An Honest Calling: The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln
by Mark E. Steiner

List Price: $42.00
Our Price: $33.60
You Save: $8.40 (20%)
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions

Book Summary Information

Book Reviews of An Honest Calling: The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln

Book Review: Lincoln's "day job"
Summary: 5 Stars

Summary of An Honest Calling: The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln

This portrait not only depicts Lincoln's work for the railroads and the infamous case in which he defended the claims of a slaveholder; it also illustrates his more typical cases involving debt and neighborly disputes. Steiner describes Lincoln's legal education, the economics of the law office, and the changes in legal practice that Lincoln himself experienced as the nation became an industrial, capitalist society. Most important, Steiner highlights Lincoln's guiding principles as a lawyer.

In contrast to the popular caricature of the lawyer as a scoundrel, Lincoln followed his personal resolve to be "honest at all events," thus earning the nickname "Honest Abe." For him, honesty meant representing clients to the best of his ability, regardless of his own beliefs about the justice of their cause. Lincoln also embraced a professional ideal that cast the lawyer as a guardian of order. He was as willing to mediate a dispute outside the courtroom in the interest of maintaining peace as he was eager to win cases before a jury.

Over the course of his legal career, however, Lincoln's dedication to the community and his clients' personal interests became outmoded. As a result of the rise of powerful, faceless corporate clients and the national debate over slavery, Lincoln the lawyer found himself in an increasingly impersonal, morally ambiguous world.

General Books

• Biographies & Memoirs
• Leaders & Notable People > Political
• Presidents & Heads of State
• Professionals & Academics > Lawyers & Judges
• Historical > United States > General
• People, A-Z > ( L ) > Lincoln, Abraham
• Law > General
• Law Practice > General
• History > Americas > United States > State & Local > Illinois
• Nonfiction > Social Sciences