ePub Founders' Son: A Life of Abraham Lincoln by Richard Brookhiser in History

Review

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful. The link between Abraham Lincoln and the Founders deeply shaped his lifeBy jim haynesI found this book worth reading because Brookhiser offers a new perspective on Abraham Lincoln. In brief; he sees Lincoln's identification with George Washington and the Founding generation as so intense that they became surrogate fathers. He tried to make their struggle his own and their triumph his inspiration.In Lincoln's time; America was drifting toward the massive trauma of secession and civil war. The moral crisis of slavery was getting worse. Viewed from pre-civil war America; it was not clear how the great founding documents were to be understood and applied--after the Founding generation had died. In his Dredd Scott opinion; Chief Justice Taney had rendered the Constitution into a tool to expand slavery throughout the United States. The threat that States might seceed over tariffs or slavery was regarded as credible and the Republic; created in unity by the Founding Fathers; could have collapsed. Finally; western territories; Kansas and Nebraska saw brutal mini-wars and vendettas. Civil order dissolved on the frontier. According to Brookhiser's account; Abraham Lincoln spent his life in the physical and intellectual struggle of preserving and refining the Founder's work. Our view of these things reflects the smugness of people who know how it turned out. But these were times of confusion and danger.Brookhiser quotes often from his subject and Lincoln's poetic and intellectual gifts enrich the book. Without forcing the facts; the author makes a case that Linclon's depression; his distant relationship with his father; the family deaths that filled his childhood; all shaped his entire life.One novel treatment of an old story involves Parson Weems biography of George Washington. Because few facts remain from Lincoln's childhood; Weems always appears in Lincoln books; almost as a clownish figure. Brookhiser argues that Weems was a serious writer of moral books for children and that his stories about George Washington affected Lincoln's moral and emotional life from childhood until his death. Lincoln's ideals of leadership and virtue were formed early and while those ideals deepened and grew more subtle; but were never erased.Brookhiser's writing style is clear and apt. The book is not laden with footnotes. I recommend reading Stephen Oates; perhaps; for a more detailed look at Lincoln's life.24 of 26 people found the following review helpful. A Lincoln who has read Brookhiser's books; to the great benefit of our nation!By Sam SchulmanBrookhiser has written a number of wonderful books on the Founders; in the hope of spreading their influence - as thinkers and as people of unusual character - to thoughtful readers like us. For Brookhiser fans; his Lincoln book will be fascinating because he has written for the first time about someone who; like Brookhiser readers; allowed himself to be taught by the founders - sometimes to be corrected and weaned away from his own first instinctive thoughts and the influences of his early life; like Thomas Paine.Told in a beautifully lucid prose; Brookhiser's book focuses on a few moments in Lincoln's well-known life; and shows painstakingly; suggestively; how this great man slowly and unexpectedly became great.A surprise for me: Brookhiser - not himself a man of great piety; as far as I know; and not a participant in the God-wars - discovers Lincoln moving in the opposite direction from what we are told is the usual development from childish belief to adult; mature atheism or agnosticism. The more he became involved in great events; and the more that terrible tragedies beset his own private life and the national struggle against slavery he led; the more convinced Lincoln becomes that his early Paine-ite atheism is laughably inadequate; and the more he sees God's judgment operating in the world.A quietly great book; that should be read every five years.2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Good BioBy southernguyandgalI found this book to be a great read; very detailed; very interesting. It was a bit dry; not so much to make me avoid reading it; but it was noticeable. Also; there seemed to be some bias in it... I prefer my biographers to rise above politics and simply present facts as they happened; allowing the reader to interpret things as he or she sees fit. Overall; though; I would recommend this book.