What do you think?
Rate this book
Saving the Union: Lincoln, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the Fight for the Future of America
The New York Times bestselling author of Saving Freedom and cohost of Morning Joe assesses President Abraham Lincoln’s deft timing for the Emancipation proclamation and its consequences for America.
Abraham Lincoln’s pragmatism combined with a devotion to higher ideals made him the American leader capable of accomplishing the seemingly impossible: saving the Union and ending slavery.
The year was 1862. The Union’s first large scale offensive, the Peninsula campaign led by Major General George B. McClellan, had been disastrous. Doubt in Congress grew that President Lincoln and his generals could win the war. In Saving the Union, Joe Scarborough analyzes the hard choice Lincoln faced—the debate raging inside him over how quickly to move toward emancipation, if at all.
Lincoln feared that if he moved too quickly, he would lose support for the war, including the conservatives in the border states, thus ensuring the dissolution of the Union. When he finally issued the Emancipation Proclamation, he rallied his party, demoralized the South, won over Europe, and changed the course of human history. But only because he timed it perfectly.
Scarborough reveals how Lincoln’s brilliant Shakespearean insight that “ripeness is all” made him the greatest American president after Washington, and the bridge between the Founding Fathers and Civil Rights leaders, including Martin Luther King, Jr and John Lewis. As Saving the Union clearly demonstrates, no other leader in his time, and few in American history, could have effectively balanced the preservation of the Union with the liberation of the slaves as Lincoln did—and that has made all the difference. Scarborough offers a fresh and thoughtful examination of this key event in Lincoln’s presidency, and pays tribute to his astute leadership—a legacy which as indelibly influenced the course of America’s development and continues to inspire us today.
Abraham Lincoln’s pragmatism combined with a devotion to higher ideals made him the American leader capable of accomplishing the seemingly impossible: saving the Union and ending slavery.
The year was 1862. The Union’s first large scale offensive, the Peninsula campaign led by Major General George B. McClellan, had been disastrous. Doubt in Congress grew that President Lincoln and his generals could win the war. In Saving the Union, Joe Scarborough analyzes the hard choice Lincoln faced—the debate raging inside him over how quickly to move toward emancipation, if at all.
Lincoln feared that if he moved too quickly, he would lose support for the war, including the conservatives in the border states, thus ensuring the dissolution of the Union. When he finally issued the Emancipation Proclamation, he rallied his party, demoralized the South, won over Europe, and changed the course of human history. But only because he timed it perfectly.
Scarborough reveals how Lincoln’s brilliant Shakespearean insight that “ripeness is all” made him the greatest American president after Washington, and the bridge between the Founding Fathers and Civil Rights leaders, including Martin Luther King, Jr and John Lewis. As Saving the Union clearly demonstrates, no other leader in his time, and few in American history, could have effectively balanced the preservation of the Union with the liberation of the slaves as Lincoln did—and that has made all the difference. Scarborough offers a fresh and thoughtful examination of this key event in Lincoln’s presidency, and pays tribute to his astute leadership—a legacy which as indelibly influenced the course of America’s development and continues to inspire us today.
272 pages, ebook
Published November 16, 2021
6 people want to read
About the author
Joe Scarborough
17 books30 followersCharles Joseph "Joe" Scarborough (born April 9, 1963) is an American cable news and talk radio host, lawyer, author, and former politician. He is currently the host of Morning Joe on MSNBC, and previously hosted Scarborough Country on the same channel. Scarborough served in the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 2001 as a Republican from the 1st district of Florida. He was named in the 2011 Time 100 as one of the most influential people in the world.
Born in Atlanta, Georgia, he is the son of George F. Scarborough, a businessman, and has two other siblings. When his father died in May 2011, his life story appeared in the Congressional Record and in Politico's Playbook. Scarborough even wrote a eulogy op-ed online.
Joe Scarborough graduated from Pensacola Catholic High School in Pensacola, Florida. He received a B.A. from the University of Alabama in 1985 and a J.D. from the University of Florida College of Law in 1990. During this time he wrote and produced CDs with his band, Dixon Mills, and taught high school. He was admitted to the The Florida Bar in 1991, and practiced law in Pensacola.
Scarborough's most famous case was representing Michael F. Griffin, the accused killer of abortion doctor David Gunn, in early to mid-1993. He made several court appearances for Griffin. "There was 'no way in hell I could sit in at a civil trial, let alone a capital trial,' he claims now, referring to the prospect of prosecutors seeking the death penalty against Griffin." Scarborough assisted Griffin in choosing a trial lawyer from the many who offered their services, and he also shielded the family from the media exposure, pro bono.
Scarborough also helped to raise his political profile and made numerous contacts by assisting with a petition drive in late 1993 to oppose a 65 percent increase in the City of Pensacola's property taxes.
In 1994, Scarborough won the Republican Party primary for Florida's 1st congressional district, which came open after eight-term Democratic incumbent Earl Hutto announced his retirement. In the general election he defeated the Democratic candidate, Pensacola attorney Vinnie Whibbs, with 61 percent of the vote. Whibbs was the son of well respected, former Pensacola mayor, Vince Whibbs. The win was not considered an upset, since the 1st was traditionally a conservative district. The district had not supported a Democratic candidate for U.S. president since 1960. While Democratic candidates continued to win most local offices well into the 1990s, they tended to be conservative even, by Southern Democratic standards. It had been widely believed that Hutto would be succeeded by a Republican once he retired.
Scarborough was reelected with 72 percent of the vote in 1996. In 1998 and 2000, he was opposed by only a write-in candidate.
Scarborough supported a number of pro-life positions while in Congress, including the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, that made it a crime to harm a fetus during the commission of other crimes, though he did not vote for the passage of the final bill.
Scarborough sponsored a bill to force the U.S. to withdraw from the United Nations after a four-year transition and voted to make the Corporation for Public Broadcasting "self-sufficient" by eliminating federal funding. He also voted for the "Medicare Preservation act of 1995," which cut the projected growth of Medicare by $270 billion over ten years, and against the "Small Business Job Protection Act of 1996," which raised the minimum wage to $5.15. Scarborough had a conservative voting record on economic, social, and foreign policy issues, but was seen as moderate on environmental issues and human rights causes, including closing the School of the Americas and Lori Berenson.
While in Congress, Scarborough received a number of awards, including the "Friend of the Taxpayer Award" from Americans for Tax Reform; the "Guardian of Small Business Award" from the National Federation of Independent Busine
Born in Atlanta, Georgia, he is the son of George F. Scarborough, a businessman, and has two other siblings. When his father died in May 2011, his life story appeared in the Congressional Record and in Politico's Playbook. Scarborough even wrote a eulogy op-ed online.
Joe Scarborough graduated from Pensacola Catholic High School in Pensacola, Florida. He received a B.A. from the University of Alabama in 1985 and a J.D. from the University of Florida College of Law in 1990. During this time he wrote and produced CDs with his band, Dixon Mills, and taught high school. He was admitted to the The Florida Bar in 1991, and practiced law in Pensacola.
Scarborough's most famous case was representing Michael F. Griffin, the accused killer of abortion doctor David Gunn, in early to mid-1993. He made several court appearances for Griffin. "There was 'no way in hell I could sit in at a civil trial, let alone a capital trial,' he claims now, referring to the prospect of prosecutors seeking the death penalty against Griffin." Scarborough assisted Griffin in choosing a trial lawyer from the many who offered their services, and he also shielded the family from the media exposure, pro bono.
Scarborough also helped to raise his political profile and made numerous contacts by assisting with a petition drive in late 1993 to oppose a 65 percent increase in the City of Pensacola's property taxes.
In 1994, Scarborough won the Republican Party primary for Florida's 1st congressional district, which came open after eight-term Democratic incumbent Earl Hutto announced his retirement. In the general election he defeated the Democratic candidate, Pensacola attorney Vinnie Whibbs, with 61 percent of the vote. Whibbs was the son of well respected, former Pensacola mayor, Vince Whibbs. The win was not considered an upset, since the 1st was traditionally a conservative district. The district had not supported a Democratic candidate for U.S. president since 1960. While Democratic candidates continued to win most local offices well into the 1990s, they tended to be conservative even, by Southern Democratic standards. It had been widely believed that Hutto would be succeeded by a Republican once he retired.
Scarborough was reelected with 72 percent of the vote in 1996. In 1998 and 2000, he was opposed by only a write-in candidate.
Scarborough supported a number of pro-life positions while in Congress, including the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, that made it a crime to harm a fetus during the commission of other crimes, though he did not vote for the passage of the final bill.
Scarborough sponsored a bill to force the U.S. to withdraw from the United Nations after a four-year transition and voted to make the Corporation for Public Broadcasting "self-sufficient" by eliminating federal funding. He also voted for the "Medicare Preservation act of 1995," which cut the projected growth of Medicare by $270 billion over ten years, and against the "Small Business Job Protection Act of 1996," which raised the minimum wage to $5.15. Scarborough had a conservative voting record on economic, social, and foreign policy issues, but was seen as moderate on environmental issues and human rights causes, including closing the School of the Americas and Lori Berenson.
While in Congress, Scarborough received a number of awards, including the "Friend of the Taxpayer Award" from Americans for Tax Reform; the "Guardian of Small Business Award" from the National Federation of Independent Busine
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
No one has reviewed this book yet.