You may be right Joe. I don't think I remember hearing about anyone Lee really spoke of in a negative way. An action maybe, but not a person. Every so often, we find someone in the history books who is like that. George Washington, while no saint and he seemed to have a temper, was also very well respected even by the enemy. Well, except for Tarleton and he was just an a$$ to everyone. It may be possible the early years were so very difficult for both Lee and Washington they were able to adjust to adversity and go on to the next step. The lack of money and hearing the tales that were not flattering to their father may well have led them down a different path than the others. The fact that Lee was also an absent father sounds harsh unless one thinks of the reasons he was absent and what he was doing.

Wasn't Lee in St Louis for quite a while before the war? Something to do with setting up some sort of dam or barrier to rechannel the river to aid transportation I think. Maybe it was to provide some barrier or relief to a flood prone area. He might as well have been in Springfield, it was close enough. There may well have been a bigger reason than we ever dreamed of for him to leave the US Army and join the Confederate Army. Maybe it was just because of Virginia's situation but maybe it was because he saw or heard something he wanted no part of. ?????

Reading Lincoln's bio's and just hearing him described as a home boy with all good qualities but none of the less desirable would seem to put him in the class with Lee and Washington, at least at first glance. He was hungry. He wanted no more poverty. Maybe the Mrs being used to 'better things' had some bearing on his drive but he was a driven man. He wanted power and he got it. He also was able to adjust his attitude when he needed to. His first plan to relocate blacks to another land backfired so he decided to just go with the flow. Well, he sort of diverted the flow so he would look good. He did have a way with words, but he wasn't all he's been cracked up to be. He was also very sneaky.

Pam