Ronald C. White, Jr.

A. Lincoln

by Ronald C. White, Jr.

Hardcover

Review by William C. Davis What is there to say about Lincoln that has not been said in the thousands of books about him that have appeared since his death in 1865? Historians seem to slice the Lincoln pie thinner and thinner in order to find subject matter. Years ago one conceived the idea—as yet unrealized—of writing a book just about what Lincoln did on Sundays. Confronted with the rather limited focus of such a conceit, he responded “My God, man, that was one-seventh of his life!” Nevertheless, we still prefer Lincoln in his entirety, and it is hardly surprising that in this, his bicentennial year, we should have a bumper crop of new “lives.” Arguably the finest is Ronald C. White, Jr.’s new A. Lincoln, A Biography. The title is more than an understatement. Lincoln never signed or saw himself as “Abe” and rarely as “Abraham” except on formal documents. Left to his preferences, he was always “A. Lincoln.” In that simple signature lay his humility, yet it was also a cloak that covered the deep complexity of the man, as White discovers. This is not the diffident Lincoln of David Donald's 1994 biography, nor the homespun caricature of Carl Sandburg. White’s Lincoln is a man of deep integrity, often unsure of his course, but generally comfortable with it. This Lincoln understands nuance and diversity in policy and opinion, and is able to chart his path with a sure hand through the maze he inherited when he took office. Throughout this fine biography White also shows just how well Lincoln demonstrates the most recent and thoughtful evaluations of the qualities of presidential greatness—integrity, intellect, collegiality, humility and curiosity. Lincoln fit all of those better than any other incumbent before or after. White gives special scope to Lincoln’s insatiable desire to learn, to engage with ideas, even those he did not like. White, who has written two fine earlier works on Lincoln’s speeches and writings, knows how to pull Lincoln's inner debates with himself out of them, and in this he has been helped further by this being the first major biography to benefit from hundreds of new Lincoln documents uncovered in the last generation. The basic outline of the Lincoln story remains unchanged. It is in the subtext, the subtleties that made up the man and informed his decisions, that White reveals a newer and better understood Lincoln. As a result, there is every reason to expect that A. Lincoln will be the landmark biography of the bicentennial, and the benchmark Lincoln for the next generation to come. PRAISE FOR A. Lincoln "A. Lincoln...has incorporated the scholarship of the past fourteen years and is written in a fluent style that will appeal to a large range of general readers as well as Lincoln aficionados. The special strengths of A. Lincoln that lift it above other biographies include a brilliant analysis of Lincoln's principal speeches and writings, which were an important weapon in his political leadership and statesmanship, and on which Ronald C. White is the foremost expert, having written two major books on Lincoln's speeches and writings. Another strength is White's analysis of Lincoln's evolving religious convictions, which shaped the core of his effective leadership, his moral integrity. White's discussion of Lincoln's changing attitudes and policies with respect to slavery and race is also a key aspect of this biography. Amid all the books on Lincoln that will be published during the coming year, this one will stand out as one of the best." —James M. McPherson, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Battle Cry of Freedom "Each generation requires—and seems to inspire—its own masterful one-volume Lincoln biography, and scholar Ronald C. White has crowned the bicentennial year with an instant classic for the 21st century. Wise, scholarly, even-handed, and elegant, the book at once informs and inspires, with a rewarding new em more...