Lincoln’s a little more borderline, but so far as I’m aware, he didn’t do anything to mess with the 1864 elections; I think most people would think that that keeps him on the non-dictator end of the spectrum
Of course, the validity of that election was based on a document that he was actively violating at the time, so there definitely seems to be room for debate.
In addition, there’s the fact that most of the Southern States couldn’t vote at the time. It was basically unthinkable that he could have lost the elections. Democratic and dictatorial aren’t natural types, but I’d say Lincoln is at least as far in the dictatorial direction as Putin, Nazarbayev, or almost any other basically sane ex-Soviet leader.
Lincoln’s a little more borderline, but so far as I’m aware, he didn’t do anything to mess with the 1864 elections; I think most people would think that that keeps him on the non-dictator end of the spectrum
Of course, the validity of that election was based on a document that he was actively violating at the time, so there definitely seems to be room for debate.
In addition, there’s the fact that most of the Southern States couldn’t vote at the time. It was basically unthinkable that he could have lost the elections. Democratic and dictatorial aren’t natural types, but I’d say Lincoln is at least as far in the dictatorial direction as Putin, Nazarbayev, or almost any other basically sane ex-Soviet leader.