Yes, Stan, I think that's right. This point has been debated endlessly on this board over the last few years, but I think most folks agree it would've gone smoother for the South had Lincoln been around to put the brakes on the radicals' vengeance-seeking.

And I think--once it was over--he would have been an amazingly reasonable voice for reconciliation and moderation, I really do.

By the way, did you hear the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" sung for the Pope? Despite the tinny recording I heard, it made me proud to have that song sung so powerfully to a foreign dignitary.