Lincoln at Cooper Union: The Speech that Made Abraham Lincoln President

I consider myself a relatively boring person, in that I find interest in niche and obscure topics. Being a relatively boring person, I found this book...pretty boring. It has nothing to do with Holzer's writing or research, which is actually pretty thorough and rigorous. I'm impressed by Holzer's study of meteorological reports, and old train schedules.

At points the book does seem to be on such a niche topic that its length needs to be inflated. For example, there's substantial sections tied to the famous Matthew Brady portrait of Lincoln (Holzer ties to this to the speech that both concurrently "made" Lincoln's image). Additionally, Holzer spends a large amount of pages disproving or affirming various "Cooper Union Myths" (hardly a show more household name) that were told by Lincoln contemporaries (some are as mundane as claiming to have sat with Lincoln on the train when they didn't).

Personally, I found most interesting was the general thesis of the book (that get repeated over and over without too much analysis). Holzer claims that Lincoln was politically savvy and used the speech to remake himself as a sophisticated moderate that would be the best standard bearer for the Republican party. Whereas before, Lincoln was seen as a western stump speaker (who seemed almost radical with his house divided speech), the Cooper Union speech (and subsequent newspaper reprints, and following speech tour) made him credible in the eyes of the Eastern Republicans. Holzer's analysis of the speech (helpfully reproduced at the end of the book) is pretty decent, moving from historical rebuttal of Douglas's claim of popular sovereignty, to a condemnation of the south, to Lincoln's conclusion that slavery was a moral wrong that needed to be contained. Then again, most of this can be inferred by just reading the speech directly (which I do recommend, it's brilliantly structured and has a lawyer's taste for clever argument). Holzer does put into context what was at stake, as well as Lincoln's strategic stances in painting his position as moderate and historically accurate.

This book has a serious claim to being the definitive exploration on the Cooper Union speech. I'm just not sure that we needed a "definitive exploration on the Cooper Union Speech". show less

The speech Lincoln gave at New York's Cooper Institute in February of 1860 made him President. Harold Holzer tells the story of how Lincoln came to be invited to make this trip East, his research into the speech, and its immediate and longer-term aftereffects. He also includes the speech itself, of course, and good analysis of what was in the speech and why it was so important.

The speech had three parts: the first was an answer to some comments Stephen Douglas had made about the founders and slavery, the second was a response to charges by the Democrats in the South that the Republicans were "sectional" and the third a more impassioned hope that "right makes might" in the struggle. It's a fascinating speech, and the longest of Lincoln's show more famous speeches. Holzer's account of its delivery puts you right there, mostly in the words of those who heard it, and the same is true of the whirlwind set of speeches he made in the weeks after, as he toured New England.

There is so much to be said about Lincoln, it's good to read something relatively tightly focused but so important. show less

First let me say that the author does justify writing another book about Abraham Lincoln. Plus, he makes a good argument that this speech helped to make Lincoln president. More important he provides good evidence that without this speech and everything that grew out of it Lincoln would not even have been nominated.
The author makes good use of the different sources available in telling the story in chronological fashion. The use of letters, newspaper headlines and quoted dialog provide a variety that gives some pace to narrative history that some authors make dull. There are even photographs beginning with the the one taken by Matthew Brady the day of the speech. I enjoyed learning history by reading a small part of the biography of show more Abraham Lincoln. The more I learn about him the more I see him as a remarkable person. After the speech was given the sponsor group published a footnoted version of his speech. It took two people three weeks to thoroughly duplicate the research that Lincoln had put into his speech.
Reading the book I had the feeling that Lincoln was consciously running for President the whole time. He deliberately wrote a scholarly speech debunking his image as a western rube. Even though he began the speech by saying "Mr. Cheermen" in a high squeaky voice by the end he had connected with his audience and his voice was full and bold.
All of the audience, except the hardcore democrats, were amazed and moved by the speech. It was published in all of the newspapers and sold as a pamphlet for many years. Lincoln went on to speak twelve times in fourteen days throughout New England using the same speech and turned down many requests so that he could get back to Springfield. Lincoln definitely accomplished his goal of improving his political standing.
The author's portrayal of 19th century America included all of the aspects of daily life, riding for days on a train with no sleeping accommodations, getting covered with mud from the streets. I learned that Lincoln was a temperance man and 80% of the white males, the only voters, voted in the Presidential election of 1860.
I enjoyed the book and recommend it for someone who has done some reading in this area. It was informative and entertaining. This is a well written account of a critical event in the election of 1860 and I would look for other books by this author. show less