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. |
From inside the book
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... took an early start as a hunter, which was never much improved afterwards. A few days before the completion of his eigth year, in the absence of his father, a flock of wild turkeys approached the new log-cabin, and A. with a rifle gun ...
... 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 honest work I had earned a dollar. The world seemed wider and ...
... took her out in the course of the spring. The time at which we crossed the mill dam, being in the last days of April, the water was lower than it had been since the breaking of winter in February, or than it was for several weeks after ...
... took four days. Returning from the campaign, and encouraged by his great popularity among his immediate neighbors, he, the same year, ran for the Legislature. 5 In his seven months at New Salem, his only job, other than clerking and ...
... took over Reuben Bradford's place. Berry's death in January 1835 left Lincoln responsible for half their debt, but he assumed the whole, calling it “the national debt,” which hung over him for ten years (Donald 54; Mearns, Lincoln ...
Contents
Making His Way with Wit and Wisdom | |
Stumping the State and the Nation | |
Preserving Protecting Defending | |
Making Peace All Passion Spent | |
Notes | |