The Living Lincoln: The Man & His Times in His Own Words

by Abraham Lincoln, Paul M. Angle (editor)

Culled from the 9-volume Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, this book assembles the best of Lincoln's writings on himself and the issues of his day, creating in effect an engrossing autobiography of our greatest president. Skillful editing shapes this volume comprised of letters, speeches, and documents into an intimate self-portrait of Lincoln, from his early years in Springfield to the day before he died. A fine addition to any American history library.

Genres: History, Biography, Nonfiction, Presidents, American History, Politics, Civil War

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1955

About the author

Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth president of the United States from 1861, led during the Civil War, and emancipated slaves in the south in 1863; shortly after the end, John Wilkes Booth assassinated him.

Abraham Lincoln, an American lawyer, politician, and man, served until 1865. Lincoln defended the American constitutional nation, defeated the insurgent Confederacy, abolished, expanded the power of the Federal government, and modernized the economy.
A mother bore him into poverty in a log cabin in Kentucky, and parents reared on the frontier, primarily in Indiana. He educated as a lawyer in Whig party, joined legislature, and represented Illinois. In 1849, he returned to his successful law practice in Springfield, Illinois.

The Kansas–Nebraska act in 1854 opened the territories, angered him, and caused him to re-enter politics. He quickly joined the new Republican Party. He reached a national audience in the campaign debates against Stephen Arnold Douglas for Senate in 1858. Lincoln ran in 1860 and swept the north to gain victory. Other elements viewed his election as a threat and from the nation began seceding. During this time, the newly formed Confederate of America began seizing Federal military bases. A little over one month after Lincoln assumed, Confederate forces attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina. Following the bombardment, Lincoln mobilized forces to suppress the rebellion and restored.

Lincoln, a moderate, navigated a contentious array of factions with friends and opponents from the Democratic Party and Republican Party. His allies, the Democrats, and the radical Republicans, demanded harsh treatment of the Confederates. He exploited mutual enmity of the factions, carefully distributing political patronage, and appealed to the American people. Democrats, called "Copperheads," despised Lincoln, and some irreconcilable pro-Confederate elements went so far as to plot. People came to see his greatest address at Gettysburg as a most influential statement of American national purpose. Lincoln closely supervised the strategy and tactics in the effort, including the selection of generals, and implemented a naval blockade of the trade. He suspended habeas corpus in Maryland and elsewhere, and averted British intervention by defusing the Trent Affair. He issued the proclamation, which declared free those "in rebellion." It also directed the Navy to "recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons" and to receive them "into the armed service." Lincoln pressured border to outlaw, and he promoted the thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which abolished, except as punishment for a crime.
Lincoln managed his own successful re-election campaign. He sought to heal the torn nation through reconciliation. On April 14, 1865, just five days after the Confederate surrender at Appomattox, he attended a play at theater of Ford in Washington, District of Columbia, with Mary Todd Lincoln, his wife, when Confederate sympathizer fatally shot him. People remember Lincoln as a martyr and a national hero for his time and for his efforts to preserve and abolish. Popular and scholarly polls often rank Lincoln as the greatest president in American history.

Reviews

[Trisha Owens · Rating 5 out of 5]

My number one hero is Abraham Lincoln. No man gains my respect like this one. In this book by Paul M. Angle and Earl Schenck Miers, Lincoln speaks in his own words, through a myriad of documents, letters, and speeches. From his early life in Springfield to his last moments on earth, and all of the turmoil, defeats, and obstacles that Lincoln and the Nation faced, it is covered in this lengthy volume of work. Lincolns own words make this book worth the read. Known as the "Great Emancipator", and the "Great Campaigner", he bore unspeakable torment before, during, and after the Civil War, along with the monumental after-effects of Reconstruction in the South. Yet he prevailed. If you are a history buff, this compilation of letters, etc. is a must-read.

[Esther · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had been wanting to read a biography on Abraham Lincoln for several years. By the time I got around to it I owned three different biographies about him. This inspired the idea that everyone would chose a different biography about Abraham Lincoln and we would discussed them all at one book club. I loved the one I read "The Living Lincoln" a biography using his own writings and words.

[Dick · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good book - lots of personal views, experiences and impressions of Lincoln from social, associates and political folks.