One Man Great Enough

by John C. Waugh

Overview

How did Abraham Lincoln, long held as a paragon of presidential bravery and principled politics, find his way to the White House? How did he become this one man great enough to risk the fate of the nation on the well-worn but cast-off notion that all men are created equal?

Here award-winning historian John C. Waugh takes us on Lincoln’s road to the Civil War. From Lincoln's first public rejection of slavery to his secret arrival in the capital, from his stunning debates with Stephen Douglas to his contemplative moments considering the state of the country he loved, Waugh shows us America as Lincoln saw it and as Lincoln described it. Much of this wonderful story is told by Lincoln himself, detailing through his own writing his emergence onto the political scene and the evolution of his beliefs about the Union, the Constitution, democracy, slavery, and civil war. Waugh brings Lincoln’s path into new reliefby letting the great man tell his own story, at a depth that brings us ever closer to understanding this mysterious, complicated, truly great man.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780156034630
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	02/13/2009
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	496
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.90(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

John C. Waugh is the award-winning author of four other books about the Civil War, two of which—Reelecting Lincoln and The Class of 1846—were Main Selections of the History Book Club. A former bureau chief of the Christian Science Monitor, his writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, and the Civil War Times Illustrated. He lives in Pantego, Texas.

Table of Contents

Prologue: The Uncoiling of the Serpent 1

Part 1 Who He Was and Where He Came From 5

1 The Dark and Bloody Ground 7

2 The Hoosier Years 11

Part 2 Making His Way 21

3 New Salem 23

4 Politics 33

5 Vandalia 39

Part 3 The Issue's Dark Side 47

6 Death in Alton 49

Part 4 Political Enemies and Female Enigmas 61

7 Springfield 63

8 Young Hickory 73

9 The Ballyhoo Campaign 85

10 Lincoln in Love 105

Part 5 On the National Stage 117

11 The Steam Engine in Breeches and the Engine that Knew No Rest 119

12 "Who Is James K. Polk?" 129

13 Laying Congressional Pipe 143

14 Seeing Spots 153

Part 6 Eclipse 165

15 Lincoln's Other Life 167

16 What He Had Become 183

17 Tempest 193

Part 7 Clash of the Giants 201

18 Lincoln Emerges 203

19 Political Earthquake 221

20 At the Crossroads 233

21 Axe Handles and Wedges 239

22 A House Divided 249

23 The Debates 265

Part 8 On the Glory Road 285

24 Spreading the Gospel 287

25 Cooper Union 295

26 Reaching for the Brass Ring 309

27 Chicago 319

Part 9 From Ballots to Bullets 339

28 The Four Legged Race 341

29 Firebell in the Night 359

30 Getting There 377

31 The War Comes 397

Epilogue: Twilight of the Little Giant 413

In Appreciation 419

Notes 422

Sources Cited 455

Index 464

Editorial Reviews

PRAISE FOR REELECTING LINCOLN

"Reelecting Lincoln . . . brings a great deal of discrete information together in an informative fashion and it is, as Waugh well knows—and well tells it—a terrific story." —The Washington Post

"Waugh . . . recounts the 1864 election with great narrative skill. The story sweeps along, with brilliant vignettes of all the players in the drama and one vivid scene after another." —The New York Times Book Review —

From the Publisher