For Abraham Lincoln, whether he was composing love letters, speeches, or legal arguments, words mattered. In Lincoln, acclaimed biographer Fred Kaplan explores the life of America's sixteenth president through his use of language as a vehicle both to express complex ideas and feelings and as an instrument of persuasion and empowerment. Like the other great canonical writers of American literature—a status he is gradually attaining—Lincoln had a literary career that is inseparable from his life story. An admirer and avid reader of Burns, Byron, Shakespeare, and the Old Testament, Lincoln was the most literary of our presidents. His views on love, liberty, and human nature were shaped by his reading and knowledge of literature.
Since Lincoln, no president has written his own words and addressed his audience with equal and enduring effectiveness. Kaplan focuses on the elements that shaped Lincoln's mental and imaginative world; how his writings molded his identity, relationships, and career; and how they simultaneously generated both the distinctive political figure he became and the public discourse of the nation. This unique account of Lincoln's life and career highlights the shortcomings of the modern presidency, reminding us, through Lincoln's legacy and appreciation for language, that the careful and honest use of words is a necessity for successful democracy.
Illuminating and engrossing, Lincoln brilliantly chronicles Abraham Lincoln's genius with language.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - Fascinating speculations about the influences on Lincoln
Professor Kaplan does an excellent job of reconstructing the likely influences upon Lincoln as a developing writer and thinker.
Lincoln was a very guarded and private man, and so much of ... Read More
Rating: - Lincoln As A Writer
Jonathan Yardley, critic for the WASHINGTON POST, called this latest book about our greatest president Abraham Lincoln "the book of the year." Perhaps I was expecting too much from such a superlative recommendation, ... Read More
Abraham Lincoln was a rising star in the new Republican Party when he was invited in August 1859 to speak at the ... Read More
Rating: - Lincoln: THe Biography of a Writer
Kaplan has a distinct purpose of tracing the literary influences on Lincoln and the consequent development of Lincoln as a writer. He makes the case that Lincoln's faith in reason and the pursuasive use of the written ... Read More
Rating: - Missed the mark
I have become very skeptical of "historical" works that are written today as they are biased and authors tend to change history or ignore it. I have read several books that are from my grandfather's library (150+ books) ... Read More
- Lincoln As A Writer
- Lincoln's Writing Analyzed
- Missed the mark