With Malice Toward None - The Life of Abraham Lincoln

"With Malice Toward None: A Life of Abraham Lincoln" by Stephen B. Oates, publisher: Harper and Row, copyright 1977.

This book takes the reader from birth to death in the life of Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln's biography goes beyond the textbook and brings even greater respect and deeper honor to this well known president. The first half of the book is spent detailing his career as a lawyer and politician, which reveals the character and determination of Lincoln as well as the development of his personal and political convictions.

The reader actually senses a climax as the presidential election of 1860 takes place with the Southern States seceding from the Union before Abraham Lincoln is even inaugurated. The book is thorough in its recount of Lincoln's supporters and detractors; including those men he surrounded himself with on a daily basis. For Civil War buffs this biography takes a different perspective; what the war looked like from the President's office. President Lincoln was a somber man of deep thought and concern for the responsibility he bore.

He stood firm on the principles he was elected on even amidst great pressure to compromise. Politics then were not that much different from politics now. In fact I was surprised to learn that there was a "Peace Movement" with demonstrations in the North, as well as "race riots" (white people were rioting.) It sounded very much like the tumultuous times of the Vietnam War. He anguished over the progress of the war with its casualties and his decision to emancipate the slaves at risk of further dividing our nation. I couldn't help but be impressed with the recounting of Gettysburg and the subsequent speech the President gave at the battlefield. His second inaugural speech was also moving, anticipating the end of the war; he sets forth the tone of reconciliation:

"With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan-to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and a lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations."

President Abraham Lincoln was a man of great character. He had experienced tragedy on the personal as well as the national level, and yet had great compassion and sympathy for those around him. This book is well worth reading.

Terri Marks is a baby boomer wife, mother and grandmother in Madison, Wisconsin. She has a life full of colorful events and observations. Her hobbies are bird-watching, gardening and serving at her church. She publishes her own ezine at http://www.calicowoman.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Terri_Marks http://www.pippoproducts.com/education/index.html