Carl Sandburg
Abraham Lincoln
The Prairie Years And The War Years
Harvest Books
2002
Sandburg's Lincoln is somewhat odd. It jumps around from subject matter to subject matter as if a timeline was constructed and facts and quotes were put together on index cards and hung on this timeline in approximate order. This leads to some interesting juxtapositions of elements of the story of Lincoln's life; one second you are reading about his relationships with women, and the next has you immersed in the details of a court case or legislative session with very little commentary by the author.
One of the great things about this method of presentation is that the reader seems to become acquainted with Lincoln at somewhat the same pace as the author is getting to know him, almost as if in real time, with descriptions of Lincoln's experiences, actions and words punctuated by the author's infrequent analyses indicating realizations he's had about this new "friend".
Aside from the better known quotes from Lincoln in the war years, in the early part of the book (The Prairie Years), the author describes Lincoln's development as a public speaker and his experimentation with different styles as his political and law careers progress. Many of these examples highlight Lincoln's sense of humor and ability to think on his feet, such as the one that follows.
The author describes a man who changed from Lincoln's Whig Party to become a Democrat, subsequently accepted a position to which he was appointed by the Jackson administration, and mounted a lightning rod on his house. This same man then makes a speech in the courthouse stating that Lincoln needed to be "taken down," to which Lincoln replied, "I desire to live, and I desire place and distinction; but I would rather die now than, like the gentleman, live to see the day that I would change my politics for an office worth three thousand dollars a year, and then feel compelled to erect a lighting rod to protect a guilty conscience from an offended God."
One of Lincoln's strengths was his commitment to the founding principles of our country, principles I suspect could use closer re-examination by more citizens in these times. I've heard few such eloquent descriptions of behavior that seems common and tolerated today.
This book may take some patience and perserverance to geth through but it has so far served up amusing and instructive anecdotes, such as the one above, with sufficient regularity as to make it enjoyable.
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