2009: Year in Books, Part 2

Continuing my look at some of the books I read in 2009, I'll start now with Why the Civil War Came, edited by Gabor Boritt, which is a very nice collection of essays about the coming of the war, including his own thoughts on how Lincoln refused to see the war coming in time to try to prevent it, some interesting discussion of the failure of the U.S. political system, and other thought-provoking essays on topics like the Northern reaction to the war, as well as the pre-war actions of women and of African-Americans. It is a bit difficult to read at times, but is well worth the effort.

All That Makes a Man: Love and Ambition in the Civil War South by Stephen W. Berry is a book that I found difficult to read at times, trying to understand the language and themes he used, especially when he discussed psychological and philosophical themes . For some reason, it did not fit my personal style of what I like to read, or maybe I just did not fit it. This book discusses the role of love and ambition in Southern men, discussing gender roles and how that influenced the way men handled the controversies leading to the war. I liked how he used pairs of men as examples in different sections, showing how the experiences and lives of each compared and contrasted. It is a really good subject, with a lot of potential, but I just did not find this book as readable or as easy-flowing as his next book House of Abraham: Lincoln and the Todds, a Family Divided by War, which I read a couple of years ago.

I believe the following books (or most of them) have already been the subjects of reviews on my blog, but I will give them brief mention again here.

James P. Duffy's Lincoln's Admiral: The Civil War Campaigns of David Farragut is a very enjoyable, informative and smoothly-flowing review of the career of David Farragut, concentrating on his Civil War experiences on the Mississippi River, at New Orleans, Mobile Bay and other locals. I do wish it had included endnotes or footnotes, however.

I claim no objectivity on this one, as I do know Dr. James A Ramage and am privileged to work at the museum named in his honor, but still found his Rebel Raider: The Life of General John Hunt Morgan to be a very informative look at the life of this famed Confederate, offering both praise and critical analysis of Morgan's actions and decisions.

Another book that I found to be absolutely outstanding, both in style of writing and, especially, for its subject and treatment thereof was Mr. Lincoln's T-Mails: How Abraham Lincoln Used the Telegraph to Win the Civil War by Tom Wheeler. It is a concise, but informative review of Lincoln's uses of this new technology, which had not been available to any war-time U.S. President previously. Wheeler shows how Lincoln had no precedent on how to use such a tool, but how he found an effective way to employ it to his advantage.

One book which was a bit confusing at times due to the many voices used, yet still provided many unique and interesting perspectives was The Slaves' War: The Civil War in the Words of Former Slaves  , edited by Andrew Ward. The confusion came from so many different sources used, yet that added to the variety and diversity of opinions and viewpoints. There were surprising views as well, such as slaves thinking of Yankees as monsters, or protecting their masters' valuables from invading Northern forces. It took me some time to get used to the format but once I did, I found this to be a very interesting look at life from the perspectives of these who had lived as slaves during the war.

1776 by David McCullough took me away from pure Civil War studies, but I actually found several themes throughout the book that reminded me of various discussions of the "2^nd American Revolution," including the one large, powerful existing government versus the upstart Rebels and some mentions of sectional discord or distrust among the American leadership and troops. It is an outstanding book to read and gives a fascinating look at this pivotal year in American history.

A Yankee Goes to Gettysburg is a series of beautiful photographs from the Gettysburg battlefield followed by original poetry by Todd Patrick Coleman, a local author whom I have been fortunate enough to meet and befriend and whose book is available at the Ramage Museum. I enjoyed these short tributes to those who fought at that Pennsylvania town – they are not the typical poems with rhyming lines, but are of a more abstract style, while still adding meaning to the wonderful pictures. This is a book that can be read in one sitting, and is well worth it.

Daniel Mark Epstein wrote a fine book entitled Lincoln's Men: The President and his Private Secretaries that provides a nice perspective at some of the background work taking place in Lincoln's White House, and how Lincoln and these young men came to rely on each other for support and developed close relationships over the years. The amount of work these men (John Nicolay, John Hay & William Stoddard) did was amazing.

I did read one collection of diary and journal entries this year, and it was another fascinating book, concentrating on the last year and 4 months of the Confederacy. No Soap, No Pay, Diarrhea, Dysentary & Desertion: A Composite Diary of the Last 16 Months of the Confederacy compiled by Jeff Toalson, is exactly what its long title suggests. It takes excerpts from many people and locations to provide a diverse set of views of the end of the Civil War, including comments from soldiers, sailors and people at home, including women, some of whom had very strong opinions on Confederate leadership. This work is very enjoyable and informative.

William Lee Miller's President Lincoln: The Duty of a Statesman is a good solid look at Lincoln during his presidential years, focusing on his new-found role as not just a local lawyer and politician, but a statesman who now had worldwide correspondents and responsibilities. It focuses mostly, though, on h is role in America as a statesman and how his personal set of values and morals guided him through the tough job of war-time leader. I found it to be very enjoyable and informative, and a fairly easy read.

Lincoln at Peoria: The Turning Point by Lewis Lehrman was the final book I finished in 2009, and is one of my favorites, not just from that year. It is a very detailed, organized and fascinating look at the importance and impact of the speech Lincoln gave at Peoria, Illinois in October 1854. Lehrman argues, convincingly, I may add, that this speech marked a change in Lincoln's professional life, in terms of how he prepared and delivered his speeches, and about the topics he argued in those speeches. It simply is an outstanding book that I enjoyed about as much as any other I can recall reading. It, along with White's & McCullough's works, is one of the best I read in 2009, and perhaps in my life.

Book Review: Lincoln’s Men: The President and His Private Secretaries

Lincoln's Men: The President and His Private Secretaries

Author: Daniel Mark Epstein

HarperCollins

Copyright 2009

First Edition

Anyone who reads about the Civil War, particularly about President Abraham Lincoln, should be very familiar with the names John G. Nicolay and John Hay, and at least somewhat familiar with William Stoddard. While all three served as private secretaries to the President, Nicolay and Hay are the two whose names have become more recognizable.

Daniel Epstein's book provides a new and enjoyable look into the lives of these three men and how they interacted with their boss. He describes the extremely heavy workloads each faced, the varied job duties (even when they left on vacation, they usually had at least one assignment to work on in the area they were visiting from the President), new tasks (learning to be in charge of state dinners, for instance) and other challenges, particularly dealing with Mary Lincoln, whom Nicolay and Hay disliked and perhaps even feared, referring to her as the "Hellcat" or "Her Satanic Majesty." (Stoddard was the one of the three who had a more normal and friendly relationship with the First Lady.)

It is an entertaining and informative look, sort of a "behind-the-scenes" investigation into the workings of the White House in that chaotic time, as this small White House staff dealt with mountains of mail, including newspapers, and even death threats and other insulting correspondence people tried to get into Lincoln's hands. Sorting this out was quite the chore, as this book shows.

Epstein also goes in-depth into the actual personalities involved and their personal lives, not just the daily tasks they faced, including Nicolay's correspondence with his girlfriend/fiancée who had stayed behind in Illinois and Hay's possible romance with celebrated actress Jean Margaret Davenport Lavender. The author uses existing letters from Nicolay and letters and diary letters from the censored collection of Hay's papers to probe into their everyday lives, their feelings, frustrations and how tired they became trying to accomplish so much with such a little team. He even discusses Stoddard's gambling, both in the rooms in Washington and his possibly unseedy attempts to play the gold markets, possibly even using information he gathered from his job to help friends try to profit from the markets. Epstein makes it clear that Stoddard was the least dedicated and least able of the three young men who were there to help the President.

One small point I regretted about the book was the absence of illustrations. The cover design is the famous picture of President Lincoln seated between Nicolay and Hay (which, combined with the title of the book gives it an appearance awfully similar to William C. Davis' We Are Lincoln Men, (Simon & Schuster, 2004) ) but there are no other pictures, drawings or maps in this book. Another picture or too of Nicolay and Hay, even from much later in their life would have been nice, but I especially hoped to see a view of Stoddard and of the "lovely" Mrs. Lander, whose name and fame were so prominent through much of this volume. A map of Washington would have been appreciated as well, showing the locations of buildings the young secretaries visited often and how their locations compared to each other.

There were also one or two brief instances where I questioned some things. For instance, on page 167, he claims that Lincoln wrote his famous letter to James Conkling for a meeting of " 'Union Men' who objected to the president's policies" though it was actually to a meeting of supporters who were rallying to show the state's support for the Union after an earlier rally of the administration's opponents. He also quoted Edwin Stanton as saying, after Lincoln's death, "Now he belongs to the angels" (page 226) though most accounts say the final word was "ages."

Despite that nitpicking, however, I really enjoyed this book, and how it showed the relationship between the President and his secretaries, especially Nicolay and Hay. The trust they had in each other, their willingness and ability to help each other and the way they all recognized each other's strengths and skills all combined to form them into a very well-running machine that certainly aided each one, even the older President. They could share stories and jokes at all times of the day and night or read poetry or Shakespeare. Hay was especially noted as a good story-teller, much like the Chief Magistrate.

Lincoln's Men is a very well-written, readable book that is both informative and enjoyable. It provides a wonderful examination of how Lincoln and his team worked together through times of incredible stress to focus on the cause of preserving the Union and winning the war.