Lincoln Nobody Knows

by Richard Nelson Current

Lincoln Nobody Knows (Paper) (American Century)

Genres: Biography, Civil War, History, American Civil War, American History

314 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1958

About the author

Called "the dean of Lincoln scholars", Richard Nelson Current earned a B.A. in 1934 from Oberlin College, and M.A. from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in 1935, a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1940. Among the institutions at which Current taught over the course of his career was Rutgers University, Hamilton College, Northern Michigan University, Lawrence University, Mills College, Salisbury State University, the University of Illinois, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Reviews

[Chris M · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love anything about Abraham Lincoln, generally, but this was the 1st book I've read that was more critical than complimentary.

Written in the 1950's, it's an academic "pro and con" argument about Lincoln's virtues as President, particularly with regards to Emancipation.

We bought it at a rural antique mall, and it had several penciled-in notes by a prior reader, who appears to have shared the author's skepticism of Lincoln's generally accepted virtues..

Among other things, much is made of what the Emancipation Proclamation did NOT do: Free All the slaves everywhere. I won't recount here all the points made (do read them, they're informative!), but I will defend Honest Abe on this: the President, despite the enormous powers of the Office, was not free to dictate his personal wishes. He said it best: "1 wrong word from me, and 3 MORE states will rise in rebellion".

He knew that if any more states joined the Confederacy, or even remained "neutral", and just withheld support, that the Southern states might well gain independence, thus making that abhorrent practice permanent.

If the author has one fault in his treatise, it's this: he discounts the complexities faced by any President during a Civil War.

To name only a few: A very long and bloody war, and the horrors being endured daily by the citizens, a recalcitrant Congress, competing interests from the remaining states, a significant number of northern states and citizens of the time that, while they personally were opposed to slavery, were unwilling to go to war to end it. Then there were large numbers of VERY vocal opponents of slavery: John Brown was their martyr, and William Lloyd Garrison their Prophet.

Ironically, Had Lincoln been TOO fervent, either or both sides might well have turned against him and the horrors of slavery continued. In the end, President Lincoln mastered ALL his rivals, and his unique genius managed to lead all the competing factions to victory, finally achieving not only Emancipation but also the 14th Amendment.

The author is fair in his presentation, and the book is worth reading. One may draw their own conclusions about Father Abraham.

An excellent counterpart to this analysis is Doris Kearns Goodwin's OUTSTANDING book Team Of Rivals, which is a highly-readable account of just how Lincoln "mastered" all these competing interests, represented in his own Cabinet!

[Nolan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this to be somewhat unduly critical of Lincoln. It’s largely fair in most places, but the author swerves a bit on things like the Emancipation Proclamation, which he says didn’t go far enough.

This isn’t a biography. Instead, it looks at Lincoln’s characteristics. Was he as taciturn as many of his contemporaries say he was? If so, how did he get the reputation of a teller of ribald stories? Was life with Mary Todd really the hell his associates claimed it was? What role did Lincoln play in the marital discord made famous by Lincoln’s closest associates who often referred to Marry Todd Lincoln as the “she devil.”

The book looks at whether Lincoln was a Christian, and one of my favorite chapters examined what seemed a paradox of Lincoln’s tender heart and is iron will.

Chapter eight looks at Lincoln the politician. It explores his rise from relatively obscure lawyer to eventually the presidency, and it looks at the components in his life that made that rise possible.

The final chapter explores the endless myths associated with Lincoln. Would his version of reconstruction been as merciful as his fan insist it would have been? Or would the congress have muted his attempts at mercy? The author tries a clumsy hand at crafting an alternate history in which Booth’s bullet only grazed Lincoln’s head and he remained alive to complete a second term. His scenario was interesting enough.

[Elliott · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not a biography of Lincoln. Instead, it is a historiography of the contrasting perceptions of Lincoln. Was Lincoln a true abolitionist or just did things to satisfy the radical Republicans? Was he deeply religious, or used it only as suited? Was he an instigator of the Civil War, or not? These are examples of the perceptions that have historians and biographers still have about Lincoln according to Richard Current. He explores several of these topics throughout his book. He explores arguments for both sides, but what makes his arguments intriguing is how he uses evidence from people who knew Lincoln, or from Lincoln himself. Current will note the biases, time it was written (before, during, or after Lincoln's presidency), and under what circumstance (campaign speech, letter to a friend, or a cabinet member's memoirs). In doing so he avoids arguments with historians as to whether Lincoln was one way or another, but still shows how even during Lincoln's time it was hard to decipher one way or another concretely. If you enjoy Lincoln, read a few biographies, and then read this. Then read more biographies. It serves as an excellent "blueprint" of how Lincoln can be viewed, along with how many topics he can be viewed ambiguously from.

[Matthew Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read Lincoln Nobody Knows back in 2002. It was required reading for a capstone seminar class I took from one of the most noteworthy Lincoln scholars west of the Mississippi River; Doctor Rietveld. Still, it seems that many don't know much about Abraham Lincoln. I probably need to revisit the subjection since it has already been a decade since I read the book. I have to say I did enjoy reading the book, and that it was a comfortable read. My favorite parts were reading about the religion of Abraham Lincoln. He had his own private Christian religion like many in frontier America at the time. I also like the part on Lincoln as a military genius. He sure had some knuckleheads he had to work with and did such a great job at it.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book takes the position that much of what people "know" about Abraham Lincoln is based more on popular myth than in the realities of what he said and did. In the process of debunking the myths, Current stepped on a lot of toes. He pointed out that Lincoln's own statements were less progressive than many people would like to believe, especially his views on ending slavery and what to do afterwards. On the other hand, he was born in Kentucky in 1809, and for that background he WAS progressive in many ways.
The various chapters are both informative and entertaining, if you're interested in the history of Lincoln or of the Civil War.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

a good,insightful look at the problems confronting out 16th President and the actions he took to preserve the Union.