Customer Reviews

The Inner World of Abraham Lincoln

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Burlingame's book is misnamed in my view - it is not `The Inner World' as much as how Lincoln reacted to the outer world. The reader is left to judge ultimately for himself what Lincoln thought. This is a testament to Burlingame's restraint as a historian. He could have pounded away at all sorts of psychological concepts and explanations, but he does'nt Instead, except for some references to Carl Jung in the beginning of the book and a sprikling of psychological explanations throughout the chapters, he presents in a matter-of-fact way Lincoln's relationships with his wife, his sons, his generals, and discusses his temper, ambition, and parenting, with some, but not excessive, `patient on the couch' pontificating.

The longest, and by far the most powerful, chapter is on Lincoln's marriage. If only half, or even a quarter of what Burlingame recounts was true, then the potato-throwing, screaming, spendthrift Mary Lincoln must have been the worst wife on earth. In Springfield, Lincoln would often rush out the backdoor during Mary's `episodes' - whisking his sons up with him and spending the night in his office, on a couch specially installed that was long enough to handle his tall frame. He was often beaten - a broom being Mary's weapon of choice. My God, the poor man needed his own Emancipation Proclamation!

The chapter on Lincoln's depression details how low this man could get. It was probably his Gloomy Gus outlook that saved Lincoln from completely cracking up; only a person familiar with depression and how to go on under difficult circumstances could withstand the strain of a war that killed 628,000 fellow citizens in four years. I am not a Lincoln scholar so I can't testify to the veracity of all that is in this book. But, reading it will provide you with a sense of how many trials this strange, ambitious, and great man endured - at home and in politics.

I have been studying Abraham Lincoln for nearly 40 years. Burlingame is inaccurate in many of his statements about Lincoln and Mary Lincoln in particular and does not present all of the information about both of them. Possibly his most faulty act is using William Herndon's information about Lincoln and Mary Lincoln. Herndon and Mary Lincoln hated each other. After Lincoln passed away, Herndon may have very well said things about Lincoln and her to hurt, degrade and disgrace Mary Lincoln. Herndon is NOT to be trusted to be accurate much of the time. Other very poor Lincoln authors are Weik, Sandburg, Gore Vidal, Lerone Bennett, Jr., Thomas DiLorenzo, Vincent Harding and Barbara Fields. Their accuracy, interpretations and images are usually wrong and at times even bizarre. If you want to read professionally researched, much more accurate material about Lincoln, read books by David Herbert Donald, Stephen Oates, Frank Williams, Mark Neely, Jr., Edward Steers, Jr. and Allen Guelzo.

The organization of this book is not presented in a chronological time scale as most books are. Instead, the author breaks up facets of Lincoln's emotions and personality traits, and then takes us through his whole life, examining the influence of each facet. Only thinking in this manner do I clearly imagine myself in his shoes, feeling what he felt, and in awe of the strength required to break the rebellion, and provide a land where each man's hand could feed that own man's face.

One of the finest Lincoln scholars provides an excellent examination of Lincoln's many-faceted personality. Burlingame consulted a wide variety of information sources and used them well. His thoroughly documents his narrative.

The author uses not only "the tools of psychobiography" but also solid research and clear exposition in this stimulating reexamination of the psychology and character of one of our most complex and enigmatic leaders.
Utilizing such themes of Lincoln's midlife crisis, the roots of his hatred of slavery (which should, but probably will not, correct much uninformed opinion), his tragic family life, and his famous depression, Burlingame brings an acute understanding to the mysteries of the past, to shed light where darkness reigned, in the best tradition of history writing. This is a work which should be on every Lincoln bookshelf, and is of more than passing interest to the general reader as well. Highly recommended.

(The "score" rating is an ineradicable feature of the page. This review does not "score" books.)

The author uses not only "the tools of psychobiography" but also solid research and clear exposition in this stimulating reexamination of the psychology and character of one of our most complex and enigmatic leaders.
Utilizing such themes of Lincoln's midlife crisis, the roots of his hatred of slavery (which should, but probably will not, correct much uninformed opinion), his tragic family life, and his famous depression, Burlingame brings an acute understanding to the mysteries of the past, to shed light where darkness reigned, in the best tradition of history writing. This is a work which should be on every Lincoln bookshelf, and is of more than passing interest to the general reader as well. Highly recommended.(Please note this review refers to the hardback edition.)

(The "score" rating is an ineradicable feature of the page. This review does not "score" books.)

Historians tend to evaluate historical figures according to what they did as opposed to trying to understand who they were. This type of event-driven analysis can be profoundly misleading because human beings are almost always constrained from doing what they would like to do, even presidents of the United States who are constrained by Congress, the judiciary, the Constitution, and public opinion.

Because Abraham Lincoln was constrained by other powers and therefore did not have complete freedom of action there are two diametrically opposed interpretations of him as a human being:

Conventional History: Lincoln was THE GREAT EMANCIPATOR whose life's work was dedicated to freeing the slaves and insuring that African-Americans would eventually be granted full rights of American citizenship.

Revisionist History: Lincoln was a closet racist who felt that Negroes were inferior to Whites. In his view America was a "White Man's Country." He secetly schemed to deport the freed Negroes to some overseas colony.

Conventional History: As President, Lincoln was a shrewd administrator who walked the narrow rope between dictatorship and anarchy. He followed the Constitution sufficiently to make sure that our democratic republic survived the war, but bent it enough to insure that the Northern States were fully mobilized to win the war.

Revisionist History: As President, Lincoln was a ham-fisted, incompetent administrator whose heavy-handed policies came close to inciting an insurrection north of the Ohio River that rivaled the open rebellion in the South. The North won the civil war in spite of Lincoln, not because of him.

Conventional History: President Lincoln was a man possessing great wisdom and a profound sense of justice.

Revisionist History: President Lincoln was a political hack whose decisions were motivated by opportunism.

THE INNER WORLD OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN avoids the pitfalls of defining him by what he did, but rather tells us who he was as a person. Once we understand who Lincoln was in human terms, we can have a better understanding of the decisions he made as President. Among the revelations of the book are:

Lincoln detested slavery and yearned for African Americans to be free and equal to whites, if not socially, then at least economically and politically. Lincoln's father treated young Lincoln as a slave, hiring him out for wages and then confiscating his earnings. Lincoln must have reasoned that if these conditions of quasi-slavry were unjust for him, they were unjust for Negro slaves. The fact that Lincoln waited a year and a half after the Civil War began to issue the Emancipation Proclamation does not make him a closet racist, nor does his ideas of offering the freed slaves transportation to an overseas colony. Lincoln desired to give the freed slaves a country of their own because he believed that they would never receive fair treatment from racist Whites if they stayed in America, not because he perceived any defect on the part of African-Americans themselves.

Likewise Lincoln believed that the Constitution must be saved by any reasonable means. He believes that in time of domestic insurrection the Consitution entitled the President to impose martial law and to arrest and imprison anti-war activists without trial (including one Illinois Congressman). It is important to note that these measures were effective early in the war in preventing the states of Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri from joining the Confederacy. Lincoln was wise enough to moderate them later on when they became counterproductive. This argues to the point of Lincoln being a competent and flexible administrator.

The book also explores other human traits of Lincoln, such as his depression that was augmented by the terrible losses of his beloved children to illness. He lived with chronic depression but overcame it so that he did not become despondent. This book makes clear that Lincoln was as much prone to human emotions as anybody. He could be short-tempered and angry, though he often apologized to those he offended after the fact. He was known to fly into rages of fury when people wasted his time for self-serving agendas.

We also know that Lincoln was often deferential to others, to the point of saying about the insolent and even insubordinate General McCllellan: "I would hold his horse if he will bring us victory." And yet on other occasions he jealously protected his prerogatives as president and commander and chief from those who questioned his authority. He was neither pliant nor inflexible, but a human being who acted in his best judgment according to the situation.

In personal life we learn that Lincoln doted on two of his boys, perhaps in an overreaction to the "parental tyranny" that his father inflicted on him. But we also learn that Lincoln did not seem to have much open affection for his eldest son Robert, and vice versa, most likely because Robert inherited the very different character of his mother.

We also know that Lincoln's marriage was the literal definition of "love / hate." The book describes how n 1864 he pardoned a soldier who had deserted and gone home to marry his sweetheart. As Lincoln signed the pardon documents that spared the soldier from execution he said, "I want to punish the young man---probably in less than a year he will wish I had witheld the pardon." And yet many who knew the Lincolns commented on the affection they held for each other, and how the common bond of deepest love for their children united them in family life.

All of these revelations prove that Lincoln was a complex human being with complex motivations and that his freedom of action was often constrained by circumstances. My conclusion is that anybody who wants to understand why Lincoln acted as he did in matters of state must read this book to understand who he was as a person.

===============
I have written my own Civil War Novel, Fire in the Heartland, that interprets President Lincoln's administration during the Civil War.

This neo-Herndon diatribe is sure to win the hearts of Mary Lincoln haters everywhere! The reader who seeks the most vitriolic, unfair & totally biased viewpoint on Mrs. Lincoln has found a gold mine in this tome. If you know of anyone who hates the wife of the 16th President, this is indeed your book! For a fairer portrayal, consult the paterback edition of "Mary Todd Lincoln--Her Life & Letters" by Justin G. & Linda Levitt Turner, "Mary Todd Lincoln: A Biography" by Jean H. Baker, or "Mary Lincoln--Biography of a Marriage" by Ruth Painter Randall, all of which give a fairer portrayal of this maligned lady.

Mr. Burlingame's book takes us where many scholars of Lincoln hesitate to go: into the inner-workings of strained marriage, the grief over the loss of two sons and the heavy load of a presidency at war. I found it a facinating read, but one to be taken in small bites, as the reality of the grief and dispair of Abraham and Mary were etched in every page. I felt their pain and sacrifice of real history as it was being made.

A very good read, focusing on Lincoln's depression and how it affected his life and presidency. Being a clinical psychologist who utilizes CBT for the treatment of depression, it was a bit too psychodynamic for my taste, however.