BOO
Abraham Lincoln’s Path to ReElection in 1864: Our Greatest Victory Fred J. Martin, Jr.
What if George McClellan had been elected President in 1864? He would have negotiated a peace with Jefferson Davis and the “United States” would have become divided states, not just north and south but probably in other directions as well. And then Woodrow Wilson, a southerner, might never have become President of the Northern states and even if he had, he would have been unable to lead a powerful western democracy to exert a decisive influence in the first World War. Germany, then, would probably have won and Hitler would not have come to power. When FredMartin, Jr., calls Lincoln’s re-election in 1864 “Our Greatest Victory” he doesn’t spell out the potential consequences of a Lincoln defeat or who the “Our” of his title is. “Our” is every human being who lived in the 20th Century or who lives in the 21st. A Lincoln defeat would have altered human history in ways we can barely begin to imagine. With a reporter’s sense of the story and the story behind the story, Martin lays out the issues and actions that shaped that critical election. Carefully researched and skillfully reported, he helps us see how that critical election took place and why it became indeed “Our Greatest Victory.”
“Our” Victory Indeed!
—Christopher L. Webber
I’ve been mildly interested in the Civil War for a few years now, but it wasn’t until I saw the movie Lincoln that I became really curious about Abraham Lincoln, both as a person and as a politician. I found Fred Martin and his book, Abraham Lincoln’s Path to Reelection in 1864, on Goodreads and was pleasantly surprised by the way Martin blended his (obviously) extensive knowledge of Lincoln’s career with a down-to-earth telling of the most important election in it.
Much of the book focuses on Lincoln’s own words— exact quotes—taken from speeches, letters, and conversations to give the reader an inside view on why Lincoln played things out politically the way he did. I felt like I got a deep education about the election of 1864, while still enjoying myself as a reader throughout the narrative. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in Abraham Lincoln, the Civil War, or even American government in general. However, readers should also know that this isn’t a full biography of Lincoln (although it does contain a summary of Lincoln’s childhood at the beginning of the book).
Great for Lincoln Newbies AND Lincoln Scholars — Lauren M. Sapala
80 EC Magazines | Christmas Edition 2020
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