The Age of Lincoln and the Art of American Power 1848-1876

<p>Although Abraham Lincoln was among seven presidents who served during the tumultuous years between the end of the Mexican War and the end of the Reconstruction era history has not been kind to the others: Zachary Taylor Millard Fillmore Franklin Pierce James Buchanan Andrew Johnson and Ulysses S. Grant. In contrast history sees Abraham Lincoln as a giant in character and deeds. During his presidency he governed brilliantly developed the economy liberated four million people from slavery reunified the nation and helped enact the Homestead Act among other accomplishments. He proved to be not only an outstanding commander in chief but also a skilled diplomat economist humanist educator and moralist. Lincoln achieved that and more because he was a master of the art of American power. He understood that the struggle for hearts and minds was the essence of politics in a democracy. He asserted power mostly by appealing to people's hopes rather than their fears. All along he tried to shape rather than reflect prevailing public opinions that differed from his own. To that end he was brilliant at bridging the gap between progressives and conservatives by reining in the former and urging on the latter. His art of power ultimately reflected his unswerving devotion to the Declaration of Independence's principles and the Constitution's institutions or as he so elegantly expressed it to a government of the people by the people and for the people.</p><p></p><p></p><p>WILLIAM NESTER is a professor at St. John's University in New York City and the author of more than thirty books on various aspects of international relations including four for Potomac Books: <em>The Revolutionary Years 1775-1789</em>; <em>The Hamiltonian Vision 1789-1800</em>; <em>The Jeffersonian Vision 1801-1815</em>; and <em>The Age of Jackson and the Art of American Power 1815-1848</em>. He lives in New York City.</p><p></p>