Looking for Lincoln: The Making of an American Icon
by Philip B. Kunhardt III, Peter W. Kunhardt, Peter W. Kunhardt Jr.
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Book Summary Information
Author: Peter W. Kunhardt, Peter W. Kunhardt Jr., Philip B. Kunhardt IIIBrand: PBS
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Format: Deckle Edge
Published: 2008-11-18
ISBN: 030726713X
Number of pages: 512
Publisher: Knopf
Book Reviews of Looking for Lincoln: The Making of an American Icon
Book Review: Lincoln Lessons
Summary: 5 Stars
The bicentennial of the birth of Abraham Lincoln will be upon us next year, and there will be ceremonies, re-dedications of memorial buildings and statues, and plenty of books. It is hard to imagine that any of the books will surpass in beauty and significance _Looking for Lincoln: The Making of an American Icon_ (Knopf) by Philip B. Kunhardt III, Peter W. Kunhardt, and Peter W. Kunhardt, Jr. The reason there are so many Kunhardts as authors is that they are a family that for five generations has been involved in Lincoln scholarship and collecting Lincoln memorabilia; some of this Kunhardt clan has already brought us a well-regarded illustrated biography of Lincoln. Now they have turned their view to what happened after Lincoln's death; the book starts with the assassination at Ford's Theater, and covers the next sixty years, as the nation first came to grips with its loss, then tried to come to terms with what Lincoln had meant and had intended for his nation. This is a big book, lavish with photographs on every page, pictures of Lincoln (an appendix shows every photo known), the homes he came from, his family, his associates and enemies, the first attempts at biography, and the commemorations that were performed through the years. It is also a sobering book, as a theme that runs through it is how the nation gradually concentrated on the comfortable image of the Lincoln who had led a war to keep the Union together, rather than the Lincoln who had freed the slaves and made them citizens.
Lincoln was assassinated on Good Friday, 16 April 1865. Telegraph reports of his death went out the next day, and clergy had to rearrange their Easter sermons to reflect the shock of a first presidential assassination. It was the start of a national sainthood for America's Savior. It is hard to imagine what Lincoln would have made of such displays and feelings. Even his wife Mary initially admitted, "Mr. Lincoln had ho faith and no hope in the usual acceptation of those words," but as the years passed, she encouraged the view of Lincoln as "a true Christian gentleman". One main character in this book is Frederick Douglass, who had not supported Lincoln initially, and never became a sycophantic supporter of the President, but who realized that through the Emancipation Proclamation and other unofficial acts, Lincoln had shown himself "emphatically the black man's president: the first to show any respect to their rights as men." He was a friend to Lincoln, and afterward to Mary, who presented him with Lincoln's antler-headed walking stick. The other main figure throughout this book is Lincoln's son Robert Todd Lincoln. He had never won his father's approval, but he did what he could to promulgate the vision he had of his father, protesting the commercialization of such sites as Lincoln's Springfield home, and he loathed the fabled log cabin of Lincoln's birth as showing naught but "degradation and uncleanliness."
Robert Todd Lincoln was on the platform in 1922 when the Lincoln Memorial was dedicated, part of the final pages of this great book. The authors show that the Memorial and its dedication ceremony would have satisfied Robert just as it satisfied those in power. In many ways the dedication symbolized what America had made of Lincoln's legacy. There were black guests in attendance, but they were off in the "colored section", and reports said they were rudely treated by soldiers in charge of the section. There was one black speaker. The Memorial committee had been careful not to get a firebrand like W. E. B. DuBois, who appreciated the achievements of Lincoln even more because he appreciated realistically Lincoln's flaws. They got instead a leading black businessman, Robert Moton, who gave a powerful speech on America's history of slavery and racism, and exhorted Americans to embrace "equal justice and equal opportunity." The ceremony was, of course, widely reported, but Moton's speech was not, and his participation was even reduced to leaving his name off, referring to him only as "a representative of his race." As part of the bicentennial ceremony, the Lincoln Memorial will be rededicated by the new President in 2009; it is fun to think how astounded participants in that first dedication would have been could they look in.
_Looking for Lincoln_ is a handsome book, chronologically assigning one or two pages to specific topics and providing moving or amusing pictures in illustration. Depicted here are the first attempts to make commercial use of the Lincoln name; the box for "Lincoln Pure White Lead" shows a picture of the President over the words "In Memoriam", and assures potential purchasers, "By its purity & excellent qualities, this lead deserves the name bestowed upon it." There is a charming picture of former Confederate soldiers, recreating Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg fifty years later, complete with their umbrellas. There is a picture of the young Golda Meir (future prime minister of Israel) dressed as the Statue of Liberty for an Americanization pageant in Milwaukee. As the authors consider each biography and each book of reminiscence in turn, they quote from them, giving lively anecdotes which illuminate Lincoln's personality, and the times the reminiscences were made. Every page here has images and words that are worth thinking about; this is an essential volume about Lincoln postmortem, an important and fascinating examination of Lincoln's legacy as accepted and as forgotten.
Summary of Looking for Lincoln: The Making of an American Icon
An extensively researched, lavishly illustrated consideration of the myths, memories, and questions that gathered around our most beloved?and most enigmatic?president in the years between his assassination and the dedication of the Lincoln Memorial in 1922.Availing themselves of a vast collection of both published and never-before-seen materials, the authors?the fourth and fifth generations of a family of Lincoln scholars?bring into focus the posthumous portrait of Lincoln that took hold in the American imagination. Told through the voices of those who knew the man?Northerners and Southerners, blacks and whites, neighbors and family members, adversaries and colleagues?Looking for Lincoln charts the dramatic epilogue to Lincoln?s extraordinary life.
During these years, as Americans struggled to understand their loss and rebuild their country, Lincoln?s legacy was still hotly debated. The authors take us through the immediate aftermath of the assassination; the private memories of those closest to the slain president; the difficult period between 1876 and 1908, when a tired nation turned its back on the former slaves and betrayed Lincoln?s teachings; and the early years of the twentieth century when Lincoln?s popularity soared as African Americans fought to reclaim the ideals he espoused.
Looking for Lincoln will deeply enhance our understanding of the statesman and his legacy, at a moment when the timeless example of his leadership is more crucial than ever.
Book Description
In honor of the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln?s birth, an extensively researched, lavishly illustrated consideration of the myths, memories, and questions that gathered around our most beloved?and our most enigmatic?president in the years between his assassination and the dedication of the Lincoln Memorial in 1922. A sequel to the enormously successful Lincoln: An Illustrated Biography, Looking for Lincoln picks up where the previous book left off, examining how our sixteenth president?s legend came into being.
Availing themselves of a vast collection of both published and never-before-seen materials, the authors--the fourth and fifth generations of a family of Lincoln scholars--bring into focus the posthumous portrait of Lincoln that took hold in the American imagination, becoming synonymous with the nation?s very understanding of itself. Told through the voices of those who knew the man--Northerners and Southerners, blacks and whites, neighbors and family members, adversaries and colleagues?and through stories carefully selected from long-forgotten newspapers, magazines, and family scrapbooks, Looking for Lincoln charts the dramatic epilogue to Lincoln?s extraordinary life when, in a process fraught with jealousy, greed, and the struggle for power, the scope of his historical significance was taking shape.
In vibrant and immediate detail, the authors chart the years when Americans struggled to understand their loss and rebuild their country. Here is a chronicle of the immediate aftermath of the assassination; the private memories of those closest to the slain president; the difficult period between 1876 and 1908, when a tired nation turned its back on the former slaves and betrayed Lincoln?s teachings; and the early years of the twentieth century when Lincoln?s popularity soared as African Americans fought to reclaim the ideals he espoused.
Looking for Lincoln will deeply enhance our understanding of the statesman and his legacy, at a moment when the timeless example of his leadership is more crucial than ever.
Surprsing Facts from Looking for Lincoln
(Click on Images to Enlarge)
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| During the twenty days of his public funeral... | ...more than a million mourners looked at the face of Abraham Lincoln. |
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| There was an attempt to steal Lincoln?s body from its tomb in 1876. | For years afterward it was hidden in a basement while the public believed it was still inside its sarcophagus. |
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| Robert Lincoln was present or close at hand at three presidential assassinations--his father?s, James Garfield?s, and William McKinley?s--leading him to believe that his life was cursed. | For years after the Civil War, Lincoln was hung in effigy in some southern homes, whereas John Wilkes Booth was hailed as the courageous slayer of an American tyrant. |
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| Lincoln?s dog Fido met the same fate as his illustrious master, and was ?assassinated? by a town drunk. | The Lincoln penny, issued in the Centennial year, was the first U.S. Coin to bear the image of a historical figure. |
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