Lincoln's Way - by Richard Striner (Paperback)

About the Book

Lincoln's Way details the long and important historical trend that spanned six great presidencies. Striner argues that Lincoln took the young nation that the Founders created and positioned it for global power. Lincoln unleashed a potential in American life that would make the...

Book Synopsis

Lincoln's Way details the long and important historical trend that spanned six great presidencies. Striner argues that Lincoln took the young nation that the Founders created and positioned it for global power. Lincoln unleashed a potential in American life that would make the young republic a world colossus over time. Lincoln consolidated assets and borrowed wisdom from the left and right. Using the vast power of our federal government, he created a political tradition that would influence the twentieth century--a tradition that spread to both parties. It is the story of an apostolic succession that moved from Lincoln to Theodore Roosevelt to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who passed it on to Harry Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and John F. Kennedy.

Review Quotes

[Striner] makes a strong case for approaching American power and policies from a long historical perspective. A book to stir debate, even anger, but well worth the insights it offers to those studying U.S. presidential leadership.

Drawing from Herbert Croly's The Promise of an American Life (1909), Striner argues Hamiltonian means for Jeffersonian ends employed by men who 'blended wisdom and power from conservative and liberal thought.' Beginning with Lincoln, who 'held aloft American ideals, ' the reader walks a boulevard experiencing numerous detours while delighting in such moments as Eisenhower's 'middle way' serving as a reflection of Theodore Roosevelt's 'cautious progressivism.' Numerous historical asides . . . highlight the philosophical underpinnings of the founders' desire for American power exercised as guardianship. . . . Summing Up: Recommended.

Readers . . . will be intrigued by [Striner's] highly accessible study.

Richard Striner brings the remarkable range of his knowledge to this study of the ways in which six presidents from Lincoln to Kennedy expanded the powers of the federal government and of their office to promote positive, progressive change in the American polity. Drawing on a lifetime of scholarship, the author writes with great clarity for a general audience beyond the academy, while at the same time offering original insights that deepen and broaden our understanding of how the government promoted greater justice and equity in the American socioeconomic order during the century from the 1860s to the 1960s.

A must-read for lovers of American history--a fresh and spirited presentation of some of our greatest leaders, with special emphasis on key ideas, presented in a broad intellectual framework. An unforgettable book.


Striner injects . . . a new point of view. . . . He tells a fascinating history. . . . Striner blows away the thick smoke and breaks the mirrors to reveal a sane, middle option for people of vision to use our collective assets to build a strong nation that can provide us the essence of our unique system of governance--the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.


This brilliant new book explores a subject that is especially poignant and urgent today: the rise (under six great presidents), and steady collapse since, of leadership and bipartisanship. . . . Lincoln's Way seamlessly weaves a very sophisticated discussion of complex financial issues as well as cultural changes into the narrative. . . . This is an invigorating, astonishingly clear exploration


While distilling the essence of Lincoln's philosophy and showing its impact on later successful presidents, the author suggests a reasonable path for breaking the contemporary stalemate between liberals and conservatives. Sure to provoke interest and debate--it deserves the widest possible attention.

About the Author

Richard Striner is professor of history at Washington College in Maryland and the author, most recently, of Father Abraham: Lincoln's Relentless Struggle to End Slavery.