President Lincoln: The Duty of a Statesman

By William Lee Miller

Categories: Biographies & Memoirs, History

President Lincoln: The Duty of a Statesman (Knopf, 2008) is William Lee Miller's study of the moral choices Abraham Lincoln made in office. Miller moves from decision to decision: the crisis at Fort Sumter, a misstep over the warship Powhatan, the Trent affair, the handling of General McClellan, emancipation, the recruitment of Black soldiers and plans for reunion. He also weighs Lincoln's clemency, including his sparing of most Dakota men condemned after the 1862 Minnesota uprising.

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