Lincoln & the Franchise

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Lincoln & the Franchise M. Kelly Tillery, Esq. “The most fundamental right in America is the right to vote—and to have it counted. And it’s under assault. In state after state, new laws have been passed, not only to suppress the vote, but to subvert entire elections. We cannot let this happen.” Joseph R. Biden, […]

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Lincoln & Truman: Varied Expressions of the American Spirit

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  Lincoln & Truman: Varied Expressions of the American Spirit By Max J. Skidmore There is, to be sure, an element of unfairness in a comparison of any other president with Abraham Lincoln. It’s a rare presidential ranking that fails to put Lincoln at the top of the list as America’s most outstanding president. Admittedly […]

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Book Review: Jon Meacham, And There Was Light

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Jon Meacham, And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle Book Review by Phelps Gay   Not just another cradle-to-grave biography setting forth well-known facts of Lincoln’s life, And There Was Light offers us a fresh look at his intellectual, moral, and spiritual development culminating in his decision to resist the voices of […]

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The Unhappy Fate of Fitz John Porter

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The Unhappy Fate of Fitz John Porter By Allen Guelzo The American Civil War was a political war. That should not matter hugely to those of us who study the art of command in the war, since it is one of the basic tenets of the American system of governance that the military remains in […]

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Lincoln & Eisenhower: A Comparison

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Abraham Lincoln and Dwight D. Eisenhower were strangely alike in some respects—kindred spirits. I have often wondered about the nature of this interesting correspondence in my research about presidents. I have been working on Lincoln more or less continuously since I wrote my book Father Abraham twenty years ago.

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Lincoln & the League

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Lincoln & the League By Allen Guelzo The Union League of Philadelphia has occupied the grand corner of Broad and Sansom Streets in Philadelphia since 1865, and, though it remains today one of the most vibrant social and professional organizations in the city, it takes great pride in putting its Civil War-era origins on display […]

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Where and How Lincoln Composed His Main Works

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Where and How Lincoln Composed His Main Works By D. Leigh Henson Lincoln’s numerous compositions encompass a remarkable range of purposes and genre, constituting a major field of study for academics in such diverse fields as history, political science, rhetoric, literature, and language. Recently, John Channing Briggs, Douglas L. Wilson, and Fred Kaplan have added […]

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In Defense of History

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In Defense of History Sara Gabbard  Daniel Boorstin, Pulitzer Prize winning historian and Librarian of Congress, once said that “trying to plan for the future without a sense of the past is like trying to plant cut flowers.”   A statement from John Adams expresses the passage of time and the resulting changes: “I must […]

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Book Review: Caroline E. Janney, Ends of War

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Caroline E. Janney, Ends of War: The Unfinished Fight of Lee’s Army after Appomattox  Reviewed by Burrus M. Carnahan How can a democracy turn from a state of civil war to a state of peace? After April 9, 1865, US military officers, government officials, and ordinary citizens wrestled with this problem in the months following Lee’s […]

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History as Portrayed in Art: An Interview with Harold Holzer

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History as Portrayed in Art: An Interview with Harold Holzer Sara Gabbard  Sara Gabbard: Please explain the circumstances under which you and your co-authors (Gabor Boritt and Mark Neely, Jr.) undertook this enormous project. Harold Holzer: Back in 1982—it’s hard to believe it was 40 years ago!—the three of us began discussing Lincoln engravings and […]

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