Tag: Abraham Lincoln

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My Book Review in Civil War Times Magazine

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Last year my book, Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, was reviewed by Jonathan W. White in Civil War Times, the preeminent Civil War magazine. And now I’ve written a book review that is published in the most recent issue of Civil War Times.

The book I reviewed is called Leadership in Turbulent Times and is written by noted presidential scholar Doris Kearns Goodwin. 

My CWT ReviewMost people of heard of Doris Kearns Goodwin from her bestselling book, Team of Rivals, about Abraham Lincoln picking many of his political rivals to key cabinet positions. Initially well sold, it got a huge boost after then-candidate Barack Obama was seen carrying it on the campaign trail prior to his 2008 election, then again when Obama picked his rival Hillary Clinton to be Secretary of State, much like Lincoln put William Seward in that position. Another boost came from Steven Spielberg’s movie, Lincoln, which was based on a tiny part of Goodwin’s book.

Goodwin has written several other biographies of American presidents, including Teddy Roosevelt, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and her one-time boss, Lyndon Johnson. She draws on all of these to extract leadership qualities exhibited by the four men, each of whom faced significant crises during their terms as president.

As I note in the review, she parses out each man’s characteristics separately and doesn’t explicitly compare their leadership traits. It becomes clear that each man was different in how they led, with these differences reflective both of their own personalities and the needs of the times they lived in. It’s an interesting book from which readers should gain a lot of thoughtful insight.

This is my first published book review in a national magazine, although not my first published book review. Since late 2015 I’ve published two dozen book reviews in The Lincolnian, the quarterly newsletter of the Lincoln Group of DC. There are many more reviews to come, including one for a book sent to me by the publisher that will appear in the next issue. I also hope to do more book reviews in Civil War Times and other national magazines. In addition, I’ll be pitching some article ideas that I hope will garner interest.

Up to this point my main writing focus has been on books, but my goals for 2019 include writing more magazine articles and entering more writing contests. This review of Goodwin’s book counts towards the former and I’ve already entered one contest (I’ll know if I made the cut by the end of the month).

If you haven’t seen Jonathan W. White’s review of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, here is a photo of the page in Civil War Times. You can read more about the review in this previous article.

Jonathan White review of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved AmericaDavid J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

 

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Thomas, Abraham Lincoln’s Father, Dies Today in 1851

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Abraham Lincoln seems to have had a falling out with his father later in life, rarely visiting once he had a family of his own. When Thomas passed away at the age of 73, Abraham was home tending to a sick wife and his rambunctious boys. Thomas died on January 17, 1851.

I recently visited Thomas Lincoln’s gravesite near Lerna, Illinois. Today there is a beautiful headstone marker noting Thomas Lincoln and his second wife, Lincoln’s stepmother, Sarah Bush Lincoln. It guards a small fenced area that also includes small individual markers at the foot of each of their graves.

Originally the Gordon Burial Ground, then the Shiloh Cemetery, and now called the Thomas Lincoln Cemetery, the gravesite sits next to the Shiloh Presbyterian Church on the way to the Lincoln Log Cabin State Historic Site. Abraham Lincoln visited his father’s grave shortly before heading to Washington to be inaugurated as our 16th president.

He would not have seen a grave marker. Likely no more than a rock marked the site at the time, a nephew said that Abraham placed a board with the initials T.L. during his visit. Whether that story is true or not, a permanent gravestone was not erected until 1880 after donations by local friends and Robert Todd Lincoln.

But that isn’t the end of the story, for the gravestone erected then is not the one passersby see today, unless they pay attention. The beautiful grey headstone most obvious to visitors was installed in 1924 by the Illinois Lions Club, with the two smaller footstones donated by the Kiwanis Club a year later. The more unassuming original marker sits in its own wrought iron fenced area about 50 yards from the modern marker. This small spire had been slowly chipped away by tourists seeking souvenirs, hence the need for a surrogate stone. A “Looking for Lincoln” sign sits in the small parking lot in back of the church, and only its readers are tipped off to the location of the original gravestone.

Thomas Lincoln grave, Lerna, IllinoisGeorge Balch, a local farmer and poet who knew Thomas and Sarah Lincoln, wrote a poem years later to bring public attention to the neglected condition of the grave. A portion graces the waymarker sign; the following presents the entire poem.

I
In a low, sweet vale, by a murmuring rill,
The pioneer’s ashes are sleeping.
Where the white marble slabs are so lonely and still,
In the silence their vigil are keeping.

II
On their sad, lonely faces are words of fame,
But none of them speak of his glory,
When the pioneer died, his age and his name,
No monument whispers the story.

III
No myrtle, nor ivy, nor hyacinth blows,
O’er the lonely grave where they laid him;
No cedar, nor holly, nor almond tree grows
Near the plebian’s grave to shade him.

IV
Bright evergreens wave over many a grave
O’er some bow the sad weeping willow,
But no willow trees nor evergreens wave
Where the pioneer sleeps on his pillow.

Some are inhumed with honors of state
And laid beneath temples to moulder;
The grave of the father of Lincoln the great,
Is known by a hillock and boulder.

VI
Let him take his lone sleep, and gently rest,
With naught to disturb or awake him,
When the angels shall come to gather the blest
To Abraham’s bosom, they’ll take him.

Abraham would never see his stepmother again as she was too old to make the trip to Washington and President Lincoln never traveled back to Illinois. He was assassinated in office on April 14-15, 1865, days after the end of the Civil War. Sarah Bush Lincoln outlived her stepson, passing away on April 12, 1869.

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

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Abraham Lincoln Book Acquisitions for 2018

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Lincoln book towerMy Abraham Lincoln book collection continues to grow, quickly filling the new library space I created last year. I acquired 69 new Lincoln books in 2018. This compares to 59 in 2017, 43 in 2016, and 59 and 60 books obtained in 2015 and 2014, respectively. My big year was the 98 books in 2013.

The oldest book acquired was published in 1893, while the newest book was officially published in 2019 (released in December 2018). Of the 69 books, 10 were new books published in 2018 (plus the one 2019 official date). I was able to find books from a variety of places. In addition to the usual Amazon/Barnes and Noble, books came to me from various library books sales, used book stores (including Bob’s Bookstore in Charleston, IL), and at stops during my two big Chasing Abraham Lincoln road trips. I also picked up books at the annual Lincoln Forum in Gettysburg, PA, plus won a couple of books in the Lincoln Group of DC and Civil War Round Table of DC raffles.

The list of books follows my signature block. Among them are some unique examples of Lincoln scholarship: Lincoln and the Irish by Niall O’Dowd; They Knew Lincoln by John Washington (originally published in 1942 and reprinted in 2018 with an introduction by Kate Masur); a set of five small booklets with new Introductions by preeminent Lincoln scholars; and Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Leadership in Turbulent Times. Look for my published review of Goodwin’s book in the next issue of Civil War Times magazine.

Several of the books are signed and inscribed to me by their authors. Both Anna Gibson Holloway and Jonathan W. White inscribed my copy of their book, Our Little Monitor, during the annual Battle of Hampton Roads conference this year. I’m doubly honored because Anna says it was the very first book she has ever signed for a fan. During the Lincoln Forum I was happy to have conversations with and get my copies of their books inscribed by David Blight (Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom), Kate Masur (They Knew Lincoln), and Harold Holzer (Monument Man: The Life & Art of Daniel Chester French). French, of course, is the man who created the iconic statue of Lincoln that graces the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

I’m sure I’ll continue to collect dozens of new (and new to me) Lincoln books in 2019. My new library shelves seem to be filling up rather quickly, so I may have to start planning where I’m going to put the overflow. Maybe I need to buy a bigger house.

I’m hard at work on my new Abraham Lincoln book, plus beginning the process of editing a compendium volume for the Lincoln Group of DC. If that wasn’t enough, on my most recent travel to Asia I started writing a historical science fiction novel featuring Lincoln and his science adviser, Joseph Henry. My previous Lincoln book, Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, is into a second printing and available at Barnes and Noble stores nationwide.

Also, if you’re not already a member of the Lincoln Group of DC, please consider joining. In addition to the monthly dinner meetings with Lincoln scholar presentations, we have a monthly Lincoln book study group, periodic special events, tours, and more. And with a new year approaching, we’re planning to introduce even more to our members, including new activities for students and non-scholars. Take a look at our Lincoln Group of DC website and contact me or any of the other officers for more information.

Finally, a reminder that I’ve begun something I call the Abraham Lincoln Bibliography Project in which I plan to catalog the known books about Abraham Lincoln. I’ll include only actual books, not other documents and not pamphlets. As the website develops I’ll add a searchable database, book reviews, lists of books by topic (e.g., assassination, general biography, law career), and summary papers for those topics. The idea is to create a useful resource for both Lincoln researchers and the general public. Check out the blog and stay tuned.

See the 2017 list showing author/title/publication date below my signature blurb below.

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

Here is the 2018 list! [Author, Title, Date of Publication]

Abraham Lincoln: A Living Legacy: A Guide to Three Abraham Lincoln National Park Sites 2008
The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln: A Tribute of the Nations 2009
Lincoln: Legacy of the Great Emancipator (Intro by Edna Greene Medford) 2009
Lincoln and His Critics (Intro by Eric Foner) 2009
Lincoln as Self-Made Man (Intro by Catherine Clinton) 2009
Lincoln as American Redeemer (Intro by Harold Holzer) 2009
Lincoln as Literary Genius (Intro by Ted Widmer) 2009
Abrams, Dan and Fisher, David Lincoln’s Last Trial: The Murder Case That Propelled Him to the Presidency 2018
Alter, Donald R. The Lincoln Legend and Other Programs 1956
Arnold, Isaac N. The Life of Abraham Lincoln 1893
Baker, C.T. Sand Creek Landing Greets the Lincolns: An Historical Sketch of Pioneer Days in This Community and County 1931
Blight, David W. Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom 2018
Burlingame, Michael Lincoln and the Civil War 2011
Burstein, Andrew Lincoln Dreamt He Died: The Midnight Visions of Remarkable Americans From Colonial Times to Freud 2013
Carwardine, Richard Lincoln’s Sense of Humor 2017
Carwardine, Richard and Sexton, Jay (Eds) The Global Lincoln 2011
Chapman, Ervin Latest Light on Abraham Lincoln and War-time Memories 1917
DeRose, Chris The Presidents’ War: Six American Presidents and the Civil War That Divided Them 2014
Donald, David Herbert (ed) Inside Lincoln’s Cabinet: The Civil War Diaries of Salmon P. Chase 1954
Fornieri, Joseph R. The Language of Liberty: The Political Speeches and Writings of Abraham Lincoln 2003
Fraysse, Olivier (translated by Sylvia Neely) Lincoln, Land, and Labor, 1809-60 1994
Freehling, William W. Becoming Lincoln 2018
Furtwangler, Albert Assassin on Stage: Brutus, Hamlet, and the Death of Lincoln 1991
Goodwin, Doris Kearns Leadership in Turbulent Times 2018
Gross, Ruth Belov True Stories About Abraham Lincoln 1973
Guelzo, Allen C. Abraham Lincoln as a Man of Ideas 2009
Guttridge, Leonard F. and Neff, Ray A. Dark Union: The Secret Web of Profiteers, Politicians, and Booth Conspirators That Led to Lincoln’s Death 2003
Hogan, Michael Abraham Lincoln and Mexico: A History of Courage, Intrigue, and Unlikely Friendships 2016
Holloway, Anna Gibson and White, Jonathan W. Our Little Monitor: Theh Greatest Invention of the Civil War 2018
Holmes, Fred L. Abraham Lincoln Traveled This Way: The Log Book of a Pilgrim to the Lincoln Country 1930
Holzer, Harold Monument Man: The Life & Art of Daniel Chester French 2019
Jepsen, Thomas C. My Sisters Telegraphic: Women in the Telegraph Office, 1846-1950 2000
Johnson, David Alan The Last Weeks of Abraham Lincoln: A Day-By-Day Account of His Personal, Political, and Military Challenges 2018
Kauffman, Michael W. American Brutus: John Wilkes Booth and the Lincoln Conspiracies 2004
Kauffman, Michael W. In the Footsteps of an Assassin: An Illustrated History and Guided Tour of the Lincoln Assassination and Escape Route of John Wilkes Booth 2012
King, C.J. Four Marys and a Jessie: The Story of the Lincoln Women 2005
Larson, Kate Clifford The Assassin’s Accomplice: Mary Surratt and the Plot to Kill Abraham Lincoln 2008
Lehrman, Lewis E. Lincoln & Churchill: Statesmen at War 2018
Maihafer, Harry J. War of Words: Abraham Lincoln & The Civil War Press 2001
McGinnis, Ralph Y. and Smith, Calvin N. (Eds) Abraham Lincoln and the Western Territories 1994
McPherson, James M. (Ed) “We Cannot Escape History”: Lincoln and the Last Best Hope of Earth 1995
Morris, Roy Jr. The Long Pursuit: Abraham Lincoln’s Thirty-Year Struggle With Stephen Douglas For The Heart and Soul of America 2008
Nathan, Adele Gutman The First Transatlantic Cable 1959
Neely, Mark E. Jr. The Boundaries of American Political Culture in the Civil War Era 2005
Neely, Mark E. Jr. Lincoln and the Democrats: The Politics of Opposition in the Civil War 2017
Nicolay, Helen The Boys’ Life of Abraham Lincoln 1933
Niebuhr, Gustav Lincoln’s Bishop: A President A Priest, and the Fate of 300 Dakota Sioux Warriors 2014
North, Sterling Abe Lincoln: Log Cabin to White House 1956
O’Dowd, Niall Lincoln and the Irish: The Untold Story of How the Irish Helped Abraham Lincoln Save the Union 2018
Ostendorf, Lloyd Abraham Lincoln: The Boy, The Man 1962
Pitch, Anthony S. They Have Killed Papa Dead! The Road to Ford’s Theatre, Abraham Lincoln’s Murder, and the Rage for Vengeance 2018
Pratt, Harry E. Concerning Mr. Lincoln: In Which Abraham Lincoln is Pictured as he Appeared to Letter Writers of his Time 1944
Puleo, Stephen The Caning: The Assault That Drove America to Civil War 2012
Randall, J.G. Lincoln and the South 1946
Ross, Ishbel The President’s Wife: Mary Todd Lincoln 1973
Segal, Charles M. (Editor, Compiler and Annotator) Conversations with Lincoln 1961
Simon, John Y., Holzer, Harold, and Vogel, Dawn (Eds) Lincoln Revisited 2007
Speed, Joshua Fry Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln, And Notes on a Visit to California 2014
Starr, John W., Jr. Lincoln and the Railroads 1927
Stephenson, Nathaniel Wright Lincoln 1922
Striner, Richard Lincoln’s Way: How Six Great Presidents Created American Power 2012
Tackach, James Lincoln and the Natural Environment 2019
Tucker, Wilson The Lincoln Hunters 1958
Turner, Justin G. and Turner, Linda Levitt Mary Todd Lincoln: Her Life and Letters 1987
Villard, Harold G. and Oswald Garrison Lincoln on the Eve of ’61: A Journalist’s Story by Henry Villard 1941
Washington, John E. with introduction by Kate Masur They Knew Lincoln 2018
Weaver, John D. Tad Lincoln: Mischief-Maker in the White House 1963
White, Ronald C. Jr. A. Lincoln: A Biography 2009
Abraham Lincoln 1958

 

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An Abraham Lincoln Christmas

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A few days before Christmas 1864, Abraham Lincoln received a Christmas present from General William T. Sherman – capture of the city of Savannah, Georgia. Lincoln was pleased, but continued to work through Christmas day on the business of running the government during war time. As I had written previously:

President Abraham Lincoln sent no Christmas cards and set up no Christmas tree. Of course, Christmas itself didn’t become a national holiday until President Ulysses S. Grant signed a congressional bill into law in 1870.

As a young state legislator in 1834, Lincoln voted against making Christmas a state holiday. Throughout his life, Christmas was a normal day at the office. That wasn’t unusual. Up until the mid 1800s, Christmas was celebrated with church services, not parties and presents, which were seen as unchristian.

Perhaps ironically given today’s current affairs, on Christmas day 1863 Lincoln wrote to Bayard Taylor, who had just returned from his post as secretary of legation in St. Petersburg, Russia. Lincoln suggested:

I think a good lecture or two on “Serfs, Serfdom, and Emancipation in Russia” would be both interesting and valuable. Could not you get up such a thing? Yours truly A. LINCOLN.

A few days earlier, Lincoln offered a more Lincolnesque example of goodwill and charity when he wrote a letter only recently revealed. In it he provides for Mr. and Mrs. Craig, cousins to Mrs. Lincoln, to return to their plantation in Arkansas after the area had been reclaimed by Union forces, solely to live out their final days in the home that had been in their family for years, and without the slaves they previously owned. Mr. Craig died shortly after their return; Mrs. Craig two years later. This gesture of compassion by Lincoln during a time of war “affords a glimpse of what Reconstruction would have been like had Lincoln lived.”

Even though Christmas was a work day for Lincoln, that hasn’t stopped history from adding him to the Christmas theme. Thomas Nast became famous during the Civil War as a prolific illustrator and cartoonist for Harper’s Weekly magazine. It was Nast who first introduced Santa Claus (aka, Father Christmas) as a recruiting tool for the Union army. Other illustrators showed Lincoln enjoying toys and stockings with his children, and pulling them on a sled. Modern commercialization has him featured on the traditional “ugly Christmas sweater,” dressed up in Santa hats, and as Christmas ornaments. In 1999, the White House featured Abraham Lincoln on their official holiday ornament.

If Lincoln were alive today, he most assuredly would have offered his Hanukkah greetings and given a Christmas message of hope and faith.

In his absence I wish to do the same. Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa, and all my best wishes for a Happy and Productive New Year!

Safe travels, wherever life takes you.

Lincoln in New England book cover

Coming in March 2026: Lincoln in New England: In Search of His Forgotten Tours

Also see – Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America.

Join me on Goodreads, the database where I keep track of my reading. Please leave a review on Goodreads and Amazon if you like the book.

You also follow my author page on Facebook and on Instagram.

David J. Kent is Immediate Past President of the Lincoln Group of DC and the author of Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America and Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America.

His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

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Illinois – Dan Fogelberg and Abraham Lincoln in Peoria

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Dan Fogelberg, Peoria, Illinois“Will it play in Peoria?” It did. They did. And I did. How a Chasing Abraham Lincoln tour turned into a pilgrimage to the singer Dan Fogelberg.

The turn of phrase has its roots in the vaudeville era, where traveling vaudeville acts knew if they played well in Peoria, which at the time reflected the diversity of the nation as a whole with respect to race, income, age, rural, urban, and educational background. Peoria became the first stop on national tours – if it played well there it likely would play well all over the country. This was true not only for vaudeville acts, but for test marketing consumer products and politics too.

Abraham Lincoln gave one of his most famous speeches in Peoria, and certainly one of his most powerful speeches on the wrongs of slavery. The speech has been studied by many Lincoln scholars and was the focus of an entire book by Lewis E. Lehrman, Lincoln at Peoria: The Turning Point. I visited Peoria on Part 2 of my Chasing Abraham Lincoln tour, where I saw several Lincoln statues and related sites.

While there I made sure to head for the memorial grove in Riverfront Park where three large stones remember Dan Fogelberg. Fogelberg, one of my favorite performers, was born and raised in Peoria. His mother was a classical pianist, his father the local high school band director. Dan wrote the song “Leader of the Band” to honor his father; I used it as a framework for a dedication to my own father. Besides singing the vocals (including multitracking background harmony), Dan played many instruments, notably guitar (acoustic, 12-string, electric), bass, piano, and mandolin. He was a talent beyond the norm. He had commercial success, but I think the songs I love the most are those that tell stories that develop over time not conducive to the radio crowd.

Lyrics from three of Dan’s songs are etched into the three memorial stones. A park bench has been added and features a quote from Dan about why he was a musician. Unfortunately, Dan died in late December 2007 from prostate cancer. I was lucky enough to see him three times in concert and listened to him this morning while exercising on the elliptical. He is still a part of my life (along with Lincoln, of course).

Among Dan’s many amazing songs is a tribute to his home state, “Illinois,” from his Souvenirs album released in 1974. While I’m not a native of Illinois, I thought of Dan’s song as I realized how many Lincoln sites and statues I missed on my Chasing Abraham Lincoln tours.

And it looks like you’re gonna
Have to see me again
…
Illinois, oh, Illinois.
Illinois, I’m your boy.

As I write this there is a blizzard raging in Fogelberg/Lincoln country, so Part 3 of my Chasing Abraham Lincoln tour will have to wait until spring. But be prepared Illinois; it looks like you’re gonna have to see me again…

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

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General and Chief at the Lincoln Forum

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Lincoln Forum logo by Wendy AllenThe annual Lincoln Forum in Gettysburg is in the books and we have a new General, get to keep the Chief, and took a few steps into the future. Oh, and we had some great speakers, a ton of Lincoln humor, and even a few spirits (the dead kind).

This was the 23rd annual Lincoln Forum and the last in with “The Chief” in command. The Chief is Frank Williams, whose moniker stems from his time as Chief Justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court. Frank, along with Harold Holzer, founded the Lincoln Forum about 24 years ago and have served as Chair and Vice Chair since its inception. That is, until now. Frank has stepped down as Chair while Harold has stepped into the General role. A new Vice Chair was voted in – Jonathan W. White, current President of the Abraham Lincoln Institute, prolific author, and Professor at Christopher Newport University in Virginia. We will all miss Frank (though he will remain active under his new Emeritus status), but we’re in superb hands under Harold’s continuing leadership and Jonathon’s new enthusiasm.

The weather toyed with the meeting agenda a bit, delaying some and cancelling others (alas, one speaker was in a car crash on his way east; he’s fine but his car isn’t so well). Luckily we have a great cast of Lincoln scholars able to step into the gap. One lesson learned – always have a presentation on a thumb drive ready to go in a pinch.

This year’s Forum included some celebrities of sorts. Not just the inimitable George Buss as President Abraham Lincoln (who most attendees agreed should run again, and soon), but stars of the Lincoln world. Edward Ayers led our opening night with his “Gettysburg and the Web of War.” George Saunders – yes, that George Saunders – not only talked about his best selling book, Lincoln in the Bardo, he led a performance of it with the help of five Forum volunteers. “The Bardo,” as we affectionately call it, is one of the more unique takes on the Lincoln story, both because it is fiction and because it brings in the voices of those lingering in the intermediate spaces between life and rebirth.

Not to be outdone, David W. Blight brought home the final keynote speech on the last night with his discussion of Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. Many of us know the highlights of Douglass’s life, from slave in Baltimore to free abolitionist to one of the greatest leaders of the African-American – and all American – community. Normally I focus on Lincoln himself, but Blight has inspired me to dig deeper into the life of Douglass as well. He was also nice enough to sign me copy of his book (plus quite a few copies for the other attendees as well).

We had many other speakers of course. From Andrew Delbanco (one of the highlights for sure) to Kate Masur (likewise) to Joseph Fornieri (doing a wonderful job as pinch hitter) to a panel on “Women in the Civil War” featuring Catherine Clinton, Candice Shy Hooper, and Edna Greene Medford. And we can’t forget the team of Abbott and Costello John Marszalek and Craig Symonds discussing the Ulysses S. Grant memoirs.

As the Forum officially ended, many attendees stayed to attend the annual Remembrance Day activities at the nearby Gettysburg Battlefield. George Buss as Abraham Lincoln read the Gettysburg Address and the crowd embraced the overwhelming mixed feelings of sorrow and rebirth that this hallowed ground reflects.

I can’t wait for next year’s Forum (check out www.thelincolnforum.org for details). Please join us.

[Photo Credit: Lincoln Forum logo leading this piece is designed by the incomparable Wendy Allen. Check out her other Lincoln designs at www.lincolnintoart.com]

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

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Abraham Lincoln and the Gettysburg Address

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Lincoln: The Man Who Saved AmericaUnion victories were coming more frequently in the late summer and fall of 1863, although not universally, as a loss at Chickamauga and the New York draft riots would attest. But now it was time for a more somber occasion.

Because so many soldiers had perished during the three-day battle at Gettysburg, a committee was set up to dedicate a cemetery to those who died there. Committee chairman David Wills invited the President to offer “a few appropriate remarks” to “formally set apart these grounds to their sacred use.”

On a chilly November 19, Lincoln addressed the crowd after the oration by keynote speaker Edward Everett. Lincoln sat on the speaker’s platform and listened to an opening prayer, music from the Marine Band, and Everett’s two-hour discourse on “The Battles of Gettysburg.” Following another short hymn sung by the Baltimore Glee Club, Lincoln rose to speak. He finished a mere two minutes later, so fleeting that many in the crowd largely missed his dedicatory remarks.

While Everett’s much longer keynote, resplendent with neo-classical references and nineteenth-century rhetorical style, was well received, generations of elementary school students have memorized Lincoln’s brief address. The irony of Lincoln observing “the world will little note nor long remember what we say here” is not lost on history.

Lincoln’s remarks were designed both to dedicate the cemetery and redefine the objectives of the ongoing Civil War. The “four score and seven years ago” sets the beginning of the United States not at the Constitution, but the 1776 signing of the Declaration of Independence, where “all men are created equal.” Those ideals were under attack, “testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.” After honoring the men who “struggled here,” Lincoln reminds everyone still living what our role must be:

It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

As he gave his address, Lincoln was already feeling the symptoms of variola, a mild form of smallpox, which kept him bedridden for weeks after his return to Washington. He eventually wrote out several copies of his address, including one sent to Everett to be joined with his own handwritten speech and sold at New York’s Sanitary Commission Fair as a fundraiser for wounded soldiers.

[The above is adapted from my book, Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, available in Barnes and Noble stores now.]

But wait, there’s more. This past year I made several “Chasing Abraham Lincoln” trips, including long road trips to Kentucky/Indiana and Illinois. Check out my Chasing Abraham Lincoln thread and scroll down for stories from the road.

 

 

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

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Abraham Lincoln Selfies

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Abraham Lincoln photoAbraham Lincoln was the first “selfie” nut. His first photograph was in 1846, taken only about seven years after the daguerreotype process was introduced worldwide. Talk about your early adopters. That first photograph was basically a class picture as the newly elected young Lincoln prepared to go to Washington for his one term as a U.S. Congressman.

One clarification that probably doesn’t need to be said but I’ll say it anyway. This wasn’t actually a “selfie” by our standards. Not only didn’t Lincoln take the photo of himself, but he was forced to stand, or in this case sit, perfectly still for up to several minutes while the silver coating on a copper plate was being exposed. Metal “head holders” and other props were often used to help the subject stay still long enough to avoid a blurry image. Later photos were taken with the more advanced, but also more fragile, glass plate method. And alas, no Instagram.

Abraham Lincoln photoLincoln went on to have at least 130 photographs taken during the remainder of his life, with the final solo photograph taken in early February of 1865. Two photographs were taken after this. One was a erratically focused crowd shot of him standing on the Capitol steps giving his second inaugural address on March 4, 1964. The other was an unauthorized photo of Lincoln laying in an open casket in New York City following his assassination.

Abraham Lincoln photoIn most of the photos Lincoln sits or stands alone. One has him sitting with his youngest son Tad standing beside him gazing down at the book open in Lincoln’s lap. Perhaps the most intriguing photos are the series taken by Alexander Gardner at Antietam during Lincoln’s post-battle visit to meet with General McClellan. In one, the lanky Lincoln and the diminutive McClellan stare down each other in a group photo with other generals.

Abraham Lincoln photoI write about Lincoln and his photographs for a few reasons. It was November 8, 1863 that Lincoln sat for a photo with his two secretaries, John Nicolay and John Hay, standing to either side. I have also recently read two books that look at the photographers most often associated with Lincoln and the Civil War: Matthew Brady and Alexander Gardner. The other of one of the books, Nicholas J.C. Pistor, will be a speaker at the upcoming Lincoln Forum in Gettysburg. The author of the second book, Richard S. Lowry, was a Forum speaker a few years ago. Both books are wonderful reads. I’m also including a section on Lincoln and photography in my “work-in-progress,” so I have a particular interest in this area.

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

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Science Traveling Through Time and Space

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Hong Kong Philippines Malaysia BruneiTraveling can take you back in time (as in, history)…or it can take you away in space (as in, geography; so far no actual space travel for me). I’m about to do both.

After close to two months without any substantive travel, I’m eager to get on the road again. And the air. And the sea. Upcoming trips will cover all of those.

First there is the annual Lincoln Forum in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, where I get to travel back in time. After a three day battle the previous July, Abraham Lincoln took a train to Gettysburg to deliver “a few appropriate remarks.” He was a bit of an afterthought for the event; the keynote speaker, noted orator Edward Everett, regaled the crowd with a two hour speech before Lincoln stood up to present his two minute address. Besides the usual cast of Lincoln scholars, the Forum will feature George Saunders, author of the unique and critically acclaimed bestseller, Lincoln in the Bardo. David Blight will also speak on his new book about African-American abolitionist Frederick Douglass.

Returning from Gettysburg only long enough to gas up the car, I’ll hit the road to visit the family in New England. I’ll cover some geographic distance, but this is only a prelude.

A few days after that I’ll be on a plane to Asia, where I’ll set to sea for two weeks. Starting in Honk Kong, the Star Legend (sister yacht to the Star Breeze we took around the Baltic Sea this summer) will zigzag among the islands of the Philippines, with stops in Hundred Islands, Manila, Boracay, Coron, and Palawan. Then on to Kota Kinabalu and Kuching, Malaysia on the island of Borneo, with a hop to the “Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace” (or simply, Brunei). The yacht finishes in Singapore, where we’ll stay a few days and probably take a side trip up to Kuala Lumpur.

So I’ll get to experience American history, international history, new and interesting cultures, and a whole lot of new geography. Oh, and hopefully monkeys since last year at this time I found out there are no monkeys in Australia.

More previews and recaps to come!

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

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Abraham Lincoln Goes to Washington

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Abraham LincolnAbraham Lincoln was the Whig candidate in 1846 and, as per a gentlemen’s agreement with other Whigs, served one term as a U.S. Congressman from December 1847 to March 1849.

This was Lincoln’s first time in Washington, D.C., or in any large city other than his brief flatboat visits to New Orleans. At the time, Washington was a mix of formal government buildings and run-down boarding houses, and was a constant quagmire of mud and filth. The roughly 40,000 inhabitants were squeezed into a District area newly shrunken by the return of the Alexandria portion south of the Potomac River to the Commonwealth of Virginia. Slavery pens sat within eyesight of the Capitol building, which was still capped by a rotting wood and copper dome. Lincoln and his family lived at Mrs. Sprigg’s boarding house on 1st Street SE in a spot now covered by the Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress. Joining him were eight other members of Congress, all with abolitionist tendencies, so Lincoln likely had many interesting debates about slavery over the common dinner table.

Most of his congressional duties were mundane, such as answering letters from constituents and voting on appropriations, but Lincoln’s good humor and adeptness with a funny story ingratiated him with his fellow representatives. Not long after his arrival he wrote back to his law partner, William Herndon, that he was “anxious” to “distinguish” himself in this august body. Not content with merely making speeches on immaterial subjects, he chose to take on the President of the United States.

President James K. Polk had initiated a war with Mexico that would eventually result in the United States gaining territory encompassing present-day Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and California. George Ashmun, a Whig member of the U.S. House of Representatives, offered an amendment to what had been expected as a perfunctory commendation to those who served in the war. The amendment proposed to add a coda to the resolution: “In a war unnecessarily and unconstitutionally begun by the President of the United States.” Lincoln voted in favor of the amendment, which passed 82 to 81.

Lincoln went a step further. Polk insisted Mexico had been the aggressor, but Whigs believed that was an invention to hide Polk’s desire to expand the United States (and, by extension, the area to which slavery could be instituted). Three days before Christmas, Lincoln introduced a series of eight interrogatories demanding President Polk identify the exact spot where Mexico had supposedly initiated the first bloodshed. Because Lincoln repeatedly asked the spot be identified, they became derisively known as the “spot resolutions.”

Not surprisingly, Polk completely ignored the impertinent demands of an unknown freshman representative from the western prairies. Lincoln pressed the point, and Polk continued to ignore him, as did virtually everyone in Congress. The spot resolutions faded away without any debate or action, but Lincoln had asserted himself as unafraid to challenge even the highest authorities. He showed the integrity and determination to change the status quo and make things right. Later the spot resolutions would come back to haunt him when Democrats ridiculed him as “spotty Lincoln,” which may have hurt his chances to get a land office patronage job.

Lincoln immersed himself in other issues during his one term in Congress, including his proposal for emancipation of the slaves in the District of Columbia (although it was never formally introduced or passed). After his first session he toured New England campaigning for Zachary Taylor as the Whig nominee for president, even though Taylor had been a hero of the Mexican War. He then took a roundabout route past Niagara Falls through the Great Lakes by steamship, and along the newly opened Illinois and Michigan Canal on his way back to Springfield. He was essentially removed from politics for several years while he focused on his family and his law practice.

[Adapted from my book, Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America]

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!