Lincoln's American Dream : Clashing Political Perspectives

by Deutsch, Kenneth L.

• ISBN13: 9781574885880
• ISBN10: 157488588X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-09-30
• Publisher: Potomac Books Inc

Summary

Despite the voluminous literature on the central figure in American history, no other book in the field of political science compares to Lincoln's American Dream. It addresses comprehensively the overarching themes of Lincoln's political thought and leadership through provocative and divergent interpretations from leading scholars. Each chapter is devoted to one of these major themes about Lincoln:- The Declaration and equality- Political ambition- Race and slavery- His democratic political leadership- Executive power- Religion and politics- The Union and the role of the stateThe book's thirty-three contributors include such respected Lincoln scholars and political commentators as Harry V. Jaffa, Stephen B. Oates, Mark E. Neely, Richard C. Current, Herman Belz, and Frank J. Williams.With an introduction by Kenneth L. Deutsch and Joseph R. Fornieri, Lincoln's American Dreamwill be of enduring interest to scholars, students, teachers, and Lincoln aficionados alike and will attract interest in the fields of American history, leadership, religion and culture, American studies, and African-American studies.

Author Biography

Kenneth L. Deutsch (right) is a professor of political science at SUNY Geneseo Joseph R. Fornieri (left) is an assistant professor of political science at the Rochester Institute of Technology

Table of Contents

Foreword, Jean Bethke Elshtain	ix
Preface	xi
Introduction
CHAPTER 1: LINCOLN, THE DECLARATION, AND EQUALITY
Lincoln the Liberal Statesman, James G. Randall	38	(22)
Equality: Commitment or Ideal, Willmoore Kendall	60	(11)
Equality as a Conservative Principle, Harry V. Jaffa	71	(27)
The Heresy of Equality: A Reply to Harry Jaffa, M.E. Bradford	98	(17)
Equality, Justice, and the American Revolution: In Reply to Bradford's "The Heresy of Equality," Harry V. Jaffa	115	(26)
CHAPTER 2: LINCOLN AND POLITICAL AMBITION
Lincoln after 175 Years: The Myth of the Jealous Son, Richard N. Current	141	(6)
Lincoln after 175 Years: Conscious or Subconscious Caesarism: A Critique of Recent Scholarly Attempts to Put Lincoln on the Analyst's Couch, Richard O. Curry	147	(6)
The Lincoln Legacy: A Long View, M.E. Bradford	153	(9)
Lincoln's Lyceum Speech and the Origins of a Modern Myth, Mark E. Neely, Jr.	162	(19)
CHAPTER 3: LINCOLN, RACE, AND SLAVERY
Only His Stepchildren: Lincoln and the Negro, Don E. Fehrenbacher	181	(14)
In Isles Beyond the Main: Abraham Lincoln's Philosophy on Black Colonization, Jason H. Silverman	195	(7)
Forced into Gory Lincoln Revisionism: A Review of Forced into Glory: Abraham Lincoln's White Dream, Lucas E. Morel	202	(5)
Towards a New Birth of Freedom, Stephen B. Oates	207	(18)
CHAPTER 4: LINCOLN'S DEMOCRATIC POLITICAL LEADERSHIP: UTOPIAN, PRAGMATIC, OR PRUDENT?
Abraham Lincoln: Principle and Pragmatism in Politics, T. Harry Williams	225	(7)
On Professor Donald's Lincoln, Ethan Fishman	232	(10)
Lincoln's Revolution, Ralph Lerner	242	(14)
Abraham Lincoln: Republican in the White House, Stephen B. Oates	256	(8)
A Political Source of Greatness: Lincoln and the Republican Party, Colleen Shogan and Robert Raffety	264	(14)
CHAPTER 5: LINCOLN AND EXECUTIVE POWER
Lincoln in the Role of Dictator, James G. Randall	278	(11)
Lincoln and the Constitution: The Dictatorship Question Reconsidered, Herman Belz	289	(15)
Lincoln and Executive Power: Rebutting the Dictatorship Thesis, Jeffrey Crouch and Mark J. Rozell	304	(7)
Abraham Lincoln and His Cabinet, Phillip G. Henderson	311	(22)
CHAPTER 6: LINCOLN'S RELIGION AND POLITICS
Lincoln's Second Inaugural: The Zenith of Statecraft, William Lee Miller	333	(17)
Lincoln and the Problem of Civil Religion, Michael P. Zuckert	350	(16)
Lincoln and the Problem of Political Religion, Bruce P. Frohnen	366	(12)
The Religion of Abraham Lincoln, Reinhold Niebuhr	378	(15)
CHAPTER 7: LINCOLN, THE UNION, AND THE ROLE OF THE STATE
Lincoln as an Advocate of Positive Government, Frank J. Williams and William D. Pederson	393	(5)
The Great Centralizer: Abraham Lincoln and the War between the States, Thomas J. DiLorenzo	398	(25)
Forever Worthy of the Saving: Lincoln and a More Moral Union, Rogan Kersh	423	(12)
Walt Whitman's Abraham Lincoln, George Anastapto	435	(20)
CHAPTER 8: LINCOLN FOR OUR TIME
What Is an American? Abraham Lincoln and "Multiculturalism," Richard N. Current	455	(8)
On Abortion: A Lincolnian Position, George McKenna	463	(22)
Afterword, Allen C. Guelzo	485	(5)
Contributors	490	(3)
Index	493