In your post on the secession of the Confederacy you said "the last state to secede was was Texas, in February, a little over a month before Lincoln took office." Did you mean to say "a month /after/ Lincoln took office"? or Did Lincoln take office in March? Did the presidents not always take office in January?

Yeah, I think it was.. during one of FDR’s terms that the beginning of the term was pushed back to January instead of March 4, which was the date of the inception of the new government under the Constitution back in 1789. But like a century and a half later with better communication / transportation / logistics / etc. the lame duck period could be cut in half.