Lincolns Gamble by Todd Brewster

12/1/2015BookFilter | Evernote Web https://www.evernote.com/Home.action#n=f35ecca7-e877-4f8c-b517-d493fcb23adf&ses=4&sh=2&sds=5&1/4HomeTop Picks: All BooksLincoln’s Gamble The Tumultuous Six Months that Gave America theEmancipation Proclamation and Changed the Course ofthe Civil War MoreLincoln’s Gambleby Todd BrewsterPrice: $18.00(Paperback)Published: August 11, 2015Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)From the Publisher: “A masterful psychological portrait” (GeorgeStephanopoulos) of the most critical six months in AbrahamLincoln’s presidency, when he wrote the EmancipationProclamation and changed the course of the Civil War.On July 12, 1862, Abraham Lincoln spoke for the first time of hisintention to free the slaves.</p><p> On January 1, 1863, Lincoln signed theEmancipation Proclamation, doing precisely that.</p><p> In between,however, was a tumultuous six months, an episode during whichthe sixteenth president fought bitterly with his generals,disappointed his cabinet, and sank into painful bouts of clinicaldepression.</p><p> Most surprising, the man who would be rememberedas “The Great Emancipator” did not hold firm to his belief inemancipation.</p><p> He agonized over the decision and was wracked byprivate doubts almost to the moment when he inked the decreethat would change a nation.…Rate This Book|Rate/ReviewAdd To BookshelfGet This BookGo to your preferred retailer, click to choose a format and you' ll be taken directly to their site whereyou can get this book.BookFilter12/1/2015BookFilter | Evernote Web https://www.evernote.com/Home.action#n=f35ecca7-e877-4f8c-b517-d493fcb23adf&ses=4&sh=2&sds=5&2/4 Personalize / Add More ChoicesWhat We SayThis solid popular history zeroes in on a crucial moment in the Presidency of Abraham Lincoln, the Civil War andindeed the country.</p><p> That's the six month period when Lincoln wrestled with the idea of freeing the slaves, whatwas legally possible, how to frame it, how to sell it, when to make it official and how to avoid ripping the countryapart by an action too timid or too bold.</p><p> Historian Todd Brewster is thorough and solid in his work here, movingsteadily from Lincoln first broaching the topic with others to his agonizing writing and rewriting of the actualProclamation itself and then the tortuous decision about when to tell the world.</p><p> A tad dry, "Lincoln's Gamble" doeshowever provide the context to make clear how such a move was far from inevitable and fraught with danger.First and foremost, he makes clear that Lincoln believed as a lawyer that freeing the slaves held in captivity bythe owners in states that were rebelling was absolutely as far as Lincoln's powers extended and only when framedvery carefully as a necessity of war.</p><p> He simply felt he couldn't free all slaves everywhere in the US, not that hewas compelled to do so either.</p><p> But he also pushed the envelope, stating the slaves so freed would be free forever,not just till the war was ended.</p><p> Lincoln wrestled at this time with "encouraging" blacks to leave the country andcolonize a new home in Africa, among other ideas, bringing scorn from abolitionists and slave owners alike.</p><p> It's anintellectually interesting work that humanizes the Great Emancipator and the momentous action Lincoln took thatwas surely not terribly bold on paper but stirring indeed throughout the country.</p><p> Legally, it was subtly bold.Linguistically, it was generally flat.</p><p> Emotionally and symbolically, however, it was everything and more andBrewster captures that stirring moment well.</p><p> Overall, Brewster's work provides a modestly fresh angle from whichto approach this period and this President. ‐‐ Michael GiltzLessWhat Others Say“Brewster brings elegant clarity to the tangle of conflicting ideologies, loyalties, and practicalities that pushed theproclamation forward, ultimately ensuring Lincoln’s legacy as the Great Emancipator.” - Publishers Weekly"In this historical essay about the Emancipation Proclamation, Brewster explores the six months between Lincoln’sJuly 1862 decision to issue it and actually doing so in January 1863.</p><p> Inspired by a 1922 article on Lincoln by W.</p><p> E.</p><p> B.DuBois, the purpose of which was to portray Lincoln as great but imperfect, Brewster sets as his goal a quest for the“real” Lincoln...</p><p> Featuring vignettes of figures who met Lincoln during his formulation of the proclamation, Brewster’swork illuminates Lincoln’s lines of thought during this turning point in American history." - Booklist“Brewster gets inside Abraham Lincoln’s mind, revealing his struggles with the limited powers of his office.</p><p> Here isLincoln, the man, surprisingly ambivalent about the decision for which he is most remembered.</p><p> A masterfulpsychological portrait.” - George Stephanopoulos“Readers of this expertly-told tale may note parallels to other times in American history…More