YOUR FORUM
Dear "Your Forum":
During Lincoln's tumultuous 1856, Franklin Pierce was president.
Pierce exacerbated divisions within the country (over slavery),
embarked on some ill-advised foreign adventures (like trying to buy
Cuba), and left the nation in worse shape than he found it. His poor
example must have inspired presidential ambitions in Lincoln,
thinking anyone could do a better job. (I can appreciate the
sentiment. Hardly a day goes by that I don't have the same
thought.) The best thing that can be said about Pierce is that
Buchanan was worse.
Was Lincoln inspired to the Presidency in response to the
deteriorating political situation in 1856 -- that is, to make things
better? Or did he run on an anti-slavery platform for its own sake?
The potential expansion of slavery into the West re-opened the slavery question with a sense of
urgency in the run-up to the 1856 elections. Lincoln responded to that issue with greater clarity and
commitment than he had shown before. In the midst of the fight against expansion, he made the
decision to join what would become the Republican Party, a mutually beneficial move that would
propel him to a presidential run in 1860.
Julie,
I read your Lincoln book this summer and couldn't put it down. My best
friend/partner is an author and we were at BEA in NYC and must have got
the book there as it isn't out yet correct? I wanted to post a review
at Amazon but didn't see how. It will only be positive as I loved the
book. I was both perplexed by the writing style - shifting gears so
quickly within the chapters - breaking off each paragraph but
ultimately it's what made the book what it is. I don't know how you
conducted this research as it amazing that documentation like this
existed but the circuit lawyers did leave a paper trail. I simply
wanted to parallel it to the importance of a great leader emerging now
- whomever that may be.
I just really enjoyed the entire concept of it being one book (Anderson case)
and really it was about the man's life, through the travels and people he met throughout this
year. I didn't know of what a circuit lawyer did and how off the cuff
your portray him yet well prepared at the same time. How the nascent
Republican party came to gel around the various meetings and
conventions and his speech that propelled him to be taken seriously.
All in all - good reading and thank you for responding. All the best
with the nail biting. I would think it's a matter of making sure what
needs to be done gets done. Is there still work on the book to be
done?
Cheers to the Lincoln book and how 1856 ultimately became an important
year.
I do teach in a public middle school. Not history, but truly we are
all historians - the good ole don't repeat the same mistakes.
Cheers,
Allen [last name withheld]
New Milford, Connecticut
Dear Allen,
Thank you for your very kind comments. For those who don't know, BEA is a book convention,
which was held in New York City this past June.
The book will be in bookstores October 11, so you did get quite a jump on it.
You asked if there is still any work to be done on the Lincoln book. I hope not -- It went to the printer
last week.
This morning, I woke up thinking I should have included one of Lincoln's funny stories, one of the
somewhat off-color ones that he told. I made elaborate plans to stop the presses and make
insistences. But by noon, I thought better f it. The book really attempts to describe what we know
did happen in Lincoln's life during the nine middle months of 1856. To blithely plunk a good story
down in the middle of it might be amusing for an instant, but it would jostle the greater intention -- of
letting us walk with Abraham Lincoln for just a little while.
Anyway, the publisher would have my head if I tried to make a change now! October 11 is right
around the corner.
- Julie Fenster
September 4, 2007
During Lincoln's tumultuous 1856, Franklin Pierce was president.
Pierce exacerbated divisions within the country (over slavery),
embarked on some ill-advised foreign adventures (like trying to buy
Cuba), and left the nation in worse shape than he found it. His poor
example must have inspired presidential ambitions in Lincoln,
thinking anyone could do a better job. (I can appreciate the
sentiment. Hardly a day goes by that I don't have the same
thought.) The best thing that can be said about Pierce is that
Buchanan was worse.
Was Lincoln inspired to the Presidency in response to the
deteriorating political situation in 1856 -- that is, to make things
better? Or did he run on an anti-slavery platform for its own sake?
The potential expansion of slavery into the West re-opened the slavery question with a sense of
urgency in the run-up to the 1856 elections. Lincoln responded to that issue with greater clarity and
commitment than he had shown before. In the midst of the fight against expansion, he made the
decision to join what would become the Republican Party, a mutually beneficial move that would
propel him to a presidential run in 1860.
Julie,
I read your Lincoln book this summer and couldn't put it down. My best
friend/partner is an author and we were at BEA in NYC and must have got
the book there as it isn't out yet correct? I wanted to post a review
at Amazon but didn't see how. It will only be positive as I loved the
book. I was both perplexed by the writing style - shifting gears so
quickly within the chapters - breaking off each paragraph but
ultimately it's what made the book what it is. I don't know how you
conducted this research as it amazing that documentation like this
existed but the circuit lawyers did leave a paper trail. I simply
wanted to parallel it to the importance of a great leader emerging now
- whomever that may be.
I just really enjoyed the entire concept of it being one book (Anderson case)
and really it was about the man's life, through the travels and people he met throughout this
year. I didn't know of what a circuit lawyer did and how off the cuff
your portray him yet well prepared at the same time. How the nascent
Republican party came to gel around the various meetings and
conventions and his speech that propelled him to be taken seriously.
All in all - good reading and thank you for responding. All the best
with the nail biting. I would think it's a matter of making sure what
needs to be done gets done. Is there still work on the book to be
done?
Cheers to the Lincoln book and how 1856 ultimately became an important
year.
I do teach in a public middle school. Not history, but truly we are
all historians - the good ole don't repeat the same mistakes.
Cheers,
Allen [last name withheld]
New Milford, Connecticut
Dear Allen,
Thank you for your very kind comments. For those who don't know, BEA is a book convention,
which was held in New York City this past June.
The book will be in bookstores October 11, so you did get quite a jump on it.
You asked if there is still any work to be done on the Lincoln book. I hope not -- It went to the printer
last week.
This morning, I woke up thinking I should have included one of Lincoln's funny stories, one of the
somewhat off-color ones that he told. I made elaborate plans to stop the presses and make
insistences. But by noon, I thought better f it. The book really attempts to describe what we know
did happen in Lincoln's life during the nine middle months of 1856. To blithely plunk a good story
down in the middle of it might be amusing for an instant, but it would jostle the greater intention -- of
letting us walk with Abraham Lincoln for just a little while.
Anyway, the publisher would have my head if I tried to make a change now! October 11 is right
around the corner.
- Julie Fenster
September 4, 2007
Give your opinion or ask your question.
Any topics of interest to this site will be
welcome.
Send your e-mail letters to:
Forum@jfenster.com
All mail personally acknowledged
(You might also like the lighter side:
MY BROTHER'S AND MY FORUM)
Any topics of interest to this site will be
welcome.
Send your e-mail letters to:
Forum@jfenster.com
All mail personally acknowledged
(You might also like the lighter side:
MY BROTHER'S AND MY FORUM)
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