He was, we are told,” William Herndon wrote, “five feet ten inches high, weighed one hundred and ninety-five pounds, had a well-rounded face, dark hazel eyes, coarse black hair, and was slightly stoop-shouldered. The idea of light, existing first in God’s mind, was given form by the words “Let there be light” or “Let light exist. A poor condition book can still make a good reading copy but is generally not collectible unless the item is very scarce. One of their grandchildren, Mordecai, became a successful man in central Pennsylvania, marrying Hannah Saltar, a well-connected daughter of a New Jersey family that included lawmakers in the colonial assembly and an acting royal governor.

illegitimate children are oftentimes sturdier and brighter than those born in lawful wedlock,” Herndon said, “and in his case, he believed that his better nature and finer qualities came from this broad-minded, unknown Virginian.It is a story that shows Lincoln as a real human being, not a mythical figure, and Meacham delivers it almost as well as he has written it. The Bible records this from Jesus’ earthly ministry, “When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, ‘I am the light of the world. A young Abraham Lincoln was steeped in the notions about the wrong of slavery and the rights of man as explained by Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Paine.

The Union wasn’t performing well in the war, and emancipation, Lincoln hoped, would encourage Black Americans to join them in the fight. This is not to separate Lincoln's moral vision from his moral sensibilities--an impossibility--but to underscore that he was acting not only for the moment, not only for dominion in the arena, but for all time.In a nation shaped by the courage of the enslaved of the era and by the brave witness of Black Americans of the nineteenth century, Lincoln’s story illuminates the ways and means of politics, the marshaling of power in a belligerent democracy, the durability of white supremacy in America, and the capacity of conscience to shape the maelstrom of events. I also listened to the audiobook (excellently narrated by the author), which ended at about the 41% point of the ebook.

All human beings, whether believers or unbelievers, need to turn away from any practice of trying to manipulate situations or speak things into beings. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. I have read many books about Lincoln but I did not know that there were fears that an attempt would be made to prevent the counting of the electoral votes and the declaration of Lincoln’s presidency. Echoes of that struggle still ring out today, making it essential to keep Lincoln’s story at the forefront of American consciousness. His personality, power, creativity, and beauty were expressed in creation the same way an artist’s personality and personal attributes are expressed through art or music.Ferguson, the Supreme Court upheld the racist principle of “separate but equal”; lynchings went on unabated, unprosecuted, and too little noted.