LINCOLN'S MENTORS

A life of Lincoln emphasizing the men responsible for his political education.

Even though he was barely schooled and largely self-taught, Lincoln lived in an era when this was no barrier to business success or many professions, including the law. Politics was another matter, writes Gerhardt, a professor of jurisprudence at the University of North Carolina, in this tightly focused portrait. Few aspiring politicians succeeded without outside help. “Lincoln’s ambition to make an enduring mark on the world,” writes the author, “led him to five men, whose experiences, political insights, vision of the Constitution, and guidance helped him navigate the path to the presidency.” Like most successful statesmen, he began by impressing fellow citizens, attracting the attention of local powers who showed him the ropes. The author emphasizes two primary characters. John Todd Stuart (cousin of Lincoln’s future wife, Mary Todd) was a prominent Whig lawyer and member of the Illinois legislature. Orville Browning, another contemporary legislator, remained a close friend and adviser until the end of Lincoln’s presidency. It’s unlikely that Lincoln met the remaining three men, who were less mentors than national leaders. A dedicated Whig until the party’s collapse in the 1850s, Lincoln fervently admired its driving force, Henry Clay. He shared Clay’s abhorrence of Andrew Jackson but adopted Jackson’s extremist tactics during the Civil War, when he suspended habeas corpus and defied the Supreme Court. Perhaps most surprising of the five is Gen. Zachary Taylor, a slaveholder who was a fierce opponent of secession and the spread of slavery into the territories. Always a pragmatist, Lincoln concluded that the aging Clay could not win the 1848 presidential election and switched his support to Taylor, who was elected but died only 16 months into his term. Intensely gregarious and an obsessive reader, Lincoln soaked up ideas relentlessly, but Gerhardt makes solid cases for his choices as major influences.

A satisfying general biography that concentrates on Lincoln’s political career.