Question

What was Lincoln’s primary goal during his inaugural speech?.

Answer 1

If you mean Lincoln’s first inaugural (March 4, 1861), his primary goal was to preserve the Union — to prevent secession and avert civil war. He tried to reassure the South that he would not unlawfully interfere with slavery where it already existed, appealed to shared devotion to the Constitution and the law, and sought to persuade seceding states to return to the Union while also asserting the federal government’s duty to hold and protect federal property.

(If you mean his second inaugural, March 4, 1865, the primary goal there was different: to begin healing and reconciliation after the war — “with malice toward none, with charity for all.”)