President Lincoln : the duty of a statesman / William Lee Miller.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Miller, William Lee.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865.

Lincoln, Abraham.

Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865--Military leadership.

Command of troops.

Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865--Ethics.

Political leadership--United States--Case studies.

Political leadership.

History.

Ethics.

United States.

Command of troops--Case studies.

Presidents--United States--Biography.

Presidents.

United States--Politics and government--1861-1865.

Politics and government.

United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.

United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Moral and ethical aspects.

Genre:

Case studies.

Biographies.

Physical Description:

ix, 497 pages ; 25 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2008.

Summary:

The American president has come to be the most powerful figure in the world--and in the nineteenth century, a great man held that office. Lincoln scholar Miller's new book closely examines that great man in that hugely important office, analyzing the commander in chief who coped with the profound moral dilemmas of America's bloodiest war. In this sequel to Lincoln's Virtues Miller completes his "ethical biography," showing the inexperienced backcountry politician transformed into a head of state, slapped from the first minute of his presidency by decisions of the utmost gravity and confronted by the radical moral contradiction left by the nation's Founders: universal ideals of Equality and Liberty and the monstrous injustice of slavery. Miller finds in this superb politician a remarkable presidential combination: an indomitable resolve, combined with the judgment that keeps it from being mindless stubbornness; and a supreme magnanimity, combined with the judgment that keeps it from being sentimentality.--From publisher description.

Contents:

Part 1 Introduction: Honest Abe Among the Rulers 3

1 A Solemn Oath Registered in Heaven 7

2 Act Well Your Part, There All the Honor Lies 31

3 On Mastering the Situation: The Drama of Sumter 48

4 On Not Mastering the Situation: The Comedy of the Powhatan 72

5 Days of Choices: Two April Sundays 91

6 Realism Right at the Border 110

7 The Moral Meaning of the Union and the War 140

8 Bull Run and Other Defeats: Lincoln's Resolve 155

9 On Holding McClellan's Horse 169

10 The Trent and a Decent Respect for the Opinions of Mankind 193

11 Too Vast for Malicious Dealing 212

Part 2 A Second Introduction: Lincoln's Nation Among the Nations 231

12 I Felt It My Duty to Refuse 235

13 In Giving Freedom to the Slave, We Assure Freedom to the Free 254

14 The Prompt Vindication of His Honor 273

15 And the Promise Being Made, Must Be Kept 289

16 The Benign Prerogative to Pardon Unfortunate Guilt 314

17 Must I Shoot a Simple Soldier Boy? 327

18 A Hard War Without Hatred 351

19 Temptation in August 370

20 The Almighty Has His Own Purposes 396

A Conclusion: Abraham Lincoln Among the Immortals 417.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781400041039

1400041031

OCLC:

123818207