Abraham Lincoln
A Life 1861: From Springfield to Washington, Inauguration, and Distributing Patronage
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From Springfield to Washington, Inauguration, and Distributing Patronage (1861)
"The Man Does Not Live Who Is More Devoted to Peace Than I Am, But It May Be Necessary to Put the Foot Down Firmly": From Springfield to Washington (February 11-22 1861)
Lincoln agrees to undertake a taxing, circuitous, 1,900-mile train ride from Springfield to Washington in order to accommodate Republican friends in various states where they want him to speak. He alternates between giving hard-line, conciliatory and embarrassing speeches concerning the southern secession at these victory stops, as well as dealing with the varied receptions he receives at Albany, Buffalo and New York City, etc. The threat of assassination and possible riots in Baltimore force Lincoln to enter Washington under the cover of darkness. Much to his chagrin, he is ridiculed by the press. His embarrassment at appearing weak and fearful may have disposed him in the momentous coming weeks to avoid steps that might deepen that unfortunate impression.
"I Am Now Going to Be Master": Inauguration (February 23 – March 4, 1861)
The Lincoln's arrival in Washington generally helps lift the spirits of the city's inhabitants and the North. Despite his efforts to help reach some kind of compromise, the much touted Peace Conference ends in failure and acrimony. Meanwhile Lincoln works on his all important inaugural address; fielding suggestions from close colleagues and deflecting efforts by Seward to make it more bellicose. At this time he also completes the struggle to fill his cabinet; an effort that leaves him both annoyed and depressed. On inauguration day all goes as planned without any violence or disruption, but the country is now too divided, and while the North receives his address positively, the South views it as incendiary and aggressive.
"A Man So Busy Letting Rooms in One End of His House, That He Can't Stop to Put Out the Fire That Is Burning in the Other": Distributing Patronage (March – April 1861)
Lincoln's first six weeks in office tax him to his limit as he must deal with two all consuming issues: making the fateful decisions regarding war and peace while at the same time dealing with importunate place hunters thronging the White House. To his rescue, comes John Nicolay, who will become Lincoln's personal secretary and confidant, along with Nicolay's assistant John Hay, another young man who will do yeoman's work for the president. While most of his patronage appointments are well received by the Washington establishment, balancing regional, local, ethnic, political and personal priorities, some turn out to be terrible mistakes that will haunt Lincoln throughout his tenure. All this, while the Fort Sumter crisis simmers ominously.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
September 18, 2012 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9781469025612
- File size: 184083 KB
- Duration: 06:23:30
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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November 3, 2008
Signature
Reviewed by
James L. Swanson
Between this fall and the bicentennial of Lincoln's birth in February 2009, publishers will overwhelm bookstores and readers alike with a flood of more than 60 titles on the ever-popular president. One can hardly keep track of them all: one certainly cannot read them all. Of the dozens of these books competing for attention, a few stand out, foremost among them this title.
The trend in Lincoln scholarship has been away from the magisterial narrative comprehensiveness of Carl Sandburg in favor of a narrow, deep dive resulting in the so-called “slice” book: thus entire volumes about one magnificent speech; a key incident; the deepest crisis; the most pivotal year; and so on. A number of these works have merit, but have failed to capture a wide, popular audience.
Abraham Lincoln: A Life
is the antithesis of a thin slice from the Lincoln pie. In the sweeping style of Doris Kearns Goodwin's Team of Rivals
, Burlingame has produced the finest Lincoln biography in more than 60 years and one of the two or three best Lincoln books on any subject in a generation.
A distinguished scholar who probably knows more about Abraham Lincoln and his world than anyone else alive, Burlingame has devoted the last quarter century to editing 11 books on the Lincoln primary sources, including the writings of the president's secretaries John Hay, John Nicolay and William Stoddard. Now Burlingame has produced the most meticulously researched Lincoln biography ever written. He resurrected Lincoln's lost early journalism, when the young prairie politician—little more than an immature, unscrupulous hack—wrote more than 200 anonymous op-eds; Burlingame scoured thousands of 19th-century newspapers and discovered hitherto unknown stories; he read hundreds of oral histories, unpublished letters, and journals from Lincoln's contemporaries; and he re-examined the vast manuscript collections at the Library of Congress and National Archives. Burlingame's astonishing chapters covering Lincoln's hard early years and his difficult marriage, and his fresh insights on the profound crisis that made Lincoln great, are worth the price of the book.
Do not let the intimidating length or the formidable price deter you. The book need not be read in one sitting. Each part stands alone. Burlingame's Lincoln comes alive as the author unfolds vast amounts of new research while breathing new life into familiar stories. This is a critical, skeptical, loving but never fawning tribute to the man Burlingame praises for “achiev a level of psychological maturity unmatched in the history of American public life.”
This book supplants Sandburg and supersedes all other biographies. Future Lincoln books cannot be written without it, and from no other book can a general reader learn so much about Abraham Lincoln. It is the essential title for the bicentennial. (Nov.)
James L. Swanson is the author of
Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer. His next book is
Chasing Lincoln's Killer (Scholastic, Feb. 2009).
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