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Tag Archives: Abraham Lincoln
Lincoln
Gore Vidal’s Lincoln is a fictional rendering of President Lincoln across five years, from his rise to power to his sudden end at an assassin’s hands in 1865. Unlike the modern film Lincoln, Vidal does not try to give us … Continue reading
Posted in General, historical fiction, Reviews
Tagged Abraham Lincoln, American Civil War, Gore Vidal, Hail to the Chief, historical fiction
2 Comments
With Malice Toward None
As part of my US Presidents course of reading, and in combination with my obsessive 1840s – 1860s dive, I’ve read two biographies of Abraham Lincoln this year – one hailing him a saint, the other a brute. Both … Continue reading
Posted in Reviews
Tagged 1850s, 1860s, Abraham Lincoln, American Civil War, Hail to the Chief, Stephen B. Oates, the impending crisis
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Moviewatch, January 2026
January was….a serious month, movie-wise. Lot of emotional intensity. Perhaps that’s right for a month often defined by people taking stock of the past, looking for the future, and deciding how to navigate the bridge betwixt them. I almost had … Continue reading
The Real Lincoln
Jon Meacham’s And There Was Light was a fairly flattering biography of Lincoln, seeing him as a visionary who checked his hatred of slavery only for politics’ sake, and who was finally allowed to lean in to and even weaponize … Continue reading
Posted in history, Reviews
Tagged Abraham Lincoln, American Civil War, Clement Vallandigham, economics, history, law and disorder, politics
4 Comments
The Rivalry
The Rivalry proceeds from an ambitious and fascinating idea for a play. The Lincoln–Douglas debates of 1858 led to Douglas being elected to the Senate, but they also allowed for a sustained public debate over slavery—and gave Lincoln far more … Continue reading
Buy one, get one free: Jackson and Lincoln
I thought it would be amusing to do a history short round after realizing I’d read two books in which Jon Meacham focuses on Kentucky-born presidents who became icons and who dealt with secession crises. First up, Andy Jackson! Andrew … Continue reading
Posted in Reviews
Tagged 1820s, 1830s, 1840s, 1850s, 1860s, Abraham Lincoln, American Civil War, Andrew Jackson, biography, history, Jon Meacham, the impending crisis
3 Comments
Chorus of the Union
Before the last month or so, my awareness of Stephen Douglas was that he had sparred against Abraham Lincoln in the Lincoln-Douglas debates. I did not realize until reading 1858 that these debates were not part of the 1860 presidential … Continue reading
Posted in history, Reviews
Tagged 1850s, 1860s, Abraham Lincoln, America Civil War, Edward McClelland, history, Illinois, Stephen Douglas, the impending crisis
1 Comment
1858
1858 is a history of the second year of James Buchanan’s administration, a year notable less for what Buchanan did than for what he refused to do while the slavery debate burned white-hot. He maintained that slavery was no longer … Continue reading
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