During the Civil War, President Lincoln took many actions
During the Civil War, President Lincoln took many actions that have
been seen as skirting, if not violating, the Constitution. He emphatically stated that he did so to preserve the hallowed document and the nation for which it was intended. Suspending habeas corpus, setting the blockade, and — most significantly — issuing the Emancipation Proclamation were conceivably outside the realm of his presidential powers. Did he go too far, or must the government and, more specifically, the President be allowed to exceed their powers to protect the nation in wartime?