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Description
James McPherson, a bestselling historian of the Civil War, illuminates how Lincoln worked with—and often against— his senior commanders to defeat the Confederacy and create the role of commander in chief as we know it.
Though Abraham Lincoln arrived at the White House with no previous military experience (apart from a couple of months spent soldiering in 1832), he quickly established himself as the greatest commander in chief in American history. James McPherson illuminates this often misunderstood and profoundly influential aspect of Lincoln’s legacy. In essence, Lincoln invented the idea of commander in chief, as neither the Constitution nor existing legislation specified how the president ought to declare war or dictate strategy. In fact, by assuming the powers we associate with the role of commander in chief, Lincoln often overstepped the narrow band of rights granted the president. Good thing too, because his strategic insight and will to fight changed the course of the war and saved the Union.
For most of the conflict, he constantly had to goad his reluctant generals toward battle, and he oversaw strategy and planning for major engagements with the enemy. Lincoln was a self-taught military strategist (as he was a self-taught lawyer), which makes his adroit conduct of the war seem almost miraculous. To be sure, the Union’s campaigns often went awry, sometimes horribly so, but McPherson makes clear how the missteps arose from the all-too-common moments when Lincoln could neither threaten nor cajole his commanders to follow his orders.
Because Lincoln’s war took place within our borders, the relationship between the front lines and the home front was especially close—and volatile. Here again, Lincoln faced enormous challenges in exemplary fashion. He was a masterly molder of public opinion, for instance, defining the war aims initially as preserving the Union and only later as ending slavery— when he sensed the public was at last ready to bear such a lofty burden.
As we approach the bicentennial of Lincoln’s birth in 2009, this book will be that rarest gift—a genuinely novel, even timely, view of the most-written-about figure in our history. Tried by War offers a revelatory portrait of leadership during the greatest crisis our nation has ever endured. How Lincoln overcame feckless generals, fickle public opinion, and his own paralyzing fears is a story at once suspenseful and inspiring.
Customer reviews for 'Tried by War: Abraham Lincoln as Commander in Chief'
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McPHERSON UNEARTHS, ASSEMBLES & DELIVERS TEASURE TROVE OF LINCOLN'S PRINCIPLES & SKILLS!
James McPherson's research & writing is unique in that he judiciously wove hundreds of key elements of proof of Lincoln's latent skills of management, negotiation, courtesy, decorum, respect, honesty & trust--- coupled with his concerns for the entire populace of the Union---into a previously unspotlighted & in some cases misunderstood side of President Lincoln as Commander-in-Chief. ["TRIED BY WAR"] is a stellar piece of work.
I draw a comparison with my former boss, mentor & friend, Ronald Reagan, in the dozens, if not hundreds of times he won "the day" or the argument or the mental gymnastics battle by being UNDERESTIMATED. That is what McPherson has proven through his diligent research & his remarkable ability to craft the results, the direction & the answers President Lincoln was trying to achieve through his interplay with his generals, top military advisors & Cabinet members. Brilliant strategy on Lincoln's part. Brilliant analysis & brilliant writing on McPherson's part! Thanks Amazon for the opportunity to review this exceptional book.
Curtis Patrick, Henderson,NV 89052
[Wednesday, January 07, 2009]
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Commander in Chief
Where does the title and the job description for "Commander in Chief" come from? If you don't know and want an interesting analysis of how this important piece of work was added to President's job description, this is your book. Written clearly and succinctly, this book will give you an even greater appreciation of the greatness of Abraham Lincoln who had to manage the Civil War "on the fly." Learn by doing? You bet!
[Tuesday, January 06, 2009]
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Tried By War - A Worthy Case Summary of One Man's Greatness
Writers, musicians, film directors and TV documentarians have chronicled Abraham Lincoln's greatness far more than four score and seven times. The latest is McPherson's Tried By War -- a concise, well-written plow that cuts into a narrow stretch of previously harvested themes, ideas and anecdotes.
With 270 pages of text, this book obviously is not meant to be comprehensive or exhaustive. Yes, there are some curious errors of omission, (Example: McPherson notes the importance of Mobile, Alabama, as a supply port for Confederate blockade runners, but he fails to close that subplot and note even briefly Mobile Bay's shut down by the Union in the politically critical summer of '64.) but whether this book serves as an introduction to or a reminder of Lincoln's contributions as a military and political leader, it should not be faulted so much on what it fails to mention. It is intended to be an illustrative, modestly analytical case summary of Lincoln as Commander-in-Chief, and within those limited parameters, it succeeds.
In its brevity, Tried By War can provide greater focus of Lincoln's character and decisions that made the difference for him as a leader and for our nation as a country. McPherson hones in chiefly on Lincoln's mental toughness in the face of incompetence, intransigence and intrigue, and his political courage when saving his presidency suggested a different course. Yes, we are served up what, for Lincoln, had to have been a costly and darkly comic 19th century reality show called "America's Next Top General." Lincoln also pursued courses of action - such as provisioning Fort Sumter and emancipating the slaves - that at their inception were hardly popular with his political peers, military leaders or with the general public.
Of course, the prosecution of the war is the principle topic, but emancipation becomes the more compelling subject -- the change in Lincoln's thinking on emancipation, his development and release of the now-famous proclamation, and his refusal to throw emancipation overboard when so many around him, Republican and Democrat, thought it would ruin his presidency and perhaps the country itself. It is this profile in courage that is worth telling and retelling, and makes McPherson's Tried By War a worthy read - just in time for the bicentennial of Lincoln's birth.
[Friday, January 02, 2009]
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