The Story
In his acclaimed book Lincolns Virtues, William Lee Miller explored Abraham Lincolns intellectual and moral development. Now he completes his ethical biography, showing how the amiable and inexperienced backcountry politician was transformed by constitutional alchemy into an oathbound head of state. Faced with a radical moral contradiction left by the nations Founders, Lincoln struggled to find a balance between the universal ideals of Equality and Liberty and the monstrous injustice of human slavery.With wit and penetrating sensitivity, Miller brings together the great themes that have become Lincolns legacypreserving the United States of America while ending the odious institution that corrupted the nations meaningand illuminates his remarkable presidential combination: indomitable resolve and supreme magnanimity.
Description
In his acclaimed book Lincolns Virtues, William Lee Miller explored Abraham Lincolns intellectual and moral development. Now he completes his ethical biography, showing how the amiable and inexperienced backcountry politician was transformed by constitutional alchemy into an oathbound head of state. Faced with a radical moral contradiction left by the nations Founders, Lincoln struggled to find a balance between the universal ideals of Equality and Liberty and the monstrous injustice of human slavery.With wit and penetrating sensitivity, Miller brings together the great themes that have become Lincolns legacypreserving the United States of America while ending the odious institution that corrupted the nations meaningand illuminates his remarkable presidential combination: indomitable resolve and supreme magnanimity.
