Jon Meacham

Summary: The convictions shaping Lincoln’s public life including his opposition to slavery, the importance of the union, and his belief in providence.

One of the things I’ve appreciated about the writing of Jon Meacham is that he focuses on the formative influences, qualities of character, and deeply held convictions of his subjects. And this what sets his biography of Lincoln apart from the many other fine biographies of the sixteenth president.

Of course he traces the life of Lincoln from his humble upbringings, his law career, early political life, his rise in Republican circles, and his war-marred presidency and its tragic end. Two formative influences stand out. One is his step-mother Sarah, who encouraged his hunger for books and brought order to a struggling household. The other was Mary Todd Lincoln, his wife, who wanted to marry the man “who had the best prospects of being president.” She was at his side in all his political endeavors, the archetypal political spouse.

What she recognized was an ambitious man with a greatness of vision. The Declaration of Independence, even more than the Constitution, shaped him. It’s ringing words, “all men are created equal” form a bedrock conviction in Lincoln. Consequently, he could not envision a good society as one where one man enslaved and lived off the work of another.

Yet he was a also a savvy politician with an acute sense of the possible. This explained his pragmatic approach of only trying to stop the spread of slavery. This frustrated extreme abolitionists, including Frederick Douglass, who eventually reached a very different appraisal. An example of that sense of timing was the Emancipation Proclamation, planned for some time, but only proclaimed after victory at Antietam.

Closely tied to his intuitive sense of was his deep sense of feeling and empathy. Thus, he would struggle with the black bear of depression and would deeply grieve his lost son. Also, he was patient and gentle with a shrewish and increasingly unstable Mary. These same qualities were in evidence when he visited wounded soldiers in field hospitals.

Finally, though not a conventional Christian, Lincoln had a deep conviction of the providence of God in human affairs. He understood he could not bend or appropriate God’s will to his ends. The war would last as long as God willed, though this didn’t prevent him from looking for generals who would fight. He understood grace and forgiveness and had no intent to punish the South at war’s end. One wonders how different Reconstruction might have been were it not for Wilkes’ bullet.

One cannot, in an election year, help but think about presidential character. In the case of Lincoln, Meacham portrays a Lincoln with not only the requisite political skills, savvy, and ambition. He also had depths of character, breadth of vision and spiritual underpinnings to meet the challenges of the moment. Do we want that in those we entrust to our highest office? And if we do not, what does this say of us as a people?… (lisätietoja)

Disclaimer: I received this book as part of GoodReads' First Reads program

Songs of America is a telling of American history with popular songs. The first chapter takes us back to the days up to and including the revolution, when songs like "Yankee Doodle" and "Hail Columbia" were popular. The second chapter takes us through the War of 1812, when the "Star Spangled Banner" was written (it didn't become the national anthem until the early 20th century). This chapter also takes us through the antebellum era, when slavery was rampant and abolitionism began, with songs like "John Brown's Body" and "America" (My Country 'tis of Thee). The Civil War era introduced songs like "Dixie" and "The Battle Hymn of the Republic". Later chapters discuss World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, The first Gulf War and 9-11. Each step of the way, the author introduces songs, both supporting and protesting, what was going on. Among those are "Over There", "Blowin' in the Wind", "Born in the USA" and many, many more. There are many color illustrations, and sidebars by Tim McGraw where he talks about what certain songs mean to him. Personally, I could do without McGraw's comments, but I'm sure his fans would disagree. Overall, I enjoyed the book, and found it a quick read. It may look like a text book, but don't let that dissuade you from picking it up and enjoying American history told through the songs of each era.












..........................................................................................................................................… (lisätietoja)

A tough one for me. This was the audiobook version of the book, read by the author himself. I was very excited about this publication when I saw it was a thing. Mr. Meacham is a favorite author of mine and Abraham Lincoln and the American Civil War are what I obsess over. So when I heard that this book was coming out I thought that the man and the hour had met yet again!
I want to say that this book blew me away. I want to say that it was a unique examination of Lincoln and the times. I want to say that I couldn't stop listening. But alas, I was left wanting. I will admit that I have a pretty high bar of expectations when it comes to these two. When it was all said and done "And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle" was a good book. Not very good, great or excellent. Just good.
Mr. Meacham was a good reader, not great. His tone became monotonous at times, it is a voice that doesn't annoy nor draw the listener in with its warmth and inviting, varying tones. If I had to describe it in one word I would say it was good.
There were no new revelations, no new spin or take on the different parts of Lincoln's life or administration. No hot takes, no change of positioning, no elevation or apotheosis. This is not a hagiography or a burning in effigy either. It has not found any lost resources or utilized any resource that was previously unknown or unused. It is just a good one volume biography of our 16th president with a focus on the struggle for the freedom of the slaves and Civil Rights.
One of the things that attracts me to Mr. Meacham is that he writes very well. He did not disappoint with this publication either. His prose as usual is scholarly yet easy to read and quite digestible. He has a great ability to turn a phrase and get his point across in a seemingly effortless manner, yet I have a feeling it was all quite effortful. And I am not saying that this is a bad book and that it should not be picked up, not in the least. In fact it is Meacham's writing that makes it unique in the annals of Lincolnania.
No, "And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle" by Jon Meacham was not what I wanted. But that is on me and my expectations. So, did the man and the hour meet? Upon further reflection...they might have. Maybe, maybe it was the man, just not quite the hour... regardless it was a tough one for me.
I would give it a 3.5 stars.… (lisätietoja)

BIBLIOGRAPHIC DETAILS:
(Available in Print: COPYRIGHT: 5/8/2018; PUBLISHER: Random House; 1st edition; ISBN: 978-0399589812; PAGES: 416; Unabridged.)

(Digital: Yes)

*Audiobook: COPYRIGHT: 5/10/2018; PUBLISHER: Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group; ISBN: 978-0525640066; DURATION: 11:01:34; Unabridged

(Film or tv: No.)

SERIES:
No

MAJOR CHARACTERS:
N/A

SUMMARY/ EVALUATION:
How I picked it: It was either a news show that recommended it, or an article I read.

What it’s about: Meachum discusses politics and the office of the US President, touching on historical events and the efforts, of politicians to enact legislation for or counter to the promise of the constitutional promise of liberty and justice for all citizens. He points out that leaders reflect the will and collective soul of those they lead, and that for the many steps backward, the trend is ever, on the whole---over time, forward and upward.

What I thought: Nicely researched and written. Inspiring.

AUTHOR:
Jon Meachum (5/20/1969):
From Amazon: “Jon Meacham is a Pulitzer Prize–winning biographer. The author of the New York Times bestsellers Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power, American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House, Franklin and Winston, and Destiny and Power: The American Odyssey of George Herbert Walker Bush, he is a distinguished visiting professor at Vanderbilt University, a contributing writer for The New York Times Book Review, and a fellow of the Society of American Historians. Meacham lives in Nashville with his wife and children.”

NARRATOR:
Fred Sanders
From Penguin Random House:
“Fred Sanders has been seen on Broadway (The Buddy Holly Story), in national tours (Driving Miss Daisy and Big River), and on TV, including Seinfeld, The West Wing, Will and Grace, Numb3rs, Titus, and Malcolm in the Middle. His films include Sea of Love, The Shadow, and the Oscar-nominated short Culture. A native New Yorker and Yale graduate, he now lives in LA.”
I feel that typically most authors DO need to let professional actors narrate their works, but I don’t find any flaws in the author’s Intro or conclusion. Never the less, Fred Sanders does a marvelous narration here.

GENRE:
Non-fiction; Biography; US History;

LOCATIONS:
United States

TIME FRAME:
Contemporary (2018)

SUBJECTS:
Politics; Civil Rights; Presidency


SAMPLE QUOTATION:
From the Introduction – To Hope Rather Than To Fear
"There is a rich history of discussion of what the Swedish economist Gunnar Myrdal, writing in 1944, called the American Creed: devotion to principles of liberty, of self-government, and of equal opportunity for all regardless of race, gender, religion, or nation of origin. Echoing Myrdal, the historian Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., wrote, “The genius of America lies in its capacity to forge a single nation from peoples of remarkably diverse racial, religious, and ethnic origins….The American Creed envisages a nation composed of individuals making their own choices and accountable to themselves, not a nation based on inviolable ethnic communities….It is what all Americans should learn, because it is what binds all Americans together.”
I have chosen to consider the American soul more than the American Creed because there is a significant difference between professing adherence to a set of beliefs and acting upon them. The war between the ideal and the real, between what’s right and what’s convenient, between the larger good and personal interest is the contest that unfolds in the soul of every American. The creed of which Myrdal and Schlesinger and others have long spoken can find concrete expression only once individuals in the arena choose to side with the angels. That is a decision that must come from the soul—and sometimes the soul’s darker forces win out over its nobler ones. The message of Martin Luther King, Jr.—that we should be judged on the content of our character, not on the color of our skin—dwells in the American soul; so does the menace of the Ku Klux Klan. History hangs precariously in the balance between such extremes. Our fate is contingent upon which element—that of hope or that of fear—emerges triumphant.
Philosophically speaking, the soul is the vital center, the core, the heart, the essence of life. Heroes and martyrs have such a vital center; so do killers and haters. Socrates believed the soul was nothing less than the animating force of reality. “What is it that, present in a body, makes it living?” he asked in the Phaedo. The answer was brief, and epochal: “A soul.” In the second chapter of the book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible, the soul was life itself: “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” In the Greek New Testament, when Jesus says “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends,” the word for “life” could also be translated as “soul.””

RATING:
5 stars.

STARTED READING – FINISHED READING
7-9-2022 to 7-28-2022… (lisätietoja)