Lincoln on LincolnPaul M. Zall Though Abraham Lincoln has been the subject of numerous biographies, his personality remains an enigma. During his lifetime, Lincoln prepared two sketches of his life for the 1860 presidential race. These brief campaign portraits serve as the core around which Paul Zall weaves extracts from correspondence, speeches, and interviews to produce an in-depth biography. Lincoln's writing about himself offers a window into the soul and mind of one of America's greatest president. His words reveal an emotional evolution typically submerged in political biographies. Lincoln on Lincoln shows a man struggling to reconcile personal ambition and civic virtue, conscience and Constitution, and ultimately the will of God and the will of the people. Zall frames Lincoln's words with his own illuminating commentary, providing a continuous, compelling narrative. Beginning with Lincoln's thoughts on his parents, the story moves though his youth and early successes and failures in law and politics, and culminates in his clashes and conflicts—internal as well as external—as president of a divided country. Through his writings, Lincoln said much more about himself than is commonly recognized, and Zall uses this material to create a unique portrait of this pivotal figure. |
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... called the big field—it contained seven acres—and I dropped the pumpkin seeds. I dropped two seeds every other hill and every other row. The next Sunday morning there came a big rain in the hills. It did not rain a drop in the valley ...
... called “polemics” (Howard 393; Mearns, Lincoln Papers, 1:157-58). Some neighbors owned a surprisingly rich collection of books, among them Hugh Blair's Lectures on Rhetoric, James Thomson's Seasons, Machiavelli's Art of War and ...
... called out that they had forgotten to pay me. Each of them took from his pocket a silver half-dollar, and threw it on the floor of my boat. I could scarcely credit that I, a poor boy, had earned a dollar in less than a day—that by ...
Paul M. Zall. load, as it was called—made it necessary for them to linger and trade along the Sugar coast—and one night they were attacked by seven negroes with intent to kill and rob them. They were hurt some in the melee, but succeeded ...
... 1860 (Drake 34-35; Lokken 136-38). Son Robert sold what Mary Todd Lincoln called “wild lands in Iowa” in 1892 for $13,000 (Beveridge l:553n; MTL 265). APRIL-JULY 1832 He went the campaign, served near three months, met the.
Contents
Making His Way with Wit and Wisdom | |
Stumping the State and the Nation | |
Preserving Protecting Defending | |
Making Peace All Passion Spent | |
Notes | |