Abraham Lincoln was a Bad President

The oath that every President promises before we takes office is "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States (1)." The main highlight of this oath is to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution the very Constitution that the United States was founded on. When a president does not preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution he must in turn be considered a bad president. That is why I started this debate about Abraham Lincoln because he is a bad president. For two main reasons he disobeyed the Constitution, and he didn't care about Slavery. The fourth amendment states "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized(2)." The fifth amendment states "The guarantee of due process for all citizens requires the government to respect all rights, guarantees, and protections afforded by the U.S. Constitution and all applicable statutes before the government can deprive a person of life, liberty, or property(3)." According to the fourth and fifth amendments no one shall be arrested without probable cause or a warrant which these are listed in the Bill or Rights in the Constitution, the same Constitution that a president promises to defend which includes Lincoln. He did not defend these rights when he would imprison newspaper owners and shut down their presses without probably cause or a warrant, and then he would throw them into military prison. He also imprisoned thousands of Northern citizens because they would speak out against the war. He would also censor newspaper and telegraphs which goes against the first amendment that speaks of freedom of the press and free speech (4). When the south was trying to secede they technology can break of the Union (5). When he went to war the the South he didn't go to the Congress which he is supposed to when going to war. Abraham Lincoln did not follow or defend the Constitution like he is supposed to. Abraham Lincoln said this quote- "My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not to either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also so that. What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union. I shall do less whenever I shall believe what I am doing hurts the cause, and I shall do more whenever I shall believe doing more will help the cause." He didn't care about Slavery the only reason he destroyed it was to punish the South after the Civil War and the Proclamation of Emancipation did not stop slavery only in the south. Slavery was horrible, but Lincoln was no hero. Sources (1) http://www.infoplease.com... (2) http://www.law.cornell.edu... (3) http://www.law.cornell.edu... (4) http://www.law.cornell.edu... (5) http://www.etymonline.com...