Yes, Lincoln was criticized. And you should have heard what some of my family said about Franklin Roosevelt.
Both of them were war presidents, but their wars were long in coming. Neither started hostilities because he had issues with his father. Neither created non issues, like gay marriage, to distract voters. Both promoted unity, rather than division. And neither one of them would have thought of dressing up in a uniform they had no business wearing, and playing top gun pilot on board a battleship.