Why Lincoln - by Jonathan White (Paperback)

About the Book

Abraham Lincoln is the central figure in American history. Perhaps more than any other person, he recognized how America's founding principles of liberty, equality, and democracy were worthy of preserving, not only for the sake of freedom in the United States but also because they would give "hope to the world for all future time." His leadership during America's greatest crisis--the Civil War--preserved the nation and, in his words, made the nation "forever worthy of the saving." It is altogether fitting and proper that we remember him and reflect on his legacy. In the essays in this volume, leading scholars and public historians capture why he matters to them, and why he should still matter to all of us.

About the Author

Jonathan W. White is the Patrick C. Oxford Professor in the School of Civic Leadership at the University of Texas at Austin. He is the author or editor of 23 books, including Measuring the Man: The Writings of Frederick Douglass on Abraham Lincoln (2025), A Great and Good Man: Rare, First-hand Accounts and Observations of Abraham Lincoln (2024), and A House Built By Slaves: African American Visitors to the Lincoln White House (2022), which won the Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize. He serves as Vice Chair of The Lincoln Forum, a past president of the Abraham Lincoln Institute, and a Director of the Abraham Lincoln Association.