Trump is not the first president to be threatened by confusion syndrome.

Is the Republican presidential candidate a threat to America, endangering democracy, threatening the Constitution, and potentially sparking civil war?

Yes, this is what a fire-eating Southern Democrat said about former Congressman Abraham Lincoln during the 1860 presidential campaign. And their irrational fear that he would win the White House made all their dire predictions come true.

Lincoln, a so-called abolitionist “Black Republican,” endured constant personal attacks. The Charleston, South Carolina, Mercury newspaper wrote, “He was the worst in appearance, covered in soot and had the appearance of a scoundrel, a cross between a nutmeg dealer, a horse swapper, and a night man.'' He is a person like that.'' He was “obviously a man suited to petty rebellions, small schemes, and spoils of all kinds.”

Southerners were also horrified by the 1860 Republican platform, which they denounced in similar passionate terms to Project 2025's contemporary progressive critics.

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The North Carolina Tarboro newspaper was a Southerner and declared that “the platform on which Abraham Lincoln was nominated…is a declaration of war against the rights and institutions of the South.” If Lincoln were to become president, “the Constitution would become a mere shell” and any attempt at resistance would become “a signal for revolution.”

Democrats later removed Mr. Lincoln from the ballot in the South, just as they had tried to deny former President Trump's vote earlier this year. However, Lincoln nonetheless won the four-way contest, giving the Republicans a majority in Congress. Fire Eater's worst fears have come true.

This in itself did not signal the end for the pro-slavery South. No president, even an abolitionist, could end the scourge of slavery with the stroke of a pen. Congress, even with a Republican majority, cannot abolish slavery through regular legislation. The Taney Supreme Court, which was pro-slavery, had such consideration in the Dred Scott case.

If Southern Democrats weren't so obsessed with Lincoln, they could have simply bided their time and let politics unfold. The moderate Richmond, Virginia, and Whigs argued that Lincoln's victory did not pose an existential threat because the United States remained a nation of laws.

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“Lincoln will and must be upheld within the bounds of the Constitution and the law,” the editors wrote. “If Lincoln violated any law or abused the Constitution, he would be rebuked, checked, and punished.”

On the same day that Abraham Lincoln appealed for unity, the Confederate army raised its flag for the first time in the then-capital of Montgomery, Alabama. (Photo credit: © CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)

However, the Fire Eaters were so panicked by Lincoln's victory that they forced seven southern states to secede from the Union even before the new president took office. Their blind fear of the new order overwhelmed any rational response.

Some imagined a pre-emptive riot and Lincoln having to sneak into the nation's capital for the inauguration.

The Fayetteville, Tenn., Observer newspaper wrote, “The South will never allow Abraham Lincoln to become President of the United States…No matter how much human blood turns the Potomac River red, the South will never allow Pennsylvania Avenue to run ten fathoms deep.'' “Even if the pavement is covered with shredded corpses,” he said flatly. Southerners would never agree to the “humiliation and degradation” of Lincoln's ascent.

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Illustration of Abraham Lincoln's first presidential inauguration on March 4, 1861. Lincoln waves to an audience of men wearing top hats. (Undated illustration)

This is the context of Lincoln's first inaugural address on March 4, 1861. Lincoln then appealed to the rebels that they had no reason to be concerned and that they did not intend to threaten even the institution of slavery they were trying to preserve. All would be forgiven if they just came back.

“We are not enemies, but friends,” President Lincoln said, evoking “mysterious chords of memory,” and saying, “When touched by angels better than our nature, as I am sure we will be, we will once again be united in the Union.” “The military chorus will be louder.”

But the better angel was overwhelmed by the lesser devil. On the same day that Lincoln called for unity, the Confederate army raised its first flag in Montgomery, Alabama, the nation's capital at the time. Congressional attempts at cooperation and reconciliation, including the famous Crittenden Compromise, failed.

Bombardment of Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina, April 1861. (Engraving: Perrine/Photo: Charles Phelps Cushing/Classic Stock/Getty Images)

Eventually, the Fire Eaters attacked Fort Sumter to force the issue, Lincoln mobilized his troops, the Upper South joined the rebellion, and the Civil War began.

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Looking back at the four months between the election of 1860 and Lincoln's inauguration, we are forced to conclude that the Civil War was entirely avoidable. There was no valid reason for leaving. There was no reason to be outraged.

Lincoln was not a dictator and never could have been. However, the country was driven into abyss by a small group of radical Democrats who stubbornly refused to accept Lincoln as the legitimately elected president.

Similarly, today reporters are hounding President Trump for not promising to uphold the election results, but they can't be bothered to ask Democrats if they would do the same if Trump were to win. Since 2016, we have learned that the answer to this question is no.

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In the years that followed, Democrats used every means possible to disrupt, sabotage, and delegitimize Trump's first term. The current Never Trumpers are motivated by the same irrational, blind hatred as the anti-Lincoln Fire Eaters, and they would rather push the country into a violent civil war than see the object of their hatred as a president. I'm here.

But, as Lincoln said, truth and justice “will always prevail in the judgment of this great tribunal of the American people.” And if President Trump wins, better angels will have to work overtime to keep the peace.

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