Customer Reviews

Why Lincoln Matters: Today More Than Ever

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

 

 

Cuomo applies the moral and rational perspective of Lincoln to the present day issues. Needless to day he does not find Bush & Co in line with what he thinks Lincoln would have done. He contrasts Lincoln's consistent evoking of a higher moral purpose, and his intellectual integrity to what we have now. The book ends with a draft of what Lincoln might have said to Congress in 2004 if he'd been newly elected.

People who dislike this book call it a screed, full of Bush-bashing, etc. To which I say "the facts are biased." However, any fair reading of Lincoln's morality, his invoking of religion, and of course, his eloquence all are in evident contrast to the current leader.

Cuomo's suggestion for Lincoln's 2004 State of the Union address contains this: "What constitutes the bulwark of our own liberty and independence? It is not our frowning battlements, our bristling sea coasts, our missiles, or the strength of our gallant and disciplined armed forces. These are not our most important safeguard against the terrorizing of our fair land: Our principal reliance must be on the love of liberty which God has planted in our bosoms."

In the moral wasteland we now find ourselves, it is good to be reminded that we, at least once in our history, had a leader that could summon us to consider our situation from the highest moral perspective.

Gov. Cuomo has done a tremendous job weaving together his own commentary on our nation's present predicament with Lincoln's wisdom. When I read Donald's biography of Lincoln, I found Lincoln's humility in the face of his challengers to be the most enduring lesson. In part, I think it grew out of his considerable depression and what was clearly a sense of being alone in the world. Ironically, it became his greatest asset. In a strange way, by contrast, George W is too well-adjusted for our nation's good. The thread that runs through his prosecution of this war, his cynical treatment of the environment, his tax policies, and many other policies is a complete absence of self-doubt. The beauty of this book is that Gov. Cuomo has captured both Lincoln's essence and Bush's in a nuanced contrast.
I found three areas particularly fascinating. First, the discussion of civil liberties and Lincoln's approach to the Supreme Court appointments. I had not thought about the relevance of Lincoln's actions in the Civil War to the current Court's consideration of "enemy combatant" status for U.S. citizens. Second, Lincoln's religion fascinates me in part b/c Jefferson's does as well. I wish it were better appreciated that two of our nation's most foundational thinkers and leaders had deep concerns about the role of organized religion in issues of state and worked hard to preserve the separation without denying the value of religious beliefs and practice. Third, and most important, the State of the State chapter was a terrific idea and beautifully executed. I only wish that it were being issued by the White House today rather than just being published by Harcourt Brace.

Governor Cuomo, one of the nation's foremost experts on Abraham Lincoln's life and writings, has examined the ways in which Lincoln dealt with the crises facing the nation during his presidency, deconstructed them to find Lincoln's core values, and brilliantly applied them to the key issues facing us today: war, civil liberties, the role of government, economic opportunity, globailization, religion, the Supreme Court, and race. While both Republicans and Democrats have claimed Lincoln as their own, Cuomo's book shows us that Lincoln's legacy transcends party lines, and that Lincoln's views on these issues, his values and his vision of America are as important and relevant today as they were then. Whether you agree or disagree with Mario Cuomo's politics, this is a readable, thought-provoking book by a great intellect, communicator and historian about another great intellect and communicator that reminds us why America became and still is such a great country.
I particularly enjoyed "Abraham Lincoln's 2004 Address to Congress" -- Cuomo's take on what Lincoln would say to us today, and how he would say it.

Having read this book with the single-volume edition of Carl Sandburg's classic series on Lincoln, I believe Cuomo's book rings true. It's heatfelt and honest. Cuomo is simply telling it like it is from the liberal point of view, which is legal in New York and many other states. I would say that Lincoln was liberal, too. He was much more like TR, Wilson, FDR and Clinton than McKinley, Coolidge, Reagan and Dubya. More so, I think this is a no-brainer.

When we think about what "liberal" and "conservative" mean, we need to begin with the root meaninings of those two words --- generosity and frugality. The rest of it flows from there. Some would say it's New Testament v. Old Testament. I think it's more like idealism v. pragmatism. Liberalism comes out of the Enlightenment and that movement's devotion to the scientific method. You know, deductive and inductive reasoning. Conservatism on the other hand is ends-justified reasoning for the most part.

This book shows us that Lincoln, FDR, Cuomo, and others come from a thoughtful, honest, and optimistic tradition. Cuomo's prose is nearly a graceful as Lincoln's.

Some readers might also enjoy "May God Bless America: George W. Bush and Biblical Morality" by Joseph J. Martos.

Mario Cuomo, three time governor of New York is also a long-time Lincoln scholar. Here he writes a very interesting book on how he thinks Lincoln would have handled the situations facing George W. Bush.

The simularities are striking, not only a war, but deep divisions within the country on the basic conservative/liberal viewpoints.

During the civil war Lincoln silenced some of his enemies by simply arresting them and holding them without trial or due process. In 1866 the Supreme Court ruled this illegal. Now the US is holding some 158 accused Taliban and al Qaeda members. Just this week the Supreme Court said 'no-no.'

Throughout the book Mr. Cuomo uses selected quotations from Lincoln to illustrate how he thinks Lincoln would have handled the current situations. As Mr. Cuomo is an unabashed liberal, and Mr. Bush is an unabashed conservative, I wonder if Mr. Bush might have picked a different set of quotations to prove that he is handling the situation just like Lincoln would have done.

This is a very different approach to using history to illustrate our current problems. One small section of the book is devoted to how Lincoln might have addressed Congress, a Lincoln's State of the Union Message if you will. Mr. Cuomo uses this 'speach' to decry budget deficits (strange how the Democrats and Republicans have switched sides on this issue), but spend more on education, give more money to the states, etc.

Former New York Governor Mario Cuomo, one of the most prominent figures in Democratic Party politics of the late 20th century, has written several books since leaving office about his view of current American politics. In Why Lincoln Matters Today More Than Ever, he does so again, but this time through the lens of the past through the eyes of Abraham Lincoln. Cuomo argues that while Lincoln died in 1865, the usefulness of his view of America is still very much alive. Cuomo sheds light both on how Lincoln developed and articulated his views and on how Lincoln's view of society might be used to analyze current American political issues, including the war in Iraq.

How much the reader enjoys this book will depend on what he or she expects to find here. The title might suggest that Cuomo is offering a non-ideological general examination of Lincoln's significance in modern decades in general. That reader might be disappointed in this book. But if the reader is looking for a book by an articulate, prominent liberal who knows and admires Lincoln and who applies what he believes are Lincoln's lessons about very specific political issues, then he or she will enjoy this book very much. Readers who've enjoyed Cuomo's earlier analyses of American politics such as Reason To Believe will enjoy this book, too.

Like Reason To Believe, this book offers Cuomo's view of current politics, but this book does so with an eye toward answering the question: what would Lincoln say about that? Not surprisingly, Cuomo argues that Lincoln would agree with a modern liberal perspective on a wide range of issues facing America going into the 2004 presidential election. More importantly, he argues that President George W. Bush--like Lincoln, a Republican wartime president--has not operated according to Lincoln's principles on a wide range of topics. And, all the worse for Cuomo, where Bush has followed Lincoln's lead, he's done so on the issues where Lincoln didn't proceed as Cuomo thought best--particularly in the efforts to curb civil liberties during wartime by both presidents.

The 2004 election, which Cuomo clearly had in mind when writing this book, was a notably polarizing one in the eyes of many. Partisan reaction to this book will almost certainly break down along the same lines. What's more, the issues discussed here are still very current today, as are the divisions. Cuomo's use of Lincoln in these debates may need to be taken with a grain of salt, but his command of Lincoln and strong ability as a writer means he makes his case very effectively for the most part. While this book will certainly provide ammunition for liberals in current American politics, it will also provide food for thought--or for argument--for people of all political stripes with an interest in the American politics of the past, present and future. More importantly, it is a fresh reminder of how enduring and relevant the views of Lincoln remain--a point on which both Democrats and Republicans for once can agree.

Mario Cuomo's essential approach to Lincoln is "How would Abraham Lincoln have responded to the challenges present in today's America?"

This, of course, leads to some very biased presentations of the facts in order to present Abraham Lincoln in as positive and liberal a light as possible. Missing is the fact that Lincoln was forced to write the Emancipation Proclimation in order to appease the strong Abolitionist wing of the Republican party and other such instances where Lincoln was not the brightest Presidential star. While I do think that within the pantheon of Presidents, Abe Lincoln definitely ranks up there with George Washington, and FDR as one of the greatest Presidents, I also think that a book that is trying to present a case for Lincoln should focus less on the present occupier of the White House and more on the former. Cuomo simply makes it too obvious that this entire book is one enormously jaded propoganda piece for the Democratic party. The true parts on Lincoln doesn't even begin until 50 pages into the work because the author is too busy talking about all that is wrong with the current Republican-lead government in Washington.

I consider myself a Democrat and see the importance of the role of the federal government, but this book should focus more on what Lincoln did right to change his own age and how that went on to impact American down to the present period and less on what he might have done had he been alive today.

Call this a good book with a number of obvious problems. The first issue I would take (and my four star review is quite sincere, regardless of the spate of criticisms to follow) is the fact that many of these essays were clearly written at different times. The editorial process, or what there is of it, has managed somewhat admirably to keep the issues up to date (or at least to the time of its publication as so many things are happening so quickly it is impossible to avoid an ensuing irrelevence). What is wrong is the fact that so many points are repeated--endlessly, it seems at times--and this makes the reader sometimes wonder if they hadn't just read or overheard the exact same thing elsewhere. Now there are positives and negatives to this impression. A positive, certainly, would be the implied rational logic of the argument--yeah, I've heard that before so this guy really makes sense. The negative (and this probably affected me more specifically) is that you will read the same idea over and over again.

Now Cuomo has some good things to say, some interesting parallels to make between Lincoln's time and the present moment in history and he argues passionately and forcefully. He didn't necessarily need to convince me as I likely already agreed with much of what he is saying. But as a reader I try to avoid applying my own personal biases and look at the issue at hand objectively (although if I disagreed with his points I bet my review would have dropped a star or two).

What is ultimately at hand, after the eloquent sling shots of President Bush and his supporters, is a minimal hypocrisy on the part of Mr. Cuomo, a man I admire and respect tremendously. He condemns certain politicos of the past for "quoting Lincoln out of context" or for applying his words to their own issues. Unfortunately he does the exact same thing here, assuming Lincoln's opinions regarding issues a mid-19th century politician, a radical or otherwise, could not possibly grasp.

Again, I agree (if not wholeheartedly than essentially) with many of Cuomo's criticisms of the way the Bush administration is running the economy, the 'war on terrorism'--even the murky religious/moral issues at hand throughout the world. This is a worthwhile book if only to get an intelligent man's opinions, stated clearly and persuasively, regardless of what you may actually believe. This is not the angry ranting of some spoiled and frustrated 'liberal' nor the embittered mumblings of a professional contrarian, but a well thought out screed and ideology about how to improve not just America but the very world itself.

This is, in spite of its temporary contemporary relevence, a celebration of Lincoln's brilliance in statesmanship and his greatness as a communicator. It is a history book applied to the present. I would whole-heartedly recommend Cuomo's ideas to anyone--to consider, to talk over, even to debate prior to dismissing. I would just warn that the author is guilty of much of what he seems to disparage in his own political opposition, regardless of his greater ability to communicate his ideas.

No doubt Mario Cuomo posseses a clear vision of America. In his newest book, he reminds us that Lincoln speaks to the ages and he attempts to apply Lincoln's values and political philosophy to contemporary America. This is no small task. It comes as no suprise that Lincoln has been (and continues to be) heavily quoted and admired by politicians of both parties. Undoubtedly, Cuomo's view of Lincoln and how our 16th president would see 21st century problems is open for lively debate. Cuomo attempts to apply Lincoln's rhetoric to our day, and suggests Lincoln's probable response. He offers a valid and useful comparison of the Lincoln and Bush presidencies in his most interesting chapter.
He also offers a somewhat less interesting discussion of Lincoln and civil liberties, the role of government, economics, foreign policy, religion, and the Supreme Court. All would agree that we would do well to study Lincoln. I encourage you to read this book and draw your own conclusions. Once again, Mario Cuomo engages us in serious and intelligent debate. It is a refreshing change from the usual gobbledegoop we must suffer through on talk radio and Fox tv.

This review is neither pro liberal nor pro conservative. It is a review of the book. It is not a argument either pro or con as to the writer's political stance. In his latest work, Cuomo does indeed give us some points to ponder, i.e. where we have been, where we are at and most importantly, where we are going. He does this rather well. The work certainly has some strong points and good points. On the other hand, Cuomo's almost manic Bush bashing wears a bit thin after the first three chapters or so. This is all well and good if you enjoy Bush Bashing. Certainly we need comparisons, but my goodness, this certainly could have been handled a little more evenly. Like so many before him, Cuomo has sort of twisted some of Lincoln's word to meet his (Cuomo's) needs. Unlike so many before him, he has done a pretty good job of it. Yet again, on the other hand, Cuomo does indeed bring out some very good points and does document some very thoughtful observations. This is one of those books that will thrill the liberals and put the conservatives in a snit. I do encourge you to read the entire book though whether you agree with Cuomo's philosophy or not. The book is rather well written and I do feel it is a good thing to examine both sides of any issue in depth. This book just gives us another tool to do so. Recommend you read this one no matter which side of the line you stand...there are things to be learned from it.