DIFFER WE MUST

A satisfying new look at one of the most written-about political figures in American history.

Inskeep, longtime co-host of NPR’s Morning Edition and author of Imperfect Union and Jacksonland, emphasizes that Lincoln is a “Christlike” figure in the popular mind but also mostly admired by scholars who, when they point out a flaw, tend to blame it on “politics.” Never a respected vocation, the American politician today seems to have reached a nadir as “the province of money, power, cynicism, and lies.” The brutal truth is that no one wins election in a democracy without appealing to a great many people, many of whom hold unsavory opinions. After a chapter on Lincoln’s early life, the author moves on to his encounters with various individuals that “show a master politician’s practical and moral choices, along with his sometimes mysterious character.” During the famous Lincoln-Douglas debates, Lincoln never denied Douglas’ assertion that African Americans were subhuman (an opinion then shared by most Illinois voters), but he maintained that this was a distraction from the real issue: the spread of slavery. Sen. William Seward was the front-runner in the 1860 Republican convention, and his manager, Thurlow Weed, was the nation’s most powerful political boss. Both were furious at their defeat, but Lincoln won them over. Once elected, he chose his Cabinet with little regard for competence but rather to please a cross section of influential Republicans. When many proved difficult, he managed them, like good politicians do. His first commander in chief, Gen. George McClellan, despised him and displayed a maddening reluctance to fight. Still, almost everyone admires soldiers more than politicians, and McClellan’s dismissal was overwhelmingly unpopular in the Army and controversial among civilians—though most scholars agree that it was the right move. Some characters do not fit the mold, but few readers will complain. Lincoln’s barber, an immigrant from Haiti, prospered in the tiny Illinois Black community, and Lincoln’s wife, Mary Todd, seemed immune to his political skills.

An admirable addition to Lincolniana.