The Real Lincoln is a biography of Abraham Lincoln written by Thomas DiLorenzo in 2002. The biography differs from traditional books about Lincoln in presenting a severely critical view of his presidency. Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865), sometimes called Abe Lincoln and nicknamed Honest Abe, the Rail Splitter, and the Great Emancipator, was the 16th President of the United States (1861 to 1865), and the first president from the Republican Party. ... Thomas J. DiLorenzo is an economics professor at Loyola College in Maryland and a senior fellow at the Ludwig von Mises Institute. ...

In discussing Lincoln's legacy, DiLorenzo presents evidence of civil liberties abuses such as the suspension of habeas corpus, violations of the first amendment, war crimes committed by generals in the American Civil War, and the expansion of government power. DiLorenzo argues that Lincoln's views on race exhibited forms of bigotry that are commonly overlooked today (See Abraham Lincoln on slavery). DiLorenzo also argues that Lincoln instigated the Civil War not over slavery but rather to centralize power and to enforce the strongly protectionist Morrill Tariff. Civil liberties are protections from the power of governments. ... In English Common Law habeas corpus is the name of several writs which may be issued by a judge ordering a prisoner to be brought before the court. ... The first ten Amendments to the U.S. Constitution make up the Bill of Rights. ... A war crime is a punishable offense, under international law, for violations of the law of war by any person or persons, military or civilian. ... The American Civil War (1861–1865) was fought in North America within the United States of America, between twenty-four mostly northern states of the Union and the Confederate States of America, a coalition of eleven southern states that declared their independence and claimed the right of secession from the... A bigot is a prejudiced person who is intolerant of any opinions differing from their own. ... Abraham Lincolns position on freeing the slaves is often surprising and controversial today, despite the frequency and clarity with which he sometimes stated it in the speeches that are better known today. ... The Buxton Memorial Fountain, celebrating the emancipation of slaves in the British Empire in 1834, London. ... Protectionism is the economic policy of promoting favored domestic industries through the use of high tariffs and other regulations to discourage imports. ... The Morrill Tariff of 1861 was a major protectionist tariff bill instituted in the United States. ...

Criticisms

Among the criticisms of The Real Lincoln was a review by Claremont Institute scholar Ken Masugi in the conservative National Review. According to Masugi's review, The Real Lincoln fails to take into account the necessities imposed upon Lincoln by the South's secession. Masugi accuses DiLorenzo of failing to recognize that "a disunited America might have become prey for the designs of European imperial powers, which would have put an end to the experiment in self-government."[1] The Claremont Institute is a conservative think tank based in Claremont, California. ... Ken Masugi is a conservative columnist and scholar affiliated with the Claremont Institute. ... National Review (NR) is a conservative political magazine founded by author William F. Buckley, Jr. ...

Bob Moser of the liberal Southern Poverty Law Center calls DiLorenzo's book a "revisionist view" that blames Lincoln "for everything far right-wingers believe is amiss in the America of 2003: big centralized government, welfare giveaways, rampant capitalist greed, shrinking civil liberties and reckless imperialism." [2] The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is an American non-profit legal, educational, and intelligence-gathering group for the purposes of advocacy for civil rights and against racism. ...

DiLorenzo has responded to several of his critics at the Claremont Institute. According to DiLorenzo, Masugi is selective in his presentation about Lincoln and "relies entirely on a few of Lincoln’s prettier speeches, ignoring his less attractive ones as well as his actual behavior."[3]