This book is an exploration not only of the lessons that Abraham Lincoln, America's sixteenth president, drew from the founders of the United States, especially, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, but also how others abroad have interpreted and incorporated his legacy. Because Lincoln occupied the presidency during democracy's first great civil war, he set a precedent for other leaders at home and abroad. "Liberal" leaders tend to identify with his roles as the Great Emancipator and magnanimous Great Reconciler, who eschewed "ethnic cleansing" in favour of restoring the Union as soon as possible after secession.