundant evidence supports [Lincoln's] statements, none of which Mr. Kaplan cites. The author provides valuable information about John Quincy Adams as an antislavery paladin, but his treatment of Lincoln constitutes a superficial, misleading and often inaccurate caricature.
