Peter Roff: Fulfilling Lincoln’s dream

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Lincoln was a man of great vision, whose ambitions for America were not limited to the preservation of the union and the abolition of slavery. He wanted his presidency to end with the country united, not just politically but through technology.

In 1862, consumed by the search for a general who would fight and in deep contemplation of the ramifications of freeing the slaves in the seceding states, Lincoln managed to secure congressional approval to begin work on the country’s first transcontinental railroad. A longtime dream of the one-time rail-splitter turned railroad attorney, he understood better than most of his era the interconnectedness of prosperity, growth, and national unity. His passions drove him to pursue, in the traditions of Wash