Lincoln

            Lincoln found himself in the role of commander in chief almost immediately after his inauguration, as the southern states began to secede from the Union. Lincoln had to make some very important decisions during the war that not only helped to win the war but also tested the Constitution, sometimes at odds with the constitution and often at odds with the ideas of his military commanders. President Lincoln's exercise of power during the war demonstrated how far the authority of the presidency could be expanded in wartime. Lincoln believed he faced a choice between preserving the Union and adhering to a strict interpretation of the constitution. He feared that if he carefully observed the law he would sacrifice the flexibility necessary to prevent the destruction of the nation.
             As commander in chief, it was Lincoln who had to raise armies, fond generals, take responsibility for victory or defeat. It was only as commander in chief that Lincoln could constitutionally free the slaves. It was Lincoln who, in order to wage war, had to hold together a fractious, divided North, including the strategic but slave-owning Border States. And it was Lincoln who, out of his deep belief in democracy, had to cast and recast0 for both North and South, for both soldier and civilian-the issues that were being decided by the enormous bloodshed and suffering all was enduring.
             On April 12, 1861 the Civil war began when Confederate forces attacked Fort Sumter. Lincoln called up many of the state militias in the northern states and increased the size of the Union armed forces. He also allocated increased funding to the armed services, despite lacking Congressional approval. Lincoln took this as an act of war and immediately called for 75,000 volunteer to serve for three months. He also called congress into special sessions, but set the convening date for July 4, which was eighty days away. The President proclaimed a blockade of the ports of the states in rebellion.