Lincoln President-Elect: Abraham Lincoln and the Great Secession Winter 1860-1861 (Hardcover)

by Harold Holzer (Author)
Key Phrases: very much like the critter, jump that ditch, occasion for any excitement, New York, White House, Henry Villard (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Even the most committed of Lincoln's fans have sometimes questioned his actions in the four months between his 1860 election and his inauguration: a period when seven states seceded from the Union. In an engrossing narrative, Holzer (Lincoln at Cooper Union), chairman of the Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, painstakingly retraces Lincoln's few public statements and numerous private initiatives during this key period, revealing an astute political operator assessing the situation, organizing his government, reaching out to the South and most of all, [drawing] a line in the sand to prevent the spread of human slavery. Holzer shows Lincoln shrewdly and methodically manipulating friend and foe alike, while also taking the first cautious steps toward preparing both himself and his country for a grim trial by fire. 16 pages of b&w photos. BOMC and History Book Club main selection, first serial to Civil War Times and Smithsonian magazines. (Oct.)
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From The Washington Post
From The Washington Post's Book World/washingtonpost.com In a critical essay entitled "The Great Secession Winter," Henry Adams portrayed an ill- prepared Lincoln concealing his ineptitude between the election in November 1860 and his inauguration in March 1861 behind a strategy of "masterly inactivity." While almost everyone, then and since, has stressed "inactivity," Harold Holzer shifts the emphasis to "masterly," arguing that Lincoln navigated that treacherous winter with principled leadership. Reiterating his views in private letters to leaders rather than in public addresses, Lincoln exerted more "power and influence before his swearing in" than any previous president-elect, argues Holzer, the author of more than 30 books on Lincoln and the Civil War. Contrary to the dominant view of a Lincoln who grew to greatness in the maelstrom of civil war thanks in part to his talent for sensing the will of the people, Holzer's Lincoln was great from the outset and boldly followed his own lights rather than public opinion. Holzer's prose ambles in rangy, companionable strides that gradually gather momentum as he seeks to show how ingeniously Lincoln handled four chief tasks: choosing his Cabinet, writing his inaugural address, re-introducing himself to the American public and getting to Washington, D.C. It seemed impossible for the president-elect to accomplish any of those tasks without outraging one side or another -- white Southerners, northern Democrats, Republicans or all of the above. So Lincoln's strategy, Holzer contends, was to maintain a "confident silence." Holzer covers Cabinet selection in enough detail to generate empathy for Lincoln as he endured the tedious process. Yet far from eschewing the grubby politics of plum-awarding, Lincoln reassured all factions by appointing representatives of every region and political stripe. Holzer may overstate the case for unfailing brilliance here: One Cabinet member soon left in disgrace, while two more bickered for years. Lincoln President-Elect treats readers to a close reading of Lincoln's First Inaugural. Holzer portrays Lincoln laboring over the text in a dusty storeroom and a stuffy train car, and he demonstrates that the result, which emphasized rule of law and argued that slavery "could be contained without compromising founding principles," amounts to a masterpiece. Holzer is at his best in reconstructing Lincoln's train trip from Illinois to Washington. Readers may occasionally grow impatient (do we need five pages about deciding to grow a beard?), but the evocation of the journey -- crushing crowds, endless boring miles, panic over hotel arrangements -- is worth it. Along the way, Lincoln made over 100 impromptu speeches, which were criticized for their thin substance and inconsistent delivery. Yet Holzer insists that the speeches reintroduced "the old campaigner to his . . . public" while keeping under wraps "the official policy he planned to unveil at his swearing in." Although conflicting accounts regarding Lincoln abound, Holzer does not reveal why he chooses particular sources over others, and this may be the book's chief shortcoming. For example, Lincoln once entrusted a handbag containing the draft of his inaugural address to his son, Robert, only to have Robert drink too much and absentmindedly hand it off to someone else, causing Lincoln to search frantically through a pile of luggage. Some witnesses placed this incident in Cleveland, while others remembered Harrisburg. Holzer unhesitatingly locates it in Indianapolis, merely noting in the endnotes that two sources, one of which is a 1920 reminiscence by the very Robert who was tipsy at the time of the incident, "convincingly remembered Indianapolis." Certainly, the image of a hapless Lincoln surrounded by carpetbags matters more than precise location. But the problem is that anyone who writes about Lincoln must weigh contradictory evidence about almost everything, including matters of grave importance, and the criteria for selection need to be clear. Lincoln President-Elect emphasizes Lincoln's early greatness and the public's cluelessness, perhaps to the point of overkill. It sets up a static view of Lincoln that diminishes his growth and plays down the quality he most valued: his ability to start from, but then urge forward, public opinion. Yet as they are swept up in this magnificently told story, readers may rethink how Lincoln handled the eve of the nation's greatest crisis, in which case a little exaggeration is a small price to pay.
Copyright 2008, The Washington Post. All Rights Reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 640 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; 1 edition (October 21, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743289471
• ISBN-13: 978-0743289474
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.5 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #237,897 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Holzer's best effort, October 29, 2008

By	Scott Mingus "Scott L. Mingus, Sr." (York County, PA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Harold Holzer is one of America's finest historians -- a man celebrated for both his vast knowledge of Civil War-era events, as well as his fluid and readable writing style. His latest effort, Lincoln, President-Elect: Abraham Lincoln and the Great Secession Winter 1860-61, is perhaps his finest work of recent vintage. He focuses on the crucial four-month period between the Election of 1860 and the inauguration of the 16th President -- four months that forever changed the fundamental fabric of America. Lincoln's controversial decision to take a hard line with the Southern states, refusing to compromise on key issues such as states' rights, secession, and the right to maintain the institution of slavery.

Holzer paints Lincoln as a strong-willed, decisive politician who has a clear vision of what he wants to accomplish and shrewdly manuevers support for his ambitions and objectives. Written in a fast-paced style that keeps the reader both informed and anticipating Lincoln's next move, this is a book that both presents the facts as they are known from the historical record and, more importantly, interprets the decisions, deals, and moves Lincoln made as he prepared for his presidency during perhaps the most turbulent four-month period in U.S. history.

Divided into two major sections, Holzer's book first deals with "the promise of something better," a phrase that caught fire after the disappointments of the nearly impotent Buchanan Administration. Interspersed with Lincoln's wry humor and stories are details of the political and social issues facing the President-Elect, issues that may have overwhelmed a weaker man. Some authors over the years have portrayed Lincoln as indecisive and full of self-doubt during the crisis, but Holzer, perhaps the best Lincoln scholar of modern times, takes no such position. Instead, his Lincoln is resolute, determined, and sure of himself. His confidence came from his quick grasp of the realities of the situation, coupled with his plans of action.

In the second part, Holzer examines "the momentous issue of civil war," a daunting task that had been festering for a generation but had now boiled over with the election results and the Illinois rail-splitter's non-majority victory. Lincoln weighs his options, forms his plans, and executes them as best he can before taking office. Holzer looks at Lincoln the man, the husband, and the politician turned president-elect, and evaluates him in the light of the times, as well as with the judgement of the known outcomes of his decisions.

All in all, this is without a doubt the best book specifically dealing with Lincoln's four-month transition period where me moves from president-elect to chief executive of a divided United States. Holzer challenges the reader with ideas, concepts, and analysis that is fresh and vital, and, at times, controversial and open to debate and conjecture. Most importantly, Holzer makes the reader think and examine Lincoln for himself.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A modest topic or a modest book?, December 27, 2008

By	John C. Nagle "John Copeland Nagle" (South Bend, Indiana) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I liked this book, but I did not love it. Holzer reports the results of his vast research in this account of Lincoln's activities during the four months from his election until his inauguration. The book contains innumerable details about Lincoln's daily activities: besieged by office seekers, crafting a cabinet, cleverly navigating the climactic political struggle between the states, and carefully writing and editing his every word. Lincoln emerges as keenly attentive and actively involved in political affairs even though his status as president-elect denied him any official power. Perhaps the best part of the book follows Lincoln's efforts to write his first inaugural address, which Holzer justly praises as one of Lincoln's underappreciated masterpieces. As usual, one finishes the book with a greater regard for Lincoln, though Holzer recounts Lincoln's errors as well (including the fall-out from his rushed trip to Washington to avoid an assassination threat in Baltimore).

Yet the whole of the book does not quite rise to the level of the sum of its detailed parts. The detail obscures the fact that Lincoln did not have much that he could do during the lame-duck period. Indeed, Holzer quotes Lincoln's assertion that he "would willingly take out of my life a period in years equal to the two months which intervene between now and my inauguration to take the oath of office now." The disintegration of the United States that occurred while Lincoln was president-elect and his inability to do anything about it is more damning of our lengthy lame-duck periods than it is of Lincoln himself. But Lincoln's absence of power strips his activities as president-elect of much meaning. The attention to Lincoln's daily activities is unaccompanied by a parallel reminder of what other actors were doing that time. Holzer's discussion of the seceding southern states tails off after a while, and there is little explanation of President Buchanan and the lame-duck Congress were doing during the same time. It is not fair to expect Holzer to fully address each of those actors in the same detail as Lincoln, but Lincoln's activities would become more meaningful if more context were provided.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Interregnum, October 26, 2008

By	Christian Schlect (Yakima, Washington/USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

A close review of the months in Abraham Lincoln's life starting with the presidential election of 1860 and ending with his swearing into office on March 4 of 1861.

Harold Holzer knows his subject both wide and deep. Here he delivers a fresh and accurate account of such matters as the lack of much comment by the newly-elected president on the pending political issues of the day; the long train ride to Washington, D.C. from Springfield (this area of coverage is detailed to a fault); the incessant but necessary handling of patronage; the deft formation of the first cabinet; and the inspired drafting of the First Inaugural Address.

This is not a general biography or history but a very focused look at the period when Mr. Lincoln changed from being a mere candidate for office to one who would lead the United States through its greatest trial.