Video: Mark E. Neely Jr. on the advantage of the U.S. Constitution during the Civil War

“Because the Civil War, by chance, began right at the beginning of an administration, that part of the Constitution that gave the president a four-year term and made the president the commander-in-chief was extremely important. That meant that, barring impeachment or assassination, there would be a determined Republican in the White House fighting the South until March of 1865.”—Mark E. Neely Jr.

In this brief but informative video, Mark E. Neely Jr., author of Lincoln and the Triumph of the Nation: Constitutional Conflict in the American Civil War, argues that the most overlooked advantage in the Civil War was the Constitution of the United States. (running time 4:40)