Question

I am naturally anti-slavery. If slavery is not wrong nothing is wrong. I cannot remember when I did not so think and feel; and yet I have never understood that the Presidency conferred upon me an unrestricted right to act officially in this judgment and feeling. It was in the oath I took that I would to the best of my ability preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. I could not take the office without taking the oath. Nor was it in my view that I might take the oath to get power, and break the oath in using the power.

In a paragraph of three to five sentences, summarize President Lincoln’s meaning in the paragraph in bold. Use proper spelling and grammar

Answer 1

I assume this whole paragraph is in bold (within a longer text). So, here it is:

President Lincoln is trying to reconcile his private opinion about slavery with his public duty of a president of all citizens of the United States - both slaveowners and abolitionists. As a person, he is strictly opposed to this practice and thinks that it is indubitably wrong. However, as a president, he has to act by the Constitution, which at the time tolerated slavery in the states where it existed. In a way, Lincoln admits his own powerlessness regarding so controversial an issue, with so many fierce opponents from the South.