Lincoln at Cooper Union: The Speech That Made Abraham Lincoln PresidentWinner of the Lincoln Prize Lincoln at Cooper Union explores Lincoln's most influential and widely reported pre-presidential address -- an extraordinary appeal by the western politician to the eastern elite that propelled him toward the Republican nomination for president. Delivered in New York in February 1860, the Cooper Union speech dispelled doubts about Lincoln's suitability for the presidency and reassured conservatives of his moderation while reaffirming his opposition to slavery to Republican progressives. Award-winning Lincoln scholar Harold Holzer places Lincoln and his speech in the context of the times -- an era of racism, politicized journalism, and public oratory as entertainment -- and shows how the candidate framed the speech as an opportunity to continue his famous "debates" with his archrival Democrat Stephen A. Douglas on the question of slavery. Holzer describes the enormous risk Lincoln took by appearing in New York, where he exposed himself to the country's most critical audience and took on Republican Senator William Henry Seward of New York, the front runner, in his own backyard. Then he recounts a brilliant and innovative public relations campaign, as Lincoln took the speech "on the road" in his successful quest for the presidency. |
From inside the book
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... inviting him to speak in the East. (Unbeknownst to Lincoln, Corwin would be asked to participate in the very same lecture series. The Senator went to Brooklyn as requested; Lincoln demurred, ending up, fortuitously, at Cooper Union) ...
... inviting him to speak in the East. (Unbeknownst to Lincoln, Corwin would be asked to participate in the very same lecture series. The Senator went to Brooklyn as requested; Lincoln demurred, ending up, fortuitously, at Cooper Union) ...
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... invited to New York City, sat down and wrote out a fine speech, then went on to deliver it successfully. They might think that he did so unaware of political challenges confronting him at home and across the country from Democrats and ...
... invited to New York City, sat down and wrote out a fine speech, then went on to deliver it successfully. They might think that he did so unaware of political challenges confronting him at home and across the country from Democrats and ...
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... invitation to deliver yet another speech, but one that Lincoln, exhaustion notwithstanding, surely sensed immediately could advance his political ambitions on a grander stage than he had ever ascended. What the telegram brought was his ...
... invitation to deliver yet another speech, but one that Lincoln, exhaustion notwithstanding, surely sensed immediately could advance his political ambitions on a grander stage than he had ever ascended. What the telegram brought was his ...
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... . Improbable as it seemed just a few hours before the state election results had filtered in from across the country on October 14, Lincoln now had reason to imagine himself that man. And here was an invitation to introduce himself where.
... . Improbable as it seemed just a few hours before the state election results had filtered in from across the country on October 14, Lincoln now had reason to imagine himself that man. And here was an invitation to introduce himself where.
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... invitation to introduce himself where he was least known: in the heart of the vote-rich East. All this surely raced through Lincoln's mind as he heard the music begin to swell outside his windows on the evening of October 15. What did ...
... invitation to introduce himself where he was least known: in the heart of the vote-rich East. All this surely raced through Lincoln's mind as he heard the music begin to swell outside his windows on the evening of October 15. What did ...
Contents
Chapter Three Some Confusion in the Arrangements | |
Chapter Four Much the Best Portrait | |
Chapter Five Nothing Impressive About Him | |
Chapter Six The Strength of Absolute Simplicity | |
Epilogue | |
Acknowledgments | |
Other editions - View all
Lincoln at Cooper Union: The Speech that Made Abraham Lincoln President Harold Holzer Limited preview - 2004 |
Common terms and phrases
Abraham Lincoln Papers antislavery appearance applause Astor House audience Beecher believed Bowen Brady Brady’s Briggs Brooklyn campaign candidate Charles Chicago Collected Constitution convention Cooper Institute Cooper Union address Cooper Union speech copy crowd declared deliver Democrats Douglas Douglas’s East editor election Exeter fathers who framed February 27 federal territories framed the Government Frémont friends George George Haven Putnam Hall Hampshire Harper’s Harper’s Ferry Haven Henry Herndon Herndon’s Lincoln Ibid Illinois insisted invitation James John Brown Journal later lecture letter Library of Congress Lincoln-Douglas debates Lincoln’s Cooper Union Lincoln’s speech March Mason Brayman Mathew Brady McCormick never New-York newspaper nomination Nott orator original pamphlet photograph political popular sovereignty president presidential Press and Tribune printed prohibition published reported reprints Republican party Republican Union Robert Senate Seward slavery slaves South Southern speak speaker Springfield trip votes Ward Hill Lamon Washington White William H words York Tribune