Leader and Wise Man

And There Was Light: 

Abraham Lincoln 

and the American Struggle 

by Jon Meacham

“Once, when a Republican congressman from Massachusetts accused Lincoln of having changed his mind, Lincoln replied, “Yes, I have; and I don’t think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday."  ― Jon Meacham, And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle





The focus of the book is Lincoln's political and personal development, from a practical politician who at first supported union over abolition to a leader who issued the Emancipation Proclamation and struggled with slavery, America's original sin. Meacham frames Lincoln as a flawed yet profoundly moral figure, shaped by his faith, reason, and the turbulent times. Meacham uses Lincoln's own words—from letters, speeches, and lesser-known works—to weave together a larger story about democracy and human dignity while highlighting significant events like the Gettysburg Address and the Lincoln-Douglas debates in 1858.

The book impressed me with its depth and readability. Meacham's elegant and approachable prose gives difficult historical and moral issues a sense of urgency and relatability. He connects Lincoln’s struggles to modern debates about race, justice, and leadership, a hallmark of his style that some find insightful and others occasionally heavy-handed. The book doesn’t shy away from Lincoln’s contradictions—his early ambivalence about immediate abolition and his support for colonizing freed Black Americans abroad—offering a nuanced view that avoids hagiography.

God in the Clouds

Son of the Morning Star: 

General Custer and the 

Battle of the Little Bighorn 

by Evan S. Connell

“Lo, the poor Indian! whose untutor’d mind Sees God in clouds … Custer,”   


― Evan S. Connell, Son of the Morning Star: Custer and The Little Bighorn







Once in a while you find a book that is so well written that beyond the days of reading, long after you have finished it, the book continues to haunt you. Son of the Morning Star is one of those books. The beauty of Evan S. Connell's prose and the excellence of his history make this book a minor masterpiece. Perhaps the larger-than-life presence of the central character, who the Indians named "son of the morning star", General George Armstrong Custer, is partly the reason for the magnificence of the book.

“Even now,” Evan Connell writes in his book, “after a hundred years, his name alone will start an argument. More significant men of his time can be discussed without passion because they are inextricably woven into a tapestry of the past, but this hotspur refuses to die. He stands forever on that dusty Montana slope.”

His vigor and gallantry were never denied, even by his detractors, and during the Civil War he advanced rapidly; perhaps due to fortuitous notice, but nonetheless he was a brigadier at twenty-three, the youngest American ever to win a star. All of this was not due to merit, all though he did have that, but in spite of his mediocrity evidenced earlier by his poor record at West Point, having graduated last in his class. Overall, as Custer made his career in the Indian territories, it always seemed that he was overrated by others and, most of all, by himself.

Who knows the mind of Custer and the reasons that led to his demise at Little Big Horn. Maybe Evan S. Connell hits on the right one by thinking the most simply: Custer had never known defeat, perhaps couldn’t see it even when it was only one hilltop away. Few non-academic histories have been so well-written as this and have such compelling central themes that you can't put them down. Near-masterpiece is the best thing I can say when recommending this to anyone who enjoys reading a great book. It was simply a delight to read.

American Dynasty

America's First Dynasty: The Adamses, 1735-1918 
by Richard Brookhiser

“So Henry Adams, well aware that he could not succeed as a scholar, and finding his social position beyond improvement or need of effort, betook himself to the single ambition which otherwise would scarcely have seemed a true outcome of the college, though it was the last remnant of the old Unitarian supremacy. He took to the pen. He wrote.”   ― Henry Adams, The Education of Henry Adams

Richard Brookhiser has written biographies of Presidents Madison and Washington, revolutionary statesmen Hamilton and Gouvernor Morris, and most recently a book on Lincoln, but my favorite of his biographies that I have read is America's First Dynasty: The Adamses, 1735-1918. The dates alone, spanning three centuries, suggest the significance of this family on the history of the United States.

The first two of the dynasty, John and his son John Quincy both became President. The father was one of the leaders of the American Revolution while the son was both President and, later, member of the House of Representatives from Massachusetts. John's grandson Charles Francis also had a brilliant political career that included a term as Minister to England in the Lincoln Administration. The fourth Adams of this dynasty, John's great grandson Henry Adams, found his greatness in literature both as an academic historian and with the publication of his autobiography, The Education of Henry Adams, a classic that is read to this day.

Their story begins with John Adams, a self-taught lawyer who rode horseback to meet clients, and ends with Henry Adams in France as World War I begins and he returns to Washington, D. C. This is a well told overview of a family dynasty that more than any other helped make the United States the great nation it is today.

View all my reviews

Manifest Destiny

A Country of Vast Designs: 

James K. Polk and the

Conquest of the American

Continent 

by Robert W. Merry

"Polk was our most underrrated President. He made the United States into a continental nation. Bob Merry captures the controversial and the visionary aspects of his presidency in a colorful narrative tale populated by great characters such as Jackson, Clay, and Van Buren." - Walter Isaacson


Robert Merry's biography of President Polk provides a good introduction to the era of "Manifest Destiny" and the controversies he faced including those surrounding the Mexican-American War. While the book provides a narrative of Polk's political life from Congress through the Presidency I was impressed with several specific aspects it presented and historical moments that were revelatory. 
 Merry is excellent in providing portraits of the important political figures in Polk's life, his mentor Andrew Jackson and other famous men like Van Buren, Henry Clay, John Calhoun, Thomas Hart Benton, and others. The author's ability to maintain a consistent level of detail about the events of Polk's life sometimes led to passages that I could have done without, perhaps those interested in the minutae of politics would find these more interesting. 
 However, a few historical moments stand out for me: including the depiction of the 1844 Democratic Presidential Convention in Baltimore where James K. Polk became the first political "dark horse" candidate; the congressional battle over funding the Mexican war where the Wilmot Proviso first appeared and provided one of the signals of the beginning of the end of the era of slavery (although war was averted for a decade and a half); and the amazing successes of Stephen Kearney, John C. Fremont, and Robert Stockton in the expansion of United States territories. These and a few other high points made the book a lively and entertaining work of historical biography, expanding my knowledge of the man and the era.


A Country of Vast Designs by Robert W. Merry. Simon & Schuster, 2010 (2009)