Product Description

The American president has come to be the most powerful figure in the world—and back in the nineteenth century a great man held that office. William Lee Miller’s new book closely examines that great man in that hugely important office: Abraham Lincoln as president.

Wars waged by American presidents have come to be pivotal historical events. Here Miller analyzes the commander in chief who coped with the profound moral dilemmas of America’s bloodiest war.

In his acclaimed book Lincoln’s Virtues (“A fascinating account, sensitively written, rich in insight” —Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.), Miller explored Abraham Lincoln’s intellectual and moral development. Now he completes his “ethical biography,” showing the amiable and inexperienced backcountry politician transformed by constitutional alchemy into an oath-bound head of state, slapped in the face from the first minute of his presidency by decisions of the utmost gravity and confronted by the radical moral contradiction left by the nation’s Founders: universal ideals of Equality and Liberty and the monstrous injustice of human slavery.

With wit and penetrating sensitivity, Miller shows us a Lincoln with unusual intellectual power, as he brings together the great themes that will be his legend—preserving the United States of America while ending the odious institution that corrupted the nation’s meaning. Miller finds in this superb politician a remarkable presidential combination: an indomitable resolve, combined with the judgment that keeps it from being mindless stubbornness; and a supreme magnanimity, combined with the discriminating judgment that keeps it from being sentimentality. Here is the realistic war leader persisting after multiple defeats, pressing his generals to take the battle to the enemy, insisting that the objective was the destruction of Lee’s army and not the capture of territory, saying that breath alone kills no rebels, remarking that he regretted war does not admit of holy days, asking whether one could believe that he would strike lighter blows rather than heavier ones, or leave any card unplayed. And here is the pardoner, finding every excuse to keep from shooting the simple soldier boy who deserts. Here too is the eloquent leader who describes the national task in matchless prose, and who rises above vindictiveness and triumphalism as he guides the nation to a new birth of freedom.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #55560 in Books
• Published on: 2008-02-05
• Released on: 2008-02-05
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 512 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Subtle and nuanced, this study is something of a sequel to Miller's Lincoln's Virtues. Here he examines Honest Abe's moral and intellectual life while in the White House, prosecuting a bloody war. Miller finds that early in his presidency, Lincoln balanced two strong ethical imperatives—his duty to preserve the union and his determination not to fire the first shots. Of course, Miller also addresses that other great moral challenge: slavery. In short, says Miller, Lincoln believed slavery was not only profoundly wrong but profoundly wrong specifically as measured by this nation's moral essence, and he used a terrific amount of political savvy to push through emancipation. But more original is Miller's discussion of what Lincoln thought was at stake in the war. Through a close reading of the president's papers, Miller persuasively argues that Lincoln believed secession would not merely diminish or damage the United States but would destroy it. That, in turn, was an issue of global import, for if the American experiment failed, free government would not be secure anywhere. Miller has given us one of the most insightful accounts of Lincoln published in recent years. (Feb. 5)
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Review
Praise for William Lee Miller’s President Lincoln

“Miller is uncommonly skilled at blending narrative and analysis…. President Lincoln is one
of the best and most beautifully written accounts of the great man’s years in the White House.” —Michael F. Bishop, Washington Post Book World

“A superb encounter….Miller’s portrait of Lincoln exhibits many familiar facets, but by isolating
and judging him on that moral plane he shows how intelligence, humor, patience, and character
can combine spectacularly.” —John Barron, Chicago Sun-Times

“[T]horoughly explored and beautifully argued.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Subtle and nuanced . . . one of the most insightful accounts of Lincoln published in recent years.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Splendid . . . This rich and rewarding book should be enjoyed by all those interested in Lincoln or the presidency in general.” —Roger Bishop, Bookpage

“Miller’s examination will hearten Lincoln admirers everywhere.” —Gilbert Taylor, Booklist

“[Miller] uses his formidable scholarship to illustrate and sketch–seemingly effortlessly–Lincoln’s genius for leadership. . . . That’s not to say, however, that it is written in a ponderous or clunky ‘academic’ style; far from it. Indeed, the author shows a wry sense of humor. . . . The reader of The Duty of a Statesman will, almost certainly, come away feeling that they know Abraham Lincoln far better than they did.. . . But they also may feel they have more than a glimmer of what qualities are essential for any leader of this nation.” —Jack Lessenberry, Toledo Blade

“There are thousands of Lincoln biographies available, but Miller’s, with his focus on statescraft, deserves to be placed alongside the masterpieces by David Herbert Donald, Merrill Peterson and Michael Burlingame. . . . [A]n exceptional portrait of one of the greatest statesmen in American history.” —Tom de Poto, Sunday Star-Ledger


Praise for Lincoln’s Virtues
“Miller pursues this ever-intriguing interior Lincoln in his usual witty, reader–friendly and conversational voice. In this journey through a great and uncommonly large sensibility, we feel we are in the hands of a Virgil worthy of the trip.” —Edwin M. Yoder, Jr., Washington Post Book World

“Compelling and readable.” —John A. Barnes, The Wall Street Journal

“Miller writes in a pleasingly conversational tone that eases the reader into and through some complex discussions. . . . The depth of this study is obvious and impressive. He presents his ideas with a youthful enthusiasm, leavened with wisdom granted by age. Lincoln’s Virtues is a worthy testament to the goodness of a great man.” —Mark Dunkelman, Providence Journal

“As engrossing and intriguing an explanation for Lincoln’s emergence as I have read in years, in a book full of wisdom, insight, and charm.” —Harold Holzer, Civil War Book Review

About the Author

William Lee Miller, Scholar in Ethics and Institutions at the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia, has also taught at Yale, Smith College, and Indiana University. He is a member of the board of the Abraham Lincoln Institute, of the Lincoln Studies Group, and of the Lincoln Bicentennial Commission's advisory committee. His previous books include Arguing About Slavery: John Quincy Adams and the Great Battle in the American Congress and Lincoln’s Virtues: An Ethical Biography. He lives in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Customer Reviews

The genius of Lincoln, parsed and saluted
Miller had an almost throwaway line about halfway through the book where he stated his opinion that Lincoln was the most intelligent president we've ever had, bar none -- not even Jefferson.

And, by the time I got done, I came to the impression that this statement (with which I heartily agree) was the fulcrum of the whole book.

Miller breaks Lincoln's Civil War activities down into easily reviewed and analyzed chunks, and in doing so, parses, pulls out, and displays Lincoln's intelligence undergoing presidential growth, meeting the challenges and rising to the occasion.

A couple of other specifics. Miller does an excellent job of defending Lincoln against improperly revisionist historians' (there are properly revisionist historians) charges of racism or similar. Lincoln was moderatly left of center on racial enlightenment, in terms of his day and age, even before becoming president, and grew vastly after taking office. As for colonization ideas, Lincoln was not racist, nor was he alone in proposing colonization, nor was he alone in why he proposed it.

Miller is not a hagiographer, though. He points out that Lincoln did have one notable weakness, indeed somewhat of a failing, in his administration -- Indian affairs. The 1862 Minnesota Sioux uprising and its aftermath are cited as evidence.

That said, had Lincoln served a second term, free from the Civil War, although dealing with Reconstruction, I certainly agree with the implied idea of Miller that Lincoln would have exhibited the same degree of growth in Indian affairs as he did elsewhere.

Outstanding
First off , Miller writes well. Very well. The voice is conversational. And the insights flow: how Lincoln saw the war as a transcedent matter(after all the South withdrew from the union because they lost an election; no fundanmental rights were infringed;how can any republican government survive that?); the way Lincoln mixed mercy, strategically used, with a firmness to do anything(and anything covered a lot of ground for Lincoln) within his power to save the idea of a republican government; how he never let it be about him and his needs, but always about the greater needs of the cause he served( the writing on how he dealt with McClellan ,and the border states is superb; makes you wish our current politicans had more of the stuff of which Lincoln was made). A must read for anyone interested in the war and, more importantly, on what makes a great leader, political or otherwise.

A great book by William Miller on our greatest President's tumultous and defining term of office
Wlliam Lee Miller's new book on US President Abraham Lincoln focuses entirely on the 1861-1865 period when Lincoln was chief executive and the nation suffered through a horrendous Civil War. Miller is an eloquent author and an expert on Lincoln. His book is a combination of narrative laced with a detailed study of several of the moral issues the Kentucky railsplitter faced in office. Among these Gordian Knot problems upon which Lincoln had to decide were:
1. Whether to supply Fort Sumter by sea or allow the Charleston SC.fort to be surrendered to the new Confederate government without a shot being fired? Lincoln had promised to "preserve, protect and defend" the Constitution in his inaugural address on March 4, 1861. He believed the President of the United States should defend our territory so refused to give up on Sumter. The Confederates fired on the fort leading to a declaration of war with the United States. The Civil War would cost over
600,000 lives-2/3 of them because of disease and insanitary conditions.
2. Lincoln made the decision to issue the Emancipation Proclamation freeing slaves in Confederate controlled areas as of January 1, 1863. As a wily politician this act did not apply to slaves held in Union held but slave states. All African-Americans in bondage would be freed by the 13th Amendment of the US Constitution following the great emancipator's death
by assassination on April 15, 1865.
3. Miller cites several examples of Lincoln's mercy to soldiers convicted by court martial. He could be tough refusing to save the life of Nathaniel Gordon a slave ship owner and a man who shot a white officer leading a parade of black soldiers in Norfolk, Va. Lincoln was a kind and merciful man who was without hubris or self-glorification.
4. Lincoln showed mercy to most of the Indians who had been involved in the war launched against white settlers in Minnesota in 1863.
5. Lincoln was a great war leader getting rid of poor generals such as George McClellan and choosing fighters like Grant, Sherman and Sheridan to lead the north to victory. He favored a tolerant policy to the South following the war. Unfortunately he died before Reconstruction which proved to be harsh under Andrew Johnson.
6. The Civil War, says Miller, was not total war as civilians were not targeted for death although their property was destoyed by armies. This especially occurred during Sherman's March to the Sea.
7. Lincoln expressed the highest aspirations of republican government in his great speeches. He was in favor of the common person and had no tolerance for rulership by an aristocratic elite.
Lincoln saw his purpose as President to be dominated by two major themes: 1. The preservation of the United States governed by the Constitution 2. The elimination of chattel slavery and the granting of citizenship to the four million Africa-Americans who lived in America. Lincoln was not a racist but a friend of blacks. He welcomed the black leader Frederick Douglass to the White House.
William Lee Miller's book should be required reading in any course dealing with the American Civil War, Presidential Leadership or the life of Lincoln. This great and good man shows us that morality in high office can be practiced by a skillful politician.
This books should be read in tandem with Miller's earlier book on Lincoln's virtues which takes our sixteenth president through his career up until election as President of the United States.
A book to treasure!