Lincoln in Personal: What His Most Private Reflections Inform Us About Our Best President

“An interesting tour contained in the thoughts—and the center—of Abraham Lincoln . . . An vital and timeless work.”—Jon Meacham, Pulitzer Prize–profitable writer of His Fact Is Marching On
 
From the New York Instances bestselling writer of A. Lincoln and American Ulysses, a revelatory glimpse into the mental journey of our sixteenth president by way of his non-public notes to himself, explored collectively right here for the primary time

A deeply non-public man, shut off even to those that labored intently with him, Abraham Lincoln typically captured “his finest ideas,” as he referred to as them, briefly notes to himself. He would work out his private stances on the most important problems with the day, by no means anticipating anybody to see these frank, unpolished items of writing, which he’d then preserve shut at hand, in desk drawers and even in his high hat. The profound significance of those notes has been missed, as a result of the originals are scattered throughout a number of completely different archives and have by no means earlier than been introduced collectively and examined as a coherent entire.

Now, famend Lincoln historian Ronald C. White walks readers by way of twelve of Lincoln’s most vital non-public notes, showcasing our best president’s brilliance and empathy, but additionally his very human anxieties and ambitions. We glance over Lincoln’s shoulder as he grapples with the issue of slavery, looking for convincing rebuttals to those that supported the evil establishment (“As I might not be a slave, so I might not be a grasp. This expresses my thought of democracy.”); prepares for his historic debates with Stephen Douglas; expresses his non-public emotions after a defeated bid for a Senate seat (“With me, the race of ambition has been a failure—a flat failure”); voices his issues in regards to the new Republican Occasion’s long-term prospects; develops an argument for nationwide unity amidst a secession disaster that may finally rend the nation in two; and, for a president many have considered as not spiritual, develops a classy theological reflection within the midst of the Civil Struggle (“it’s fairly attainable that God’s function is one thing completely different from the aim of both get together”). Moreover, in a historic first, all 111 Lincoln notes are transcribed within the appendix, a present to students and Lincoln buffs alike.

These are notes Lincoln by no means anticipated anybody to learn, put into context by a author who has spent his profession learning Lincoln’s life and phrases. The result’s a uncommon glimpse into the thoughts and soul of one among our nation’s most vital figures.