Summer Reading for Potus Geeks: Abraham Lincoln
If you visit the gift shop at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum in Springfield, Illinois, you'll see evidence of the fact that Lincoln is probably the President about whom the most has been written. Literally hundreds (thousands perhaps?) of books have been written about the many aspects of Abraham Lincoln's life, and it would make for a horribly long article to list them, even if it was possible to accurately name them all. Lincoln's life is one of the most fascinating, perhaps the most fascinating of all of the presidents, and his story is an amazing and worthwhile one to read about. For the person who wants to learn more about Lincoln as part of his or her summer reading, let me suggest a few possible volumes about the life of Lincoln.
In recent years the most popular has been Doris Kearns Goodwin's outstanding 2005 work entitled Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln. Not only did the book win the author the Pulitzer Prize, it was also made into an Academy Award winning film in 2012 simply entitled Lincoln. The book tells the story of Lincoln and some of the men who served with him in his cabinet from 1861 to 1865, three of whom had run against Lincoln in the 1860 election: Attorney General Edward Bates, Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase and Secretary of State William H. Seward. The book focuses on Lincoln's efforts to reconcile the conflicting personalities and political factions on road path to abolition of slavery and victory in the American Civil War.
Another comprehensive bio of the 16th president is David Herbert Donald's 1995 work Lincoln, an account of how Lincoln’s extraordinary political acumen guided the Union to victory in the Civil War, and of how his powerful rhetoric provided powerful motivation in the struggle. Donald draws from Lincoln’s personal papers and those of his contemporaries, as well as from records of Lincoln’s legal practice. He traces Lincoln’s rise from humble origins in Kentucky to prominent positions in legal and political circles in Illinois, and then to the pinnacle of the presidency. Donald shows how his subject's private life helped to shape his public career.
A. Lincoln: A Biography by Ronald C. White Jr. is the product of meticulous research of Lincoln's Legal Papers, as well as of letters and photographs, all of which help White to provide a portrait of Lincoln’s personal, political, and moral evolution. White portrayss Lincoln as a man who would leave a "trail of thoughts in his wake", jotting ideas on scraps of paper and filing them in his top hat or the bottom drawer of his desk. He writes about Lincoln's entire life, including as a country lawyer, a hands-on commander in chief, a man who struggled with the immorality of slavery and as a president who wrote about “the will of God” in the Civil War.
If you're lucky enough to find one, as I was, you should check out the two volume biography of Lincoln written by golden age "muckracking" journalist Ida Tarbell. It puts his life in a different perspective, as viewed by someone who grew up in the wake of the Civil War and who, though used to exposing corruption and wrongdoing, came to appreciate Lincoln at a time when the wounds from the civil war had still not healed.
There are a number of books about specific aspects of Lincoln's life that are very fascinating. Chris Derose wrote a wonderful account of Lincoln's time as an Illinois Congressman (one term, his only previous experience holding elected office) when Lincoln led an unpopular opposition to the Mexican War. The book is called Congressman Lincoln and it covers the years from 1847 through 1849, when young Congressman Lincoln, conflicted between principle and pragmatism, grows as a leader guided by conscience.
In Lincoln and the Power of the Press: The War for Public Opinion by Harold Holzer, the author ably makes the case that Lincoln was a genius in his use of the media of his day as a weapon to win the hearts and minds of his countrymen to support his vision of a strong union. It is also a wonderful portrayal of what the media of the day was like, in some ways very similar and in other ways very different what what we have today. (This book is reviewed here in this community).
The wonderful Civil War historian James McPherson gives a terrific account of Lincoln as a wartime president in Tried by War: Abraham Lincoln as Commander in Chief. The author describes Lincoln's military effectiveness and shows how he exercised the right to take any necessary measures to preserve the union and majority rule, including violating longstanding civil liberties. McPherson makes the case that these infringements were milder than those adopted by later presidents. The author argues that Lincoln understood the synergy of political and military decision-making better than any president. He concludes that while Lincoln may have been an amateur, he ultimately became America's greatest war leader.
Author John Waugh wrote two terrific books about specific aspects of Lincoln's life. In Lincoln and McClellan: The Troubled Partnership between a President and His General Waugh writes about the difficult relationship between Lincoln and the man who would be his first major military commander and later his opponent in his bid for re-election. Waugh also writes a wonderful account of that election, the election of 1864, in his book Re-electing Lincoln: The Battle for the 1864 Presidency.
There are too many other good books about Lincoln to mention here. The fact is that Lincoln's life is the subject for a considerable amount of terrific reading, whether in summer, or any time of year.
In recent years the most popular has been Doris Kearns Goodwin's outstanding 2005 work entitled Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln. Not only did the book win the author the Pulitzer Prize, it was also made into an Academy Award winning film in 2012 simply entitled Lincoln. The book tells the story of Lincoln and some of the men who served with him in his cabinet from 1861 to 1865, three of whom had run against Lincoln in the 1860 election: Attorney General Edward Bates, Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase and Secretary of State William H. Seward. The book focuses on Lincoln's efforts to reconcile the conflicting personalities and political factions on road path to abolition of slavery and victory in the American Civil War.
Another comprehensive bio of the 16th president is David Herbert Donald's 1995 work Lincoln, an account of how Lincoln’s extraordinary political acumen guided the Union to victory in the Civil War, and of how his powerful rhetoric provided powerful motivation in the struggle. Donald draws from Lincoln’s personal papers and those of his contemporaries, as well as from records of Lincoln’s legal practice. He traces Lincoln’s rise from humble origins in Kentucky to prominent positions in legal and political circles in Illinois, and then to the pinnacle of the presidency. Donald shows how his subject's private life helped to shape his public career.
A. Lincoln: A Biography by Ronald C. White Jr. is the product of meticulous research of Lincoln's Legal Papers, as well as of letters and photographs, all of which help White to provide a portrait of Lincoln’s personal, political, and moral evolution. White portrayss Lincoln as a man who would leave a "trail of thoughts in his wake", jotting ideas on scraps of paper and filing them in his top hat or the bottom drawer of his desk. He writes about Lincoln's entire life, including as a country lawyer, a hands-on commander in chief, a man who struggled with the immorality of slavery and as a president who wrote about “the will of God” in the Civil War.
If you're lucky enough to find one, as I was, you should check out the two volume biography of Lincoln written by golden age "muckracking" journalist Ida Tarbell. It puts his life in a different perspective, as viewed by someone who grew up in the wake of the Civil War and who, though used to exposing corruption and wrongdoing, came to appreciate Lincoln at a time when the wounds from the civil war had still not healed.
There are a number of books about specific aspects of Lincoln's life that are very fascinating. Chris Derose wrote a wonderful account of Lincoln's time as an Illinois Congressman (one term, his only previous experience holding elected office) when Lincoln led an unpopular opposition to the Mexican War. The book is called Congressman Lincoln and it covers the years from 1847 through 1849, when young Congressman Lincoln, conflicted between principle and pragmatism, grows as a leader guided by conscience.
In Lincoln and the Power of the Press: The War for Public Opinion by Harold Holzer, the author ably makes the case that Lincoln was a genius in his use of the media of his day as a weapon to win the hearts and minds of his countrymen to support his vision of a strong union. It is also a wonderful portrayal of what the media of the day was like, in some ways very similar and in other ways very different what what we have today. (This book is reviewed here in this community).
The wonderful Civil War historian James McPherson gives a terrific account of Lincoln as a wartime president in Tried by War: Abraham Lincoln as Commander in Chief. The author describes Lincoln's military effectiveness and shows how he exercised the right to take any necessary measures to preserve the union and majority rule, including violating longstanding civil liberties. McPherson makes the case that these infringements were milder than those adopted by later presidents. The author argues that Lincoln understood the synergy of political and military decision-making better than any president. He concludes that while Lincoln may have been an amateur, he ultimately became America's greatest war leader.
Author John Waugh wrote two terrific books about specific aspects of Lincoln's life. In Lincoln and McClellan: The Troubled Partnership between a President and His General Waugh writes about the difficult relationship between Lincoln and the man who would be his first major military commander and later his opponent in his bid for re-election. Waugh also writes a wonderful account of that election, the election of 1864, in his book Re-electing Lincoln: The Battle for the 1864 Presidency.
There are too many other good books about Lincoln to mention here. The fact is that Lincoln's life is the subject for a considerable amount of terrific reading, whether in summer, or any time of year.