Lincoln on Democracy

Library Journal

More than anything else, Lincoln's power came from his pen. He recognized that writing allowed him ``to converse with the dead, the absent, and the unborn'' over time and space. In explaining why ballots must win over bullets, why secession is anarchy, why slavery must die so that the Union might live, and so much more, Lincoln gave the Civil War and the principle of majority rule cosmic meaning. This superb selection of Lincoln's writings on democracy reveals anew his poetic power. Co-edited by New York Governor Cuomo, this anthology was inspired by Eastern Europe's new birth of freedom, but it should remind Americans and Europeans alike that democracy is born of duty. Lincoln pressed upon his generation the obligation to give their last full measure for government of, by, and for the people. Reading again his campaign and presidential speeches, Gettysburg Address, and Second Inaugural Address, one can appreciate why Lincoln, more than any other American, speaks to the yearnings of people everywhere to be free. A gem of a collection, for all libraries.-- Randall M. Miller, St. Joseph's Univ., Philadelphia