Lincoln does the best for himself and the country.

The one that freed the slaves in everyones eyes was Lincoln. The truth is that he did write the emancipation proclamation but all that did was tell everyone he wanted free slaves in the south ,but at that time he didn't control the confederate states of america, so that really didn't do anything. What Lincoln really did was unite the union and the confederate states of america. He wanted the confederate states of america and the union to come back together to make the Untied States of America because they would be stronger together then apart. It would also look bad on his part to become the president that split up the United States of America. That is why Abraham Lincoln wanted to unite the two rather then focus on slavery.