Frank L. Weyenberg Library Blog: Abraham Lincoln

Why is Lincoln so popular today? Of all the books on the Library’s shelves, the one person with the most titles has got to be Abraham Lincoln. Everyone knows the story of how Lincoln grew up in a log cabin and went on to become perhaps the greatest president. The appeal is universal. Thus anything new, written or recorded about him is guaranteed to be popular.

Take Bill O’Reilly’s book, Killing Lincoln: the shocking assassination that changed America forever. This book came out over a year ago. It’s still on the bestseller’s list and still has Library holds on it. While it may not be the best book on Lincoln, people still want to read the story. Steven Spielberg’s new movie, Lincoln, which came out last month, has been attracting large audiences too. I can say I too saw that one. Even President Obama, a Lincoln fan himself, got in the act by hosting a pre-screening of Spielberg’s movie at the White House. Again, the appeal factor is the man himself and his steadfast ideas.

Abraham Lincoln was born February 12, 1809 in one room log cabin in Kentucky. According to Wikipedia, Lincoln’s father Thomas enjoyed considerable status in Kentucky until he lost all of his land, two 600 acre farms in Kentucky, because of faulty property titles. The family then moved north across the Ohio River to Perry County which is now Spencer County, Indiana. Lincoln’s mother Nancy died of milk sickness when he was just nine. Sarah, Lincoln’s sister, took over the care of him. Thomas Lincoln remarried a widow, Sarah Bush Johnston, who had three children. Lincoln became very close to his stepmother. Life in the frontier was difficult. Lincoln had little education. He was mostly self educated and was quite an avid reader.

Fearing a milk sickness outbreak in 1830, the family again moved west where they settled on public land in Macon County, Illinois. Lincoln was at the age when he longed for a better life for himself so he went off to New Salem, IL. He was hired by a businessman to take goods on a flatboat down to New Orleans. Here he experienced slavery first hand. In 1832 he and a partner bought a general store in New Salem. After a struggle he sold his share of the business. He began his first political campaign for a seat in the Illinois General Assembly. He lost that election probably because of his lack of education, powerful friends and money. In 1834 he won election to the state legislature. He moved to Springfield, IL and went on to study law and became a lawyer. Lincoln served four successive terms in the Illinois House of Representatives. In 1846 Lincoln was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives for one two-year term and then continued practicing law in Springfield.

In the 1850’s slavery was still legal in the southern states and Lincoln returned to politics opposing the pro-slavery Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. Lincoln ran as a Whig for the U.S. Senate seat from Illinois. After leading in the opening rounds his support dwindled. In 1858 he battled Stephen Douglas for a seat in the U.S. Senate, but it turned out be a bitter loss for Lincoln. In 1860 Lincoln was nominated and elected the 16^th President of the United States and re-elected in 1864. Lincoln was married to Mary Todd Lincoln and had four sons. Lincoln died on April 15, 1865.

Look for these new and exciting titles about Lincoln

Rise to greatness: Abraham Lincoln and America’s most perilous year by David Von Drehle

The hammer and the anvil: Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln and the end of slavery in America by Dwight Jon Zimmerman

Emancipating Lincoln: the proclamation in text, context and memory by Harold Holzer

The long road to Antietam: how the Civil War became a revolution by Richard Slotkin

Decided on the battlefield: Grant, Sherman, Lincoln, and the election of 1864 by David Johnson

Lincoln on war edited by Harold Holzer

Abraham Lincoln and Horace Greeley by Gregory A. Borchard

The dogs of war, 1861 by Emory M. Thomas

Presidental avenger: Boston Corbett by Robert K. Lieding, Sr.

In novels

The Lincoln conspiracy: a novel by Timothy L. O’Brien