Tom, sometimes we can find the truth about Lincoln in the strangest places. Just today I read in Lee Griffith’s The War on Terrorism and the Terror of God (Eerdmans, 2002):

Prior to his presidency, he had supported most of the legislative compromises that had left slavery intact. Even when the President finally issued his Emancipation Proclamation, it seemed to be motivated more by military strategy than by convictions about freedom; indeed, slaves held in areas controlled by the North were specifically excluded from emancipation.

The Best of Laurence M. Vance