A. Lincoln

It has been estimated that over 11,000 books and other writings have been devoted to Lincoln. It is as if there is something elusive about him, which no book can satisfy. Indeed there is something mystical about him and profoundly unknowable. The trend today in writing about Lincoln is to write more and more about less and less. It is like tasting the apple but never finishing it. This book by Ronald White is a complete biography. We now get a chance to ingest the entire fruit. Although no event is treated in depth, that is not the point of the book. It is more than a repetition of the well-known events. It is an exploration of Lincoln’s thoughts and ideas. For those who are frustrated by the mystery of Lincoln, this book represents an opportunity to get to know him more intimately and completely. The book consists of a chronologic account of Lincoln’s life. But it is more than simply a listing of events. The events themselves are like the chords, which accompany the melody of his deepest thoughts. White allows Lincoln to speak to us through his speeches and writings. These works are not always repeated verbatim, but White summarizes them and expands upon them so as to give us an understanding of what Lincoln was actually thinking. In so doing, we hear Lincoln as he bears his soul to the reader. White begins his book before Lincoln is born. His family history in America dates back to the 17th century, even before the birth of the nation. His parents were religious Baptists and he was born into their Calvinist beliefs. However, he soon abandoned organized religion when he became repelled by the emotionalism of revival meetings, which were intrinsic to the Second Great Awakening. Turning his back on revealed religion he sought refuge in reason and became a lawyer. As Patrick Cleburne, a confederate general noted, the law provided a stepping-stone to “distinction and civil importance”. White, in his insightful way, draws attention to the fact that Lincoln learned to examine issues from every angle before settling on a conclusion. This ability would serve him well, not only in his career as a lawyer but as a legislator and then President of the United States. It was is in the legal profession that he first encountered moral conflict, a condition that would plague him until nearly the end of his life. The law is adversarial and is thus based on conflict and confrontation, whereas Lincoln preferred mediation. He preferred to settle a case rather than argue it in court. He felt that after all is said and done, the adversaries would need to live together following their confrontation, a notion presaging his sentiments regarding reconstruction. At age 28 while running for re-election to the Illinois state legislature, he delivered a speech at the Young Men’s Lyceum in Springfield, Illinois. The speech was ostensibly about the role of memory and our responsibility for preserving our political institutions. However, more importantly, it dealt with creating a secular religion with its morality based on reason. It became one of the most notable speeches ever delivered. Reason, cold calculating, unimpassioned reason, must furnish all the materials for our future support and defense. Let those materials be molded into general intelligence, sound morality and in particular, a reverence for the constitution and laws. The collision of politics, morality and divine will occurred most acutely over the issue of slavery. Lincoln was always concerned about slavery, but the issue came to a head as the Civil War approached. The Lincoln Douglas debates were mostly about the moral issue of slavery. Although both Lincoln and Douglas were practical men and recognized the role of necessity in dealing with slavery, it was Lincoln’s insistence on recognizing the immorality of slavery that distinguished him from Douglas. For Lincoln, the issue became one of intolerable moral conflict. Only elimination of slavery would resolve the conflict and the attendant cognitive dissonance. With the end of the Civil War the conflict between morality and necessity came to an end. The slaves were at last freed and the country was saved. An important subtext of the book is how Lincoln’s devotion to reason was eventually tempered by his surrender to God. In a letter to Albert Hodges in 1864 Lincoln described the evolution of his thinking evoking the role of God in directing man’s actions. Here he came full circle from the religion of his parents to an embrace of reason as a reaction to those teachings and finally to submission to God’s will. He described his beliefs in a private communication uncovered after his death, termed The Meditation on God’s Will. Lincoln counseled that one must defer to God, in all of his mystery and lack of transparency, a mystical notion divorced from reason: The will of God prevails. In great contests, each party claims to act in accordance with God’s will. Both may be and one must be wrong. In the present Civil War, it is quite possible that God’s purpose is something different from the purpose of either party The journey for Lincoln was a long one. The word God is rarely mentioned in Lincoln’s earlier writings and in fact is absent in the First Inaugural Address. It appears once in the Gettysburg Address, but then 14 times in the Second Inaugural Address. One of the pleasures of this book is that one discovers for oneself what God meant to Lincoln. In the Second Inaugural address, Lincoln submitted to God who is totally opaque and unknowing. This notion is more Islamic than Christian. If one understands how Lincoln came to understand God, then one comes closer to understanding Lincoln. His journey was intensely personal. Hence, the book is voyeurism at its titillating best. It took real courage for White to write another book about Lincoln, much less a complete biography. Those who complete the book of over 750 pages hear beyond the background noise an entire Lincoln symphony. It is a real treat.

Received the book yesterday and after the first 30 pages I am totally engaged. Lincoln is my favorite president and happy to read this biography as it is reviewed so positively. Well earned kudos. Not dry or boring, doesn’t drown with too many facts when making a point. I like that.

Just in time for the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth comes Ronald C. White's fabulous tome, A. Lincoln: A Biography. From the opening words of the first chapter, this book is a literary work of art. Lincoln signed all his papers with A. Lincoln. His friends called him simply Lincoln. "All through his life, people sought to complete the A--to define Lincoln, to label or libel him." For generations, "Americans have tried to explain the nation's most revered president." White provides for us a comprehensive look at his life. But the author also tries to define Lincoln through his words--both written and spoken. This job was made easier by the discovery of new Lincoln documents (especially legal documents) in recent years. White begins Lincoln's journey with his humble birth, and takes us through his rustic childhood, his adventurous young adulthood, his awkward romantic experiences, his legal training, his circuit riding, political experiences and finally, his presidency. But what makes A. Lincoln so special is that White shows these events through the magnifying glass of Lincoln's writings. Whether it is a letter or a speech or just a note that Lincoln wrote to himself and stuffed in his silk top hat, White shows us how Lincoln evolved throughout his life to become one of our greatest leaders. The author also explains to us why Lincoln's writings are relevant today. "When contemporary Americans try to trace an inspired idea or a shimmering truth about our national identity, again and again we find Lincoln's initials carved on some tree--AL--for he was there before us." I had the pleasure of seeing Ronald White at the Free Library of Philadelphia recently. For his author talk, he passed out six different writings by Lincoln and analyzed them for us. But one gets the impression that White is just as much a lover of words, and of writing and a wordsmith as was Lincoln. One section that I most enjoyed was how Lincoln started out as a bit of a bumbling president and ended up becoming a formidable leader and commander-in-chief. As in most everything, Lincoln was self-taught and once presented with a dilemma, went on a crash course to close the gaps in his meager education. The two major issues during his administration were the Civil War and the slavery issue. Halfway through his term, the president realized that he was not simply trying to preserve the Union, but to create a new Union. During the Gettysburg Address, Lincoln speaks of "a new birth of freedom" and a "new Union. The old union had attempted to contain slavery. The new Union would fulfill the promise of liberty." A. Lincoln is just about as fine a biography as you could hope to read about Lincoln. It is made even more enjoyable by the dozens and dozens of photos, drawings, letters and maps that are scattered throughout. You can enjoy these things as you're reading--instead of having to keep leafing back and forth. Also, while this is a very comprehensive effort, one still has to realize that you won't find every single detail of Lincoln's life here. For instance, White treats Mary with sympathy and you won't find anything in his book about her apparent physical abuse of Lincoln. But overall, if you want the essence of the man, A. Lincoln will stand at the top of a very short list.

Nachdem Barack Obama sich mehrfach auf Lincoln bezogen hatte und er sich dessen Bibel für seine Vereidigung gewählt hatte, bin ich neugierig geworden und wollte mehr wissen über diesen Präsidenten. Die Biographie von Ronald C. White,Jr. hat meine Neugier vollauf befriedigt. Sie schildert in sehr lebendiger, anschaulicher Sprache (ich habe nur selten zum Wörterbuch greifen müssen) den Werdegang, die Person und Persönlichkeit Lincolns und seiner Zeitgenossen, Freunde wie Gegner. Besonders gut hat mir auch die Ausstattung des Buches mit zeitgenössischen Fotos und Abbildungen gefallen, nach denen ich mir von fast allen Personen, die eine größere Rolle in der Geschichte der Zeit und des Bürgerkrieges gespielt haben, ein "Bild" machen konnte, das über die Beschreibung im Text hinaus ging.

This biography is as stunning as it is comprehensive. I have read a few books on Lincoln, but none come even close to this mighty tome in terms of details. The paperback is almost 700 pages long - and that's before you even get to the notes! The author has managed to capture almost every aspect of Lincoln's life - from his family heritage, growing up as a boy, an Illinois rail-splitter, becoming a lawyer and dabbling in politics right through to becoming President, and ultimately his assassination. Each chapter (almost books in their own right) chronologically cover Lincoln's life. No details are left out - the book is densely packed with just about every twist or turn, every offhand comment or speech, that Lincoln ever encountered or made. At times, I felt there was too much detail, partially because the list of characters is so involved; but this is very subjective and doesn't merit docking a star. The author deserves a huge amount of credit in compiling everything together in this single book. It's an incredibly immersive book, and at times you feel like you're in the same room as Lincoln. The author touches on a number of aspects of Lincoln's life - namely his stance on slavery, religion, politics and also his writing. Lincoln's inclusive character also comes through. The author, however, doesn't spend much time covering Lincoln's relationship with his wife and children (they're more of a footnote compared with the coverage of politics). A little disappointingly, Lincoln's mood swings and his depression aren't covered - a shame as it would have given a little more context to this complex character. If you're interested in politics and/or America history, this is an absolute must. Be warned, it's a big book and at times I did feel my eyes glazing over on the odd occasion. It's a very interesting factual book rather than a gripping page turner. However, credit (again) to the author for ensuring it didn't read like an academic paper or encyclopedia.

A very readable and comprehensive biography of Lincoln. I am presently reading the portion about Lincoln in the civil war years. It is very interesting to see the civil war through the eyes of Lincoln. History written in this manner keeps your attention as a great read.

An excellent one-volume biography of Lincoln, written in a clear, elegant style and concentrating on essentials. White is particular good on Lincoln the writer. I learned a lot from this book and would recommend it to anyone interested in Lincoln.

What a book