September 1, 2023
In Our Ancient Faith, three-time Lincoln Prize winner Guelzo probes the President Abraham Lincoln's convictions regarding democracy. Prepub Alert.
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Starred review from October 15, 2023
Lincoln's political philosophy in sharp relief. Princeton University distinguished research scholar Guelzo, a three-time winner of the Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize, presents a detailed analysis of the 16th president's conception of and reverence for democracy as the pinnacle of political aspiration and accomplishment, what Lincoln called "my ancient faith." As the author adroitly points out, Lincoln often used terms such as democracy, representative democracy, and constitutional republic interchangeably; he only explicitly defined what democracy was not, which was slavery. For the self-made Lincoln, democracy required consent. Guelzo uses his vast knowledge of Lincoln's speeches, state papers, and letters to more fully interpret Lincolnian democracy, particularly regarding the principle of the sovereignty of the people and reverence for prudent laws faithfully observed. He is particularly enlightening concerning the evolution of Lincoln's political and economic philosophy, notably the influence of Whig politician Henry Clay, philosopher John Stuart Mill, and political economist Henry Carey; democracy's role in racial issues and emancipation; and the cultural mores that support democracy--in Lincoln's view, property ownership, religious morality, toleration, and electioneering. Guelzo also contrasts Lincoln's views about Jacksonian democracy and the Constitution's protections against insurrection with that of his hand-wringing predecessor, James Buchanan, who "was so loath to reach for anything that looked like 'necessity' in dealing with secession that he convinced himself that the Constitution literally prevented him from acting against secession." The author offers a balanced discussion of Lincoln's expansion of government and abridgement of civil liberties during the war, and considers whether federalism suffered or was enhanced by Lincoln's administration. The epilogue, "What If Lincoln Had Lived?" illuminates Lincoln's views as the American body politic continues to wrestle with the meaning of democracy, which "is still the best method for people to live lives free from domination and exploitation." A brilliant, evenhanded, and timely political history.
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December 11, 2023
Historian Guelzo (Robert E. Lee) plumbs the depths of Abraham Lincoln’s passion for American democracy in this combative study that seeks to silence the institution’s “cultured despisers” by illuminating the president’s eloquent defense of it (he called democracy his “ancient faith”). Bolstering Lincoln’s philosophy of democracy, according to Guelzo, was his belief in the American system (where there were “no slaves and no masters except the self-driven and the self-mastered”) and its entwined “mores” of property ownership, religious morality, toleration, and electioneering. Taking to task “Lincoln-haters,” Guelzo justifies Lincoln’s cancelling of habeas corpus during the Civil War, cheekily asserting that the arrests “did not exactly represent a Night of the Long Knives.” Elsewhere, he sharply attacks contemporary critics who would deny Lincoln his status as “the Great Emancipator” as another example “of the rise of an Afro-pessimism which questions whether the entire premise of democratic government has failed on the doorstep of race.” Throughout, Guelzo shines prodigious light on Lincoln’s unshakable belief in democracy, while skirting the more problematic aspects of the president’s political interactions with race as a mere persistent “zig zag” in his thoughts and actions. It’s an erudite if contentious consideration of Lincoln’s feelings about the American experiment.
February 1, 2024
Princeton University professor Guelzo opens chapter one of his newest book by telling readers that the word democracy occurs only 137 times in Abraham Lincoln's writings. That does not mean, however, that democracy was unimportant to the sixteenth president. In fact, Guelzo continues, Lincoln saw it as "the most natural, the most just, and the most enlightened form of human government." As the subject of thousands of studies, Lincoln is one of American history's most written-about individuals. It is therefore a welcome surprise to read such fresh insights as Guelzo musters here. Many readers will be familiar with Lincoln's folksiness and his approach to race, but what about his economic policies? His views on industrialization? His ideas for commercial regulation? These get short shrift in popular biographies. Especially intriguing is the final chapter, "What If Lincoln Had Lived?" which imagines him leading a far less dysfunctional Reconstruction after the Civil War. In an era when democracy's death is shouted from the front page of seemingly every U.S. newspaper, it is comforting to read that Abraham Lincoln, at least, thought the effort to maintain it was not in vain.
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