A. Lincoln: A Biography - Robert C. White Jr.

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⭐ 8.0/10

(Originally written by Joseph)

This book is a biiiig boy and took me a long time to finish. This covers Lincoln's life in great detail, and so your enjoyment of it totally just depends on how much you like him because you're spending a lot of time with him. As far as biography writing goes, obviously this is top notch with a million details taken from a ton of sources (letters, newspapers, quotes, books, etc.). It wasn't always thrilling, but that's not really the point.

And do I like Abe? I think I do. It's really hard to know how to evaluate a person from 150 years back within his context. He definitely said and did some very questionable things and I can't really defend them. But I mean, he was also passionate enough about slavery being wrong that he fought a war over it (and I know the war wasn't over slavery, but if he didn't care I think he could have avoided it). With slavery and everything else, I really, really love how he thought about and processed moral decisions. It's just such a contrast with modern day politicians, essentially following their own party lines with no ability to deviate.

Along with that, I just love how he acted as a politician. I really do think he embodied the spirit of humility and grace. The stories of him making all his allies mad because of all the pardons he gave opposing soldiers really melted my heart. A truly moving story of forgiveness and reconciliation. He was also really funny, and all the jokes are at his own expense. The self deprecating humor just felt so foreign after the last president the US had and it gave me hope that politicians don't need to be self promoting to be popular.

So yeah, this book gave me a really great look into a very interesting historical figure. The book definitely wasn't always interesting for me as it includs tons of political machinations that I just couldn't get into, but for the most part it did a nice job of telling a compelling story. It gave me some interesting topics to think about, and it was cool to wrestle with these things the same way he did as his thought process was often laid out. Is it okay to slowly approach an urgent goal? Is violence worth it if it's a noble cause? How long do you cling to your principles, and when is it okay to impose theyn on others? It was all interesting to read, and definitely made me appreciate his place in history.

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