The most essential writings of America’s heroic Civil War president, complete with detailed notes, a chronology of Lincoln’s life and political career, and an introduction by the novelist Gore Vidal
Ranging from finely honed legal argument to wry and some sometimes savage humor to private correspondence and political rhetoric of unsurpassed grandeur, the writings collected in this volume are at once a literary testament of the greatest writer ever to occupy the White House and a documentary history of America in Abraham Lincoln''s time. They record Lincoln''s campaigns for public office; the evolution of his stand against slavery; his electrifying debates with Stephen Douglas; his conduct of the Civil War; and the great public utterances of his presidency, including the Emancipation Proclamation and the Gettysburg Address.
Library of America Paperback Classics feature authoritative texts drawn from the acclaimed Library of America series and introduce
