Abraham Lincoln Sources and Style of Leadership

Subjects:

• History » American Civil War & Reconstruction History
• Political Science » Presidential Studies

Reviews:

• This collection of nine essays, each of which looks at Abraham Lincoln's leadership from a different perspective, deserves examination by Lincoln specialists and others with a serious interest in his leadership qualities. The nine essayists represent a rich diversity in scholarly experience and in knowledge of Lincoln's life and achievements.
  —
  The Filson Club History Quarterly
• The skill of the editors combined with the cooperation of the authors has led to a slim but useful volume. What makes this book particularly valuable is its tight focus on leadership. Abraham Lincoln can be considered something of an invitation to scholars to address other aspects of Lincoln's style of leadership. An for that invitation, we should be greatful to the Abraham Lincoln Association as well as to the editors of this volume. They have done their job well.
  —Illinois Historical Journal

• Endorsement From Mario M. Cuomo
  Former Governor of New York and coeditor of Lincoln on Democracy: Frank J. Williams and William D. Pederson have here preserved for posterity the proceedings of a landmark event: the first symposium on the Lincoln theme ever held in the Deep South--appropriately enough, in a college founded under legislation Lincoln himself signed into law. But the surest indication of Lincoln's universal and timeless appeal, is that these essays will interest and intrigue readers everywhere, regardless of geographical or political affiliation. The result is a valuable addition to the Lincoln bookshelf.
• Endorsement From Mark E. Neely, Jr.
  St. Louis University: From Japan to Idaho, form Aristotle to U.S. Grant, this book offers wide-ranging perspectives on presidential leadership, with something for nearly every student of Lincoln's all-important public life.
• Endorsement From James M. McPherson
  G.H. Davis 1886 Professor of American History, Princeton University: Leadership is the most important but at the same time most mysterious attribute of statesmanship. This book illumines the multiple dimensions of Lincoln's leadership, thereby lessening the mystery while providing wonderful new insights on the qualities that made Lincoln the nation's greatest president who led it through its greatest crisis.
• Endorsement From James MacGregor Burns
  Williams College: This collection does full justice to the "real" Lincoln, the Lincoln who rose above "pragmatism" to search out and rethink the evocative but often hazy ideas in the Jeffersonian tradition, and apply them creatively to the great crisis at hand. An indispensable work on our most "cerebral" leader, who was able ultimately to convert his ideals into practice.
• Endorsement From Merrill D. Peterson
  University of Virginia: The fecundity of Lincoln scholarship is marvelous. Here is new proof of it--a set of conference papers ranging over subjects as diverse as Lincoln's "classical prudence," his poetry, and his relations with Idaho--and it is all the more interesting because it comes from the Deep South.

Table of Contents:

• Preface by Frank J. Williams, William D. Pederson, and Vincent J. Marsala
• Introduction: Sources and Style of Lincoln's Leadership by Frank J. Williams and William D. Pederson
• Sources of Leadership: Influences on Lincoln
• Under the Circumstances: Abraham Lincoln and Classical Prudence by Ethan Fishman
• Lincoln's View of the Founding Fathers by Ronald D. Rietveld
• Abraham Lincoln and the Declaration of Independence: The Meaning of Equality by Joseph R. Fornieri
• Lincoln's Poetry and Prose by James A. Stevenson
• Style and Quality of Leadership: Lincoln as Civil War Leader
• "I Shall Never Recall a Word" by David E. Long
• Lincoln and Grant: A Reappraisal of a Relationship by Brooks D. Simpson
• Abraham Lincoln and Southern White Unionism by William C. Harris
• Lincoln and Idaho: A Rocky Mountain Legacy by David H. Leroy
• Coda: A Cross-National View
• Lincoln and Leadership: An International Perspective by Frank J. Williams
• Select Bibliography by Brenda J. Cox
• Index