Lincoln's Virtues: An Ethical Biography [Hardcover]

In this wonderful new book, William Lee Miller examines, not so much the events of Lincoln's life as the evolution of the character of the man historian Paul Johnson calls "a kind of moral genius." The book covers the years from Lincoln's birth until his inauguration in 1861. In particular, Miller examines how Lincoln's politics can be squared with his morality. Using Lincoln's own words, Miller effectively refutes the revisionists of both the right and the left and restores Lincoln to his rightful place as an American giant and irrepressible foe of slavery.

Miller is an unabashed admirer of Lincoln. Through careful scholarship and relentless logic, the author dissects Lincoln's words and actions, explores his motivations and raises and disposes of revisionist arguments. He does so in an amusing and folksy style that clearly reveals his affection and fascination with this greatest of all Americans. All of the positive traits associated with Lincoln are shown to be true. In speech after speech, Lincoln is revealed to be an intractable foe of slavery. Miller's exploration of Lincoln's character show a living politician to be sure, but a politician who clearly sees the elective process as a path to his moral goals, namely the containment and end of slavery. Lincoln is revealed to be unusually conciliatory and non-vindictive. For example, he placed Edwin Stanton in his cabinet despite Stanton's support for his Southern Democratic opponent and despite the fact that Lincoln was personally humiliated by Stanton years earlier. Not many presidents would do that. It reveals much about Lincoln's character.

Miller has no patience for arguments that attack Lincoln's character because he was not a morally pure abolitionist. Miller places Lincoln's pragmatism in its proper context, given the opinions of the electorate Lincoln faced in Illinois and then nationally. He also shows how Lincoln's pragmatic approach was in fact the moral and ethical method to solving as intractable a problem as American slavery. He contrasts Lincoln's pragmatic moral approach with that of Stephen Douglas who Miller contends lacked any morality at all.

During the vital six years between 1854 and Lincoln's election as President, Lincoln is shown to have developed a comprehensive and consistent moral perspective on slavery. He thought it a terrible evil and planned for its ultimate destruction. But Lincoln recognized that immediate abolition was not possible so the platform of the Republican party, which Lincoln helped build, was limited to the demand that slavery not be permitted in the territories. Douglas had no belief that slavery was immoral and would have allowed its spread to the territories to preserve the peace and the union. As Miller shows, there is no evidence that slavery was anything but Lincoln's prime concern from 1954 on. The Civil War was fought because the Southern states could not abide the election of a president determined to halt the spread of slavery. As Lincoln put it to Alexander Stephens after his election as president, "you think slavery is right and ought to be extended; while we think it is wrong and ought to be restricted. That I suppose is the rub."

A key component of Lincoln's thinking that distinguishes him from many of his allies of the day is his magnanimity, most famously reflected in his "malice towards none..." second inaugural. Miller shows how this magnanimity was a key component of Lincoln's moral thinking. Lincoln always argued that slavery was an American, not merely a Southern problem. He never personally condemned the Southerners who supported slavery but instead tried to understand them and his program always called for accommodating their fears and concerns. In this book, Abraham Lincoln is revealed as a truly great American and a most moral man who proved to be a brilliant leader. He comes across, not as a saint but as a living breathing human being with desires and passions but with a real commitment to justice. This book should really be read by all college students as an example of how an American politician can be effective and still remain committed to his core principals. The brilliant scholarship and lively style makes it a must read for anyone with an interest in American history. I expect this book will be on many university history department reading lists.

Miller tells us that he wants to begin afresh by forgetting the Lincoln myth and tracing the moral development of Lincoln in order to see where he winds up. But of course this is an impossibly objective position to attain, and the fix is in from page one: the reader knows--and so does Miller--who's going to win the race. Lincoln predictably emerges as a complex individual who rises to historical prominence not just because he grew into an astute statesperson, but also because he was a virtuous human being. The first alone would have given him power; both together give him greatness.

Most of Miller's tracing of the inner life of Lincoln isn't particularly new, although it is pleasingly systematic. But two characteristics of his approach are worth noting. First, Miller obviously admires his main character without falling into the hagiography that bedevils so many books on Lincoln. Second, Miller's thesis that the contours of Lincoln's moral character are shaped by his earnest efforts to repudiate his backwoods heritage is both novel and persuasive. This argument alone would make the book a worthy read.

But what the book doesn't do--and perhaps no single book can do this--is explain why it is that we simply can't seem to get enough of Lincoln. Lincoln is a sort of national icon. The fascination with him is apparently endless. Miller's book will contribute to the on-going fascination.