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The battles that made Abraham Lincoln : how Lincoln mastered his enemies to win the Civil War, free the slaves, and preserve the Union PDF

596 Pages·2012·7.14 MB·English
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Preview The battles that made Abraham Lincoln : how Lincoln mastered his enemies to win the Civil War, free the slaves, and preserve the Union

© 2012 by Larry Tagg All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Printed in the United States of America. First edition, first printing Tagg, Larry. The Battles That Made Abraham Lincoln: How Lincoln Mastered his Enemies to Win the Civil War, Free the Slaves, and Preserve the Union / Larry Tagg. — 1st ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-61121-126-9 ePUB ISBN: 9781611211276 1. Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865. 2. Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865—Public opinion. 3. United States—Politics and government—1861-1865. 4. Public opinion —United States. 5. Presidents—United States—Biography. I. Title. E457.15.T15 2012 973.7092—dc23 2012039015 Previously published in hardcover as The Unpopular Mr. Lincoln: The Story of America’s Most Reviled President, by Larry Tagg (ISBN: 978-1-932714-61-6 / 2009) Savas Beatie LLC 989 Governor Drive, Suite 102 P.O. Box 4527 El Dorado Hills, CA 95762 Phone: 916-941-6896 (E-mail) [email protected] Savas Beatie titles are available at special discounts for bulk purchases in the United States by corporations, institutions, and other organizations. For more details, contact Savas Beatie Special Sales, P.O. Box 4527, El Dorado Hills, CA 95762, or you may e-mail us directly at [email protected], or jump over to our informative website at www. savasbeatie.com for additional information. To my dear wife Lori Jablonski for her constant love and encouragement. “To say that he is ugly is nothing, to add that his figure is grotesque is to convey no adequate impression.” — Edward Dicey, 1862 Contents Introduction and Acknowledgments Part One: Lincoln’s Entrance Chapter 1: Lincoln Comes to Washington Chapter 2: The Presidency Chapter 3: The Rise of Party Politics Chapter 4: The Spoils System Chapter 5: The Slavery Debate Chapter 6: Lincoln’s Nomination Chapter 7: The 1860 Presidential Campaign Chapter 8: Lincoln’s Election Chapter 9: Lincoln in the Secession Winter Chapter 10: The Flight Toward Compromise Chapter 11: The Journey to Washington Chapter 12: Lincoln and the Merchants Part Two: Lincoln’s First Eighteen Months Chapter 13: Lincoln’s First Impression Chapter 14: The First Inaugural Chapter 15: The Struggle with Seward, Then Sumter Chapter 16: The Capital Surrounded Chapter 17: The Hundred Days to Bull Run Chapter 18: The Rise of the Radical Republicans Chapter 19: The Phony War of 1861 Chapter 20: Democrats Disappear Chapter 21: A Military House Divided Part Three: Lincoln’s Proclamation Chapter 22: Lincoln, Race, and the North Chapter 23: Lincoln Awaits a Victory Chapter 24: Emancipation Promised Chapter 25: Emancipation Rebuked Chapter 26: Emancipation Proclaimed Chapter 27: The Rise of the Copperheads Chapter 28: Lincoln Addresses the Nation Part Four: Lincoln’s Reelection Chapter 29: The 1864 Republican Nomination Chapter 30: The Fall and the Temptation Chapter 31: The 1864 Election Chapter 32: The War at the End of the War Epilogue: The Sudden Saint Sources and Notes Bibliography Index Introduction to New Edition I t is the widely-held conviction of every election year that modern political campaigning is a creeping poison, more negative than ever. “Politics was never so mean!” is the common cry. The corrective for this view is a study of the campaigns against Abraham Lincoln. From the moment of his election, Lincoln had to contend with the people’s distrust of any authority. The Presidency, especially, was held in contempt by a public disgusted over the ravages of the Spoils System and rampant political corruption. The Founding Fathers—Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe—had given way to mediocrities—Taylor, Fillmore, Pierce, and Buchanan. For many, this recent string of watery presidents seemed to have its bitter culmination in “The Railsplitter,” the anonymous man from the prairie who had never administrated anything larger than a two-person law office. When he arrived in Washington, as a result of his awkward manners and his complete inattention to social convention and outward appearance, Lincoln had to battle the common prejudice concerning how a great man should look, act, and talk. Particularly among the elite, there was a shaking of heads after meeting Lincoln for the first time. The high-bred fastidious men of the East were aghast: How could anyone so ungentlemanly possibly be a statesman? Even before he took office, president-elect Lincoln was at odds with those who regarded the states as sovereign powers, men who believed that every state had the right to dissolve the Union when the result of a national canvass did not serve its interests. Lincoln refused to concede this right, and maintained his conviction that the seceded states were not a separate nation but remained a part of the United States. And the war came. From the war’s outset, Lincoln became the foe of almost every member of Congress. That institution had enjoyed preeminence in government since the first days of the American democratic experiment, and Lincoln toppled it from its

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