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. |
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... oratory. Without a Cooper Union Address, however, there would be no Gettysburg Address. Harold Holzer gives this great speech its due, with diligent rhetorical and historical analysis that brings today's reader back to Lincoln's ...
... oratory. Without a Cooper Union Address, however, there would be no Gettysburg Address. Harold Holzer gives this great speech its due, with diligent rhetorical and historical analysis that brings today's reader back to Lincoln's ...
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... orator made careful use of the microphone, aware that the event was being taped for television. Audience members could not help but notice how frequently he gulped Poland Spring water as he held the hot, floodlit stage for nearly an ...
... orator made careful use of the microphone, aware that the event was being taped for television. Audience members could not help but notice how frequently he gulped Poland Spring water as he held the hot, floodlit stage for nearly an ...
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... oration it remains, in the hands of a speaker capable of squeezing nuance from Lincoln's canny repetition of phrases, and passion from his dazzlingly intricate peroration. Aired repeatedly on C-SPAN, the re-creation—and the book—not ...
... oration it remains, in the hands of a speaker capable of squeezing nuance from Lincoln's canny repetition of phrases, and passion from his dazzlingly intricate peroration. Aired repeatedly on C-SPAN, the re-creation—and the book—not ...
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... oration from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.6 Finally, several readers wrote to ask if Lincoln invented the most famous line of his Cooper Union speech—his declaration that “right makes might.” Truth to say, it is hard to know for sure ...
... oration from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.6 Finally, several readers wrote to ask if Lincoln invented the most famous line of his Cooper Union speech—his declaration that “right makes might.” Truth to say, it is hard to know for sure ...
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... oratory with which Lincoln earned his reputation as a public speaker in the West. Yet it is also far less elegiac than the monumental speeches that he ... orator. To further complicate matters, careful study reveals the complex Cooper.
... oratory with which Lincoln earned his reputation as a public speaker in the West. Yet it is also far less elegiac than the monumental speeches that he ... orator. To further complicate matters, careful study reveals the complex Cooper.
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 | |
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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