亚伯拉罕·林肯是个好总统吗?

Dan Bradbury
Why was Abraham Lincoln considered the best president?
I'm not sure history has rendered such an absolute verdict. There is some debate within the top five (Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Wilson, F.D. R.). But, Lincoln clearly is one of the best and, I happen to think, one of modern history's finest leaders. It might be tempting to say that this is American patriotism, but I generally eschew such nonsense and try to focus on achievement. I'm a classical, intellectual patriot: I take pride in my nation's progress, the great Constitution and the achievements of my people. I don't say pledges or sing songs. That's silly, IMHO.

亚伯拉罕·林肯为何被看作是最好的总统？
我不确定历史真的给出了这样一个绝对的定论。在最佳总统的讨论中，通常有五位总统（华盛顿、杰斐逊、林肯、威尔逊、富兰克林·德拉诺·罗斯福）是人们争论的焦点。但林肯无疑是其中之一，而且我认为他是现代历史上最伟大的领袖之一。有人可能会认为这只是美国的爱国主义情绪在作祟，但我通常不会陷入这种无意义的争论，而是专注于实际成就。我是一个传统的、理性的爱国者：我为我国的进步、伟大的宪法以及人民的成就感到自豪。我不会去宣誓效忠或者唱国歌，在我看来，那些都是愚蠢的行为。

During my first attempt at going to college, I took a government philosophy class. We were discussing something about the Civil war. At that point, my professor asked us, "If the only way to save a nation was to secretly break the laws of the nation, would you do that." I said, "yes". No hesitation. (I don't and never have believed in absolute rules)
She explained that one of the hallmarks of greatness in a leader oftentimes is in understanding that there's "the letter of the law" and the "spirit of the law" and every now and then circumstances arise when a leader is put in an untenable position of having to chose X option which results in a great harm, or Y option that results in them breaking their own moral code but achieving great results.

在我大学的第一堂政治哲学课上，我们讨论了有关内战的话题。那时，我的教授问我们：“如果唯一能拯救国家的方式是秘密违反国家的法律，你会这么做吗？”我毫不犹豫地回答：“会”。（我不相信也从未相信过绝对规则）
她解释说，一个伟大领导者的标志之一，通常在于理解“法律的字面意义”和“法律的精神”之间的区别。有时候，领导者会面临不得不在两个选项之间做出选择的困境：选择X可能导致巨大的伤害，而选择Y虽然违背了他们自己的道德准则，但却能带来伟大的成果。

The danger is in setting a precedent for other leaders to follow. This is why -- rightly -- we expect our leaders to be "letter of the law" people. But Lincoln wasn't one of those people. He broke the law . . . blatantly! And with great results. The reason why we revere him is because he broke ONLY those laws that were absolutely necessary to saving the republic while going no further. Many mere mortals might have been tempted to just say, "Look, I'm all this awesomeness, so clearly I should be the entire government." ("I am the Senate!")

这样做的危险在于为其他领导者树立了先例。这就是为什么我们期望我们的领导者严格遵守“法律的字面意义”。但林肯并不是这样的人。他公然违反了法律，并且取得了显著的成果。我们尊敬他，因为他只违反了那些为了拯救共和国所必需违反的法律，没有越界。许多人可能会被诱惑说：“看，我这么强大，所以我应该代表整个政府。”（“我就是参议院！”）

The USA had two leaders that potentially had that level of power. Washington and Lincoln. We'll never know how Lincoln would have panned out as a leader post bellum. I happen to think he would've walked away, head held high. But while in power we know that he quietly broke a number of laws to ensure that the nation endured. Frankly, I'm fine with that. I'm not a "letter of the law" kind of guy.

美国历史上有两位领导人可能拥有过如此巨大的权力：华盛顿和林肯。我们无法得知，如果林肯在战后继续担任领导者，他的表现会如何。我个人认为，他可能会自豪地退出政坛。但在他执政期间，我们知道他悄悄地打破了一些法律，以确保国家的存续。坦白讲，我对这种做法是接受的。我并不是那种死守法律条文的人。

Most people are this way too. We struggle with opposing aspects of our nature, but come down solidly on the side of Lincoln's decisions over allowing this great nation to fall to pieces and permit the South to endure as a slave-owning entity for at least another generation (where, I believe, it would have fallen apart into its own civil war).

很多人其实都有这样的倾向。我们在天性中挣扎，内心存在着对立的两面，但最终我们坚定地站在林肯这一边，支持他的决策，而不是让这个伟大的国家分崩离析，也不是让南方继续作为一个拥有奴隶的实体再延续至少一代人的时间（我认为，如果那样的话，南方最终也会因为内战而崩溃）。

Lincoln didn't just do what he did carelessly or haphazardly. He moaned over every decision but always took the heavy responsibility on his own and made decisions for the betterment of the republic. Lincoln could have walked away from the war at any time. The Republic hated him during the war. He was reviled on BOTH sides of the conflict. He persevered and saved the nation from falling into two. He made generally good strategic decisions, he was an good speaker, he had charisma, he could see through political bullshit and -- most importantly -- he wielded the scalpel of political chicanery in a way that would make Machiavelli weep, while never falling to the temptation of going too far with it.

林肯并不是不加考虑或随意行事的领导者。他对每一个决策都深思熟虑，尽管内心挣扎，但总是独自承担起重大的责任，为了共和国的福祉做出决策。他本可以在任何时候退出战争，但即使在战争期间被共和国的人民所憎恨，即使在冲突双方受到辱骂，他还是坚持了下来，拯救了国家免于分裂的命运。他做出了大体上明智的战略决策，他是一个出色的演说家，拥有非凡的魅力，能够洞悉政治上的虚假和欺骗——最重要的是——他在运用政治手段时极为巧妙，其手法之高明足以让马基雅维利感到钦佩，同时他从未因诱惑而逾越应有的界限。

Scott Tyson
What exactly is it about Abraham Lincoln that everybody considers him to be the greatest American president of all time?
Having studied Lincoln for decades I would think that the answer is self-evident. But I get that not everyone has immersed themselves as deeply in the history as I have so I will attempt to provide a succinct, accurate and readable explanation as to why Abraham Lincoln was arguably the greatest president in American history.

为什么大家都认为亚伯拉罕·林肯是有史以来最伟大的美国总统？
我研究了几十年的林肯，我认为答案显而易见。但我明白，不是每个人都像我一样深入地研究过历史，所以我将尝试给出一个简洁、准确且易于理解的解释，说明为什么亚伯拉罕·林肯可以说是美国历史上最伟大的总统。

First and foremost would be the fact that the United States of America might not exist today if not for Lincoln's leadership during the worst crisis in the nation's history. Other presidents have assumed the office under dire circumstances, but nothing quite compares to what Lincoln was confronted with when he was inaugurated on March 4, 1861.

首先，如果林肯在国家历史上最严重的危机期间没有展现出卓越的领导力，今天可能就不存在美国了。虽然其他总统也是在严峻的情况下上任的，但没有人面临过林肯在1861年3月4日就职时所遭遇的挑战。

Between the time he was elected, and the time he was sworn in as president, seven slave states had seceded from the unx, seized federal government property, and declared themselves to be an independent republic. The sectional tensions that had been building for decades had finally reached a boiling point and were about to explode. And although there were other issues contributing to that tension, it was slavery that ultimately made peaceful compromise impossible.

在他当选总统和宣誓就职之间的这段时间里，七个蓄奴州已经宣布脱离联邦，夺取了联邦政府的财产，并自称为一个独立的共和国。几十年来一直在积累的地区紧张关系终于达到了临界点，即将爆发。尽管还有其他因素加剧了这种紧张关系，但最终是奴隶制问题使得和平妥协变得不可能。

It would be impossible to overstate just how magnificently Abraham Lincoln rose to the challenge of saving the country from fragmenting into a collection of perpetually squabbling and belligerent quasi nation-states. Because that would have been our fate if the slave holders rebellion had been successful. Instead of two countries, there would have likely been a half-dozen or so. And without Lincoln at the helm, that's almost certainly what would have happened.
The only real competition he has for that top spot comes from George Washington and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. But I did promise to be succinct so that argument will have to wait for another day…

林肯在防止国家分裂成一系列争吵不休、好战的准国家方面的挑战中表现得多么出色，怎么强调都不为过。如果奴隶主的叛乱成功了，那将是我们的命运,且不是分裂成两个国家，而可能是分裂成五六个国家。如果没有林肯的领导，这种情况几乎肯定会发生。
在最伟大的总统这一称号上，唯一能与他竞争的是乔治·华盛顿和富兰克林·德拉诺·罗斯福。但我承诺过要简洁，所以关于他们之间的比较，我们改天再讨论……

Douglas C Miller MD,PhD
Why do some people consider Abraham Lincoln the best president?
You have multiple answers across a spectrum. I suggest that it isn't "some" people who think Lincoln was our best President, it is likely a majority of those who are informed about American history and for the uninformed public his reputation is so large that it probably a majority of them as well.

为什么有人认为亚伯拉罕·林肯是最好的总统呢？
这个问题有多种答案。但我认为，认为林肯是最好的总统的不仅仅是“某些人”，很可能是大多数了解美国历史的人。对于那些不太了解历史的公众来说，林肯的名声如此之大，他们中的大多数人可能也这么认为。

For the informed group, you have elicited answers long and short as to why he is ranked that way: he led the nation through its greatest crisis, the one that threatened its very existence, and through his force of will, masterful political skills, and learned strategic wisdom achieved the victory for which he aimed, restoration of the unx and rejection of the idea of secession. He was responsible for making emancipation of the slaves the official policy of the US government, first as an expedient of war, and then by pushing through amendments to the Constitution making it established law. (By the way the amendments also establish beyond argument that if you were born here, or born to American citizen parents, you are a citizen--period. This still isn't true for citizenship in many other nations.) He was, indubitably, a master politician; he came across as a "rube" but he didn't get the Republican nomination by being ignorant or foolish, and he didn't manage the war by being ignorant or just dictatorial or foolish. 

对于了解历史的人来说，答案已经很清楚了：林肯领导国家度过了其历史上最严重的危机，这场危机威胁到了国家的生存。凭借他的意志力、卓越的政治技巧和深思熟虑的战略智慧，他实现了他的目标——恢复联邦和拒绝分裂的理念。他推动解放奴隶成为美国政府的官方政策，最初是作为战争的权宜之计，后来通过宪法修正案使其成为确立的法律。（顺便说一下，这些修正案也明确了，如果你在这里出生，或者你的父母是美国人，你就是公民——这一点在许多其他国家的公民身份中并不成立。）他无疑是一位政治大师；他看起来像是一个“乡巴佬”，但他并不是因为无知或愚蠢才获得共和党提名的，他也不是通过无知或专制或愚蠢来管理战争的。

He learned from his mistakes, particularly in choices of generals, and he had the wisdom to stick with generals who were in bad odor politically, including Grant (accused of being drunk at Shiloh, but Lincoln said "I can't spare him, he fights!") and Sherman (who seemed to have a "nervous breakdown" early in the war but emerged as Grant's right hand and a master tactician in his own right once Grant was called east). He certainly centralized a lot of power in the central government, but this is inevitable in any war, much less a huge civil war. (Look at the centralization of power in Washington that accompanied the US entry into WW I, and then again under FDR in WW II; they make what Lincoln did seem trivial.)

他从错误中学习，尤其是在选择将军方面，他有智慧坚持使用在政治上名声不佳的将军，比如格兰特（被指控在希洛战役中醉酒，但林肯说“我不能没有他，他能打！”）和谢尔曼（战争初期似乎有“神经崩溃”，但后来成为格兰特的得力助手，一旦格兰特被召回东部，他自己也成了一位战术大师）。这是当然的，他把很多权力集中在中央政府，但在任何战争中这都是不可避免的，更不用说是一场巨大的内战了。（看看美国进入第一次世界大战时华盛顿的权力集中程度，再看看在罗斯福领导下的第二次世界大战；它们让林肯所做的显得微不足道了。）

He endured personal tragedies, including the loss to disease of one of his sons during the war, and there are innumerable accounts of how he felt the pain of the casualties the war produced, but he had the internal strength to overcome his tendency to depression to keep leading the nation, where others might have figuratively or literally curled up into a ball and retreated from life.

他经历了个人悲剧，包括战争期间因疾病失去了一位儿子。据无数记载，他深感战争带来的伤痛，但他凭借坚强的内心力量，克服了抑郁的倾向，继续领导国家。而在类似情况下，其他人可能早已退缩，甚至放弃了生活。

He wrote masterful speeches. This is an important part of leadership, one that we miss sorely today in the Trump era. He wrote his own, something that almost never happens now. There is a reason the second inaugural and the Gettysburg address are remembered this many years after his death--the words of no other President, except perhaps for Washington's Farewell Address and a few of FDR's speeches (or excerpts therefrom) are remembered this way.

他撰写了精湛的演讲稿。这是领导力的一个重要部分，也是我们在特朗普时代非常怀念的。他自己写演讲稿，这几乎从未发生过。他的第二次就职演说和葛底斯堡演说之所以在他死后这么多年仍然被记住，是有原因的——除了华盛顿的告别演说和罗斯福的一些演讲（或其中的摘录）之外，没有其他总统的话语以这种方式被记住。

At the end, of course, his murder put a halo on top of all of his other accomplishments.
His achievements, so enumerated, exceed those of any other US President. FDR's leadership through Depression and WW II come close, perhaps, but neither of those crises were as likely to destroy the nation as the Civil War. Washington was one of the great founders of the nation, and he chaired and managed the Constitutional Convention, but that was all before he was President. His greatest action as President was not running for a third term; if one thinks strictly of what he did in office, he doesn't come close to Lincoln.
So the conclusion for informed people who know US history has to be that Lincoln was our finest President to date.

当然，最后，他的遇刺给他的其他成就加上了光环。
所列举的他的成就超过了任何其他美国总统。罗斯福在大萧条和第二次世界大战中的领导力或许接近，但这两个危机都不像内战那样有可能摧毁国家。华盛顿是这个国家的伟大创始人之一，他主持和管理了制宪会议，但这都是他在成为总统之前的事。他作为总统的最伟大举措之一就是没有寻求第三次连任；如果只考虑他在任内所做的事情，他与林肯相比还差得远。
所以，对那些熟悉美国历史的人来说，可以肯定的结论是，林肯是我们至今最优秀的总统。

Anonymous
According to most people, he was a great president.
When elected, Lincoln was this tall gangly lawyer from Illinois with a couple years experience in the House of Reps, and as the previous president, James Buchanan, left office before Lincoln was sworn in, states had already begun seceding. Rumor has it Buchanan declared he was "the last president of the United States" upon leaving the role.

在大多数人看来，他是一位伟大的总统。
林肯当选时，他是一位来自伊利诺伊州的高大瘦削的律师，曾在众议院任职几年。在林肯宣誓就职之前，前总统詹姆斯·布坎南已经离任，一些州已经开始宣布脱离联邦。有传言说布坎南在离职时宣称自己是“美利坚合众国的最后一任总统”。

Most people thought nothing of Lincoln at first, and assumed he would be a figurehead, but he basically told everyone how this whole Civil War thing was gonna go (they would be fair, civil and forgiving if they just said sorry), and put all of the greatest political leaders on his team (including his rivals), overseeing countless failures on the part of his men and army officers who squandered opportunities for victory, all the while being patient and building the right team to achieve their goals of keeping America together (although millions of lives were lost in the effort).

一开始，大多数人对林肯并不抱有期望，认为他不过是个傀儡。然而，他明确告诉大家这场内战将如何进行（只要他们道歉，政府就会公平、文明且宽容），并将所有最优秀的政治领袖（包括他的竞争对手）纳入他的团队。在此期间，尽管他手下的士兵和军官屡次错失胜利机会，遭遇无数失败，但他始终保持耐心，不断组建合适的团队，最终实现了维持美国统一的目标，尽管这一过程牺牲了无数人的生命。

He had a great personality and was very empathetic towards others. Here's a relevant quote from him:
"Why, madam, do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?"

他有着迷人的个性，对他人充满同情。他曾经说过一句著名的话：
“夫人，当我把敌人变成朋友时，不就等于消灭了他们吗？”

He was often referred to as ugly but people gravitated towards him for his presence, he was extremely well read and always had a good story to share and he was an all around brilliant man who always sought out the good in those around him. His speeches are often regarded as some of the greatest speeches in history, perhaps the greatest in American history. Many of his writings and quotes are scattered throughout the internet and are great reads. Certainly the favorite president of myself and many others.

尽管经常被人说长得不好看，但人们却被他的个人魅力所吸引。他学识渊博，总有精彩的故事分享，是一个全方位出色的人，总是试图发现周围人的优点。他的演讲被视为历史上最伟大的演讲之一，甚至可能是美国历史上最出色的。他的许多著作和名言广泛流传于网络，读来令人深思。毫无疑问，他是我和许多人的最喜爱的总统。

So he was a good person, a great leader and a crowd favorite. As far as his actual presidency, he did far more in his 4 years in office for the survival of the country than perhaps any other president, against the worst of odds. I think that's good.

因此，他不仅是个好人，也是出色的领导者，深受群众的喜爱。在他的四年任期内，面对极其不利的局势，他为国家的生存做出的贡献或许超过了任何其他总统，我觉得这非常了不起。