Who is Abraham Lincoln from Selected Writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson and what is their importance?

Emerson describes Abraham Lincoln as a true American and the first middle-class president for a middle-class nation. His election to the presidency was "a triumph of the good sense of mankind and of the public conscience," Emerson says in his essay on Lincoln. According to Emerson, Lincoln did more to advance the cause of humanity and equality under the Constitution in his brief six years as president than anyone who came before him. Lincoln's achievements can only be compared to those of General George Washington, Emerson says.