The Eloquent President

November 22, 2004
White (Lincoln's Greatest Speech
) traces Lincoln's evolving rhetoric over the course of his presidency in a series of highly detailed critical essays. He follows Lincoln from the cautious, lawyerly text of the First Inaugural to the soaring, triumphant poetics of the Gettysburg Address. As White rightly emphasizes, a great deal of presidential power emanates from "rhetorical leadership." During the darkest moments of Lincoln's generally grim presidency, he had only his own stark eloquence with which to keep his "house divided" from collapsing entirely, and—up to a point—it is intriguing to study the mechanics of Lincoln's vital words. Throughout his book, White not only documents the growth of Lincoln's capacity for great inspirational language, but also shows how each major speech and public remark of Lincoln's presidential career was influenced and shaped by shifting, and eminently practical, political considerations. White is adept at analyzing Lincoln's structural tics and cadences, and the subtle plays of syntax in which he relished the repetition of such complementary words as "renew" and "anew." This level of detail, however, makes for some very long and dry—albeit illuminating—analysis that only the most devoted Lincoln enthusiast will likely be willing to wade through. B&w illus. Agent, Mary Evans.

January 1, 2015

White eloquently recounts how Lincoln's evolving spiritual sensibilities, confidence as a leader, and conviction as a writer informed his greatest speeches, as much sermons as public addresses. (LJ 12/04)

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