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
Results 1-5 of 71
Page
... newspaper and commit the sentiment to his extraordinarily elastic memory? We do not know for certain, but if he ever did consult the publication, November 1859 would have been the most likely month for him to do so. At precisely that ...
... newspaper and commit the sentiment to his extraordinarily elastic memory? We do not know for certain, but if he ever did consult the publication, November 1859 would have been the most likely month for him to do so. At precisely that ...
Page
... newspapers. For long before the introduction of newsreels, radio, and television, newspapers afforded information-hungry party loyalists scattered in rural isolation throughout the country their chief access to politicians and their ...
... newspapers. For long before the introduction of newsreels, radio, and television, newspapers afforded information-hungry party loyalists scattered in rural isolation throughout the country their chief access to politicians and their ...
Page
... newspaper did not waver in its support for Abraham Lincoln in his Senate race against Stephen A. Douglas (in fact, Greeley had been sorely tempted to break ranks and back Douglas).13 By 1860, a number of Republicans in New York were ...
... newspaper did not waver in its support for Abraham Lincoln in his Senate race against Stephen A. Douglas (in fact, Greeley had been sorely tempted to break ranks and back Douglas).13 By 1860, a number of Republicans in New York were ...
Page
... newspaper the Independent, advertising agent J. M. Pettengill, and S. W. Tubbs, receiving teller of New York's Park Bank, had been asked by the three to take charge of inviting speakers for the lyceum-type appearances. Although they had ...
... newspaper the Independent, advertising agent J. M. Pettengill, and S. W. Tubbs, receiving teller of New York's Park Bank, had been asked by the three to take charge of inviting speakers for the lyceum-type appearances. Although they had ...
Page
... newspapers, if it could be scheduled as close as possible to the presidential nominating convention. As Lincoln undoubtedly saw it, an early 1860 lecture would have far more impact than one calculated to fit into an 1859 lyceum series ...
... newspapers, if it could be scheduled as close as possible to the presidential nominating convention. As Lincoln undoubtedly saw it, an early 1860 lecture would have far more impact than one calculated to fit into an 1859 lyceum series ...
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