Abraham Lincoln: “Commander David D. Porter to be a captain in the Navy on the active list from the 7th February, 1863.”

Grant that he desires the elective franchise, will he not attain it sooner by saving the already advanced steps towards it, than by running backward over them?

Important principles may and must be inflexible.

I believe that it is not only possible, but in fact easier, to do this without deciding or even considering whether these States have ever been out of the Union, than with it.

I am considering, and shall not fail to act when satisfied that action will be proper.