Lincoln 🎥 2012 Movie Info

Plot Summary

In January 1865, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln expects the American Civil War to end soon, with the defeat of the Confederate States Army. He is concerned that his 1863 Emancipation Proclamation may be discarded by the courts after the war and that the proposed Thirteenth Amendment will be defeated by the returning slave states. He feels it imperative to pass the amendment beforehand, to foreclose any possibility that freed slaves might be re-enslaved. The Radical Republicans fear the amendment will be defeated by some who wish to delay its passage; support from Republicans in the states is not yet assured. The amendment also requires the support of several Democratic congressmen to pass.

With dozens of Democrats being lame ducks after losing their re-election campaigns in 1864, some of Lincoln’s advisors recommend waiting for a new Republican dominated Congress. He relies on Francis Preston Blair, a founder of the Republican Party, to influence members of the state conservative faction to vote for the anti-slavery amendment. Blair in turn insists that Lincoln allow him to engage the Confederate government in peace negotiations, knowing his two sons will once again be in danger after the spring thaw permits renewed military operations. While Lincoln knows such negotiations would anger the Radical Republicans he needs to support the slavery amendment, he also cannot proceed without Blair’s support and reluctantly authorizes the peace mission.

Lincoln and Secretary of State William H. Seward also need to secure Democratic votes for the amendment and Lincoln suggests they concentrate on the lame-ducks who will feel freer to vote independently. Lincoln also authorizes agents to offer federal jobs to the soon to be unemployed Democratic congressmen. Robert Todd Lincoln, the eldest son of President Lincoln and First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln, returns from Harvard Law School and announces his intention to discontinue his studies and enlist in the Union army.

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