Lincoln The President

This biography of the sixteenth president explores Lincoln's life and political career along with insights into his philosophy, religious views, and moral character.

At the time of his death on February 20, 1953, J. G. Randall stood out as the leading authority on the life and times of Abraham Lincoln. He has established his reputation with Constitutional Problems under Lincoln (1926; revised edition, 1951), The Civil War and Reconstruction (1937), and the first three volumes of a projected four volume study Lincoln the President (1945, 1952). Though Lincoln the President: Last Full Measure bears the marks of its time, it may still have much to offer the reader interested in Lincoln and the Civil War period.

Abraham Lincoln was born to poor parents, in a log cabin on the western frontier of a young nation. The unity of the United States, which had been built on the ideal that all people are created equal, was cracking under the heavy yoke of slavery. As Lincoln embarked on his presidency, the slaveholding states in the South left the Union, causing him to face the American Civil War. Lincoln said the war was no less than a fight to save government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Though his life was cut short, Lincoln's leadership and his written words continue to inspire Americans.

One of our most eminent Lincoln scholars, winner of a Lincoln Prize for his Lincoln at Cooper Union, examines the four months between Lincoln's election and inauguration, when the president-elect made the most important decision of his coming presidency -- there would be no compromise on slavery or secession of the slaveholding states, even at the cost of civil war. Abraham Lincoln first demonstrated his determination and leadership in the Great Secession Winter -- the four months between his election in November 1860 and his inauguration in March 1861 -- when he rejected compromises urged on him by Republicans and Democrats, Northerners and Southerners, that might have preserved the Union a little longer but would have enshrined slavery for generations. Though Lincoln has been criticized by many historians for failing to appreciate the severity of the secession crisis that greeted his victory, Harold Holzer shows that the presidentelect waged a shrewd and complex campaign to prevent the expansion of slavery while vainly trying to limit secession to a few Deep South states. During this most dangerous White House transition in American history, the country had two presidents: one powerless (the president-elect, possessing no constitutional authority), the other paralyzed (the incumbent who refused to act). Through limited, brilliantly timed and crafted public statements, determined private letters, tough political pressure, and personal persuasion, Lincoln guaranteed the integrity of the American political process of majority rule, sounded the death knell of slavery, and transformed not only his own image but that of the presidency, even while making inevitable the war that would be necessary to make these achievements permanent. Lincoln President-Elect is the first book to concentrate on Lincoln's public stance and private agony during these months and on the momentous consequences when he first demonstrated his determination and leadership. Holzer recasts Lincoln from an isolated prairie politician yet to establish his greatness, to a skillful shaper of men and opinion and an immovable friend of freedom at a decisive moment when allegiance to the founding credo "all men are created equal" might well have been sacrificed.

In this beautifully designed volume, America's top Lincoln historians offer a diverse array of perspectives on the life and legacy of America's sixteenth president. Spanning Lincoln's life -- from his early career as a Springfield lawyer, to his presidential reign during one of America's most troubled historical periods, to his assassination in 1865 -- these essays, developed from original C-SPAN interviews, provide a compelling, composite portrait of Lincoln, one that offers up new stories and fresh insights on a defining leader. Extras include a timeline of Lincoln's life, brief biographies of the 56 contributors, and Lincoln's most famous speeches.

Provides an overview of the election of 1860 and the administration of President Abraham Lincoln, using a variety of source materials.

A biography of our sixteenth president, remembered as the savior of the Union and the man who freed the slaves.

Poor Abraham Lincoln! His life was hardly fun at all. A country torn in two by war, citizens who didn’t like him as president, a homely appearance—what could there possibly be to laugh about? And yet he did laugh. Lincoln wasn’t just one of our greatest presidents. He was a comic storyteller and a person who could lighten a grim situation with a clever quip. This unusual biography of Lincoln highlights his life and presidency, focusing on what made his sense of humor so distinctive—and so necessary to surviving his tough life and times.