And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle Hardcover – October 18, 2022

It seems every Lincoln biography is intrinsically linked to the Civil War. Not so, with Jon Meacham's intimate portrait of our 16th president. Yes, Meacham's biography discuses the Civil War, but only as its relates to Lincoln as president. The heart and soul of Meacham's biography is Lincoln's growth as a lawyer, politician, and president. The key to Lincoln's life is the effect scripture would have on his development as a thinker and writer. For example, Lincoln regularly attended church services while president, and got down on his hands and knees to pray to God for a Union victory at Gettysburg.The highlight of Meacham's book is his analysis of Lincoln's three major speeches: at Cooper Union in New York City, the Gettysburg Address, and the Second Inaugural. Meacham also analyzes Lincoln's war altering Emancipation Proclamation. He breaks down the Lincoln-Douglas Debates, and shows how Lincoln prevailed over Stephen Douglas, a better-educated political opponent.Lincoln's early life was not promising. He was born in a long cabin in the hill country of rural Kentucky. His father was an uneducated dirt farmer, who did not think much of his son's interest in books and learning. While a hard man to please, Lincoln's father was an abolitionist, who had his family regularly attend an anti-slavery Baptist Church. Lincoln's mother died suddenly when he was nine. This was after the Lincoln family had moved to southern Indiana. Soon thereafter, his father met and married Sarah Bush, who immediately recognized that young Abe was unusually bright, and encouraged him to pursue learning. Meacham writes a great deal about Lincoln's love of books and his life-long pursuit of learning. Critically, from a very young age, Lincoln opposed slavery. The mere sight of manacled African Americans could make him ill.When Lincoln was a teen his family moved to New Salem, Illinois, where Lincoln would grow into manhood. All the while, Lincoln was wracked with doubt, and occasionally suffered from depression.As a young man, politics consumed Lincoln's interest, and he ran and won a seat in the Illinois State Legislature. While living in the state capital of Alton, he became an admirer of the leader of the Whig Party, Senator Henry Clay, a staunch abolitionist. After leaving office, Lincoln moved to Springfield, and took up the study of law. Having passed the bar exam, he began riding the state's southern circuit, as a successful country lawyer.While in his mid-twenties, Lincoln met and married a woman from a prominent Kentucky family. This was Mary Todd, an attractive and bright young lady, with a volcanic temper. Despite their stormy relationship, the two were wed, and had three sons. At the same time, the nation was becoming increasingly embroiled over the issue of slavery, particularly after the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, a law that was written by a northeast Congressman, who now resided in Springfield. This was a pro-slavery advocate named Stephen A. Douglas. After hearing Douglas speak in public several times, Lincoln proposed the two begin a public debate. Douglas accepted, and the two traveled throughout Illinois, debating the volatile issue of slavery. This was, of course, the famed Lincoln-Douglas debates that would make Lincoln a national political figure.To help promote himself, Lincoln accepted a speaking engagement at Cooper Union, in New York City. The sophisticated New Yorkers came away deeply impressed with what this midwesterner had to say, especially about his views on slavery. After that Lincoln continued his speaking tour through the northeast.The following summer, on the third ballot, the Republican party nominated Abraham Lincoln as their candidate for president. At this point, the nation was very much aware of Lincoln's stand on the slavery issue, particularly below the Mason-Dixon Line. After he was elected, several southern states announced they were seceding from the Union. When Lincoln arrived in Washington, the capital was awash in a state of agitation. Few believed Lincoln would survive his journey, or having arrived safely, live long enough to give his inaugural address. And that's how it was throughout all four years of the bloody civil war, with Lincoln living under a constant threat on his life.For two years the war went badly for the Union's Army of the Potomac, until Lincoln found a general who would fight. This was a fellow midwesterner, named Ulysses S. Grant. Despite Grant's success in leading the Army of the Potomac into northern Virginia, intrigues continued to agitate the capital, with endless proposals of compromise settlements. All the while, Lincoln would not be deterred from his goal of ending southern slavery, kept his head during the 1864 presidential election, which he expected to lose, but to his astonishment, actually won.That spring, Confederate General Robert E. Lee's surrendered at Appomattox, thus ending the American Civil War. Washington was in a celebratory mood, as Lincoln and his wife made their way to the Ford's Theater. By the following morning, word spread that Lincoln had been killed by an assassin, resulting in dark mood descending upon upon Washington, and throughout all the towns and cities above the Mason-Dixon."Now he belongs to the ages," lamented Edwin Stanton, Lincoln's Secretary of War.Lincoln's name would join a long list of martyrs who had been killed, while making the world a better place. Indeed, Lincoln ended slavery in the United States, and freed the lives of some four million Black Americans.

Wonderful read about a very important man who thought carefully and wrote and spoke brilliantly. Meacham has captured his many moments and insights and sadness in his life. Buy it and read it and share it but keep it forever for yourself and your children and grandchildren.

At 421 pages this is fairly short biography of Lincoln and his times but the author hits all the key points and events. This is not a book that concentrates on civil war battles but a full and fair look at Lincoln and the era he lived in along with the many personal tribulations he endured. The author succeeds in bringing the reader back in time and experiencing what it was like when the nation was physically, economically and morally fractured and shows Lincoln with his wisdom and flaws knitting it back together

Jon Meacham is one of our finest American historians and Presidential biographers. In this era in which far too many are either unaware of, or have forgotten, American history, his books are there for the ages.It is therefore no surprise that despite the thousands of books on Abraham Lincoln that Meacham still tackles the subject head-on. Though he does not appear to have broken any new ground, Meacham provides an eloquent retelling of the life of Lincoln. Not overlooking Lincoln’s faults, Meacham convincingly demonstrates how Lincoln gradually advanced in his racial views. It seemed the more Lincoln studied the issue of slavery the more he hardened in his determination to end it. Frederick Douglass was no doubt a huge influence on Lincoln. Still, had Lincoln not been “practical” and a disciple of gradualism until the time was right, Lincoln would not have become President and then taken the bold steps needed to end slavery. Our nation owes Abraham Lincoln a debt it can never repay. Meacham is terrific in reinforcing these themes and leaving his readers with the impression of how unique a man Lincoln was and how right he was for the times.Meacham’s treatment of the tumultuous times just before Lincoln’s swearing-in as President in March 1860, including those who threatened violence and wanted Vice-President John Breckinridge (a future Confederate general) to refuse to certify the electoral vote from each State, is a chilling reminder how easily Americans can forget and/or ignore their history. The quotes from Winfield Scott about taking actions against those lawless miscreants who wanted to stop the electoral count are timeless and priceless. There are other dramatic moments related in the book.Why then can I not give this book 5 stars? A number of problems, some small. The largest problem I have is the narrative becomes dense at times, almost as if I was a student in a graduate level course in college. The second large problem is the excessive amount of quotations that at times seem to overwhelm the narrative. I enjoy quotes as much as the average history reader, but at times I felt as if I was fighting through the brush of the Wilderness in May 1864 that Union and Confederate soldiers encountered. This problem in particular took away from my enjoyment of the author’s treatment of Lincoln’s second inaugural address in 1864. Compare Meacham’s account with that of Ronald White in his biography, A. Lincoln, and you will easily see how much more accessible White’s account is to the average reader versus the Ph.D version provided by Meacham.I also felt some subjects were given short shrift in sacrifice to unnecessary extended quotes and intellectual analysis, sometimes on minor points. Another reoccurring problem for me was in the photographs and illustrations in the book. While I have no objection in looking at new faces, far too many “unknowns” are included in this book for whom recollection afterwards is only ephemeral at best.Still, Meacham’s book stands near, though not in, the top rank of biographies on Abraham Lincoln. For my money, Ronald White’s biography and Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Team of Rivals collectively provide the best narrative on Abraham Lincoln’s life (still waiting for Sidney Blumenthal to complete his five-volume biography before I pass judgment).