Spoiler Alert 1: The Amendment Passed.
Spoiler Alert 2: Lincoln was deprived of the opportunity to carry out his kinder, gentler plans for Reconstruction.
Spoiler Alert 3: Politics (and determining the destiny of a nation) makes strange bed-fellows.

If you are looking for "action"--in the current, enhanced-comic-book/graphic novel sense of that term--you will probably not enjoy this film.

If, on the other hand, you are interested in the carefully researched and presented details and actions related to one small slice of American history that generally gets perhaps one paragraph (or less) in a modern textbook, this film could be for you.

If you think that Daniel Day Lewis is a phenominal actor and that Steven Spielburg has never associated himself with anything less than excellence (including Shindler's List, in my opinion one of the top two films ever made) then you definitely do not want to miss this one. It is absolutely astounding how much new, raw, tense emotion, drama and insight can be evoked regarding arcane, behind the scenes actions the outcomes of which you may already think you are familiar.

You could wait for it to come out on DVD or Netflix, but even the previews of coming attractions were worth about a third of the $17.00-for-2 price of admission to view this masterpiece at AMC/Quail Springs Mall (or other theater of your choosing).

I honestly cannot remember the last time that a film exceeded my expectations to such a degree.
(It would be unfair to expect the same from "Oz" . . . "The Lone Ranger" . . . and "Gangster Squad" but I will and so it goes . . .)