Founders’ Son: A Life of Abraham Lincoln

Founder’s Son correlates Lincoln’s life with his relationship to the Founding Fathers, as seen through the evolution of Lincoln’s writings. It is a fascinating study. The book is relatively short, merely touching upon key events in Lincoln’s life; it looks primarily at the arc of Lincoln’s speeches and writings. As Lincoln grows in political influence, the Founders’ ideas crystallize his own, from editorial letters in small-town Illinois through the Lincoln-Douglas debates, the Gettysburg Address and his Second Inaugural. Brookhiser analyzes Lincoln’s actions and texts with precision, while explaining the surrounding issues and political quagmires with clarity, from the various compromises about slavery to the eventual crucible of the Civil War. In his most trying moments, Lincoln turned to the Founders for wisdom and counsel, in the foundational documents of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Sparkling personal stories from Lincoln’s life accent the narrative, keeping it accessible, and Lincoln, human; the deft historical explanation, in its breadth, gives a cohesive narrative of the lead-up to the Civil War that elucidates the various factions and competing platforms Lincoln had to bring together. The narrative sweeps forward with irresistible pacing, exciting and accessible; it is a unique and essential insight into this pivotal figure from American history.