[Old Teufel Hunden]

"It was Lincoln who started the income tax."

This is true. However, I believe it was a wartime tax and was repealed shortly after the war.

[TheThinker]

This is true. However, I believe it was a wartime tax and was repealed shortly after the war.

Yep, the Supreme Court reapealed it and was again revived later. But the Civil War marked the birth of the income tax. Perhaps even Lincoln had to bow to the law of unintended consequences.