Insightful and Respectul Treatment of Lincoln

books:


	• Lincoln's Melancholy: How Depression Challenged a President and Fueled His Greatness Joshua Wolf Shenk Mariner Books, 2006 - 368 pages average customer review:based on 54 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

This story is an inspiration

Anyone who suffers from depression should read this story. Lincoln was a man who learned how to overcome this illness to achieve great things for God and for himself. A very inspirational read.

Facinating Look at A.Lincoln

I can truthfully say that this is the first book I have ever read about A. Lincoln. I loved it! It had intimate deatils and insight looks into the depression of the former President himself. I would reccommend this book to anyone wanting to read something "different, appeal'n" on Lincoln. Great book.

for more information click here

Insightful and Respectul Treatment of Lincoln

Carl Becker said that every man is his own historian, and so it seems fitting that Lincoln be reinterpreted in the light of modern approaches to depression and mental illness. What is most admirable about this book is the author's respectful approach to Lincoln and the past; he insists on viewing Lincoln's behaviors in the context of the mores and culture of his time, which were far different from those prevailing today. The author persuasively argues that there was a romantic connotation to melancholy back then. This, combined with the cultural acceptance of greater emotion from single young men, explains some of Lincoln's publicly expressed emotional troubles as a young man

On the other hand, the author insists on defining Lincoln as suffering two "breakdowns." It's not clear what relevance this modern term has, nor can the author distinguish between mental illness and the culturally acceptable level of melancholy and love-sickness a young man was permitted to manifest at the time.

In short, given the lack of data (most notably the inability to interview the subject, Mr. Lincoln) and the different culture back then, why even try to import these modern day notions of depression to the 1830's-1860's?

Still, the book does make three points exceptionally well, which makes this a very worthwhile effort.

First, he destroys the idiotic notions that Lincoln was gay by virtue of close emotional relationships with men that were permitted and encouraged by the culture back then. Superficial modern day notions of sexual identity have no place in a different time with different (and perhaps healthier) approaches toward the permissibility of emotional intimacy between men.

Second, he argues that Lincoln's struggles with melancholy were part of his larger struggles against adversity that toughened him up for the greatest trial faced by any American President since Washington. This is an old theme, but it is well constructed here. On paper, hugely successful men like Buchanan, Jefferson Davis, and General McClellan should have been the ones to lead successfully during this crisis. But in some ways their previous success was a curse. The depressive's realism and ability to solider on during adversity is perhaps far better preparation. A fascinating point and one that is completley lost in modern Presidential races.

Third, the author argues that Lincoln's mental makeup allowed him to resist the compromises and stop gap measures that seduced men like Buchanan, Douglas, and Crittenden. Lincoln saw that the country had to recognize the evil of slavery and put it on the path to ultimate extinction. This was, of course, Lincoln's greatest insight, though I'm not convinced that his melancholia necessarily predisposed him to accept it. But there is some appeal in the contention that depressives can be curiously more disposed to realism in a world that is frequently evil and unfair.

This is an insightful book, though the ability to analyze Lincoln's psyche given the absence of data and intervening culutural changes is, of course, a doomed venture.

for more information click here

Audio Version - Excellent!

Shenk's study of Lincoln and depression is fascinating, and Richard Davidson does an excellent narration. I found the audiobook entertaining and thought-provoking.

Shenk provides a detailed biography of Lincoln interspersed with musings on psychology and related topics. He points out that modern culture has unfairly criticized depressives as negative people, with only a minority of scientists pointing out that depressed people may actually be more realistic than optimists. In light of the threats facing mid-19th century America, Lincoln was more in touch with what was likely to happen than his happier peers. Shenk also shows that Lincoln's long-standing depression contributed to some of his outstanding character traits, such as his desire to be of service to his country and an unwavering determination to complete necessary tasks, no matter how unpleasant. This made him strong enough to lead his country through an incredibly bloody war.

Shenk finishes the book with a discussion on Lincoln's biographers and how historians inject their own prejudices into published research. The final CD concludes with an interesting interview with the author.

for more information click here

Lincoln: Temperament and Triumph

"Lincoln's Melancholy," by Joshua Wolf Shenk, is a superb account of how the lifelong depression suffered by Lincoln was overcome by his own strength of character and led to his greatness. Initially an obstacle, Lincoln triumphed over the melancholy he probably inherited from his family by focusing on a larger goal, stopping the spread of slavery into the new, western territories and finally, preserving the Union itself.

Lincoln suffered two major depressive incidents in his youth, the first after the death of Ann Rutledge, and the second when his engagement to Mary Todd was broken. His indecisiveness led to a mental breakdown which was only alleviated when he finally married her. After these incidents, Lincoln settled into a state of chronic depression, which nonetheless did not interfere with his likeability and gregarious nature. Lincoln used humor, storytelling, and reading and writing poetry to cope with his bouts of sadness.

Shenk gives an account of earlier biographies of Lincoln, which were sometimes off the mark. Early in the 20th century, when Freud was the rage, it was speculated that Lincoln's sorrow was due to an Oedipus complex and guilt over his mother's death. Later writers insisted that he could not have been in love with Ann Rutledge because they distrusted the source of that rumor, William Herndon, Lincoln's law partner. It is now believed that the eyewitnesses Herndon interviewed may have been correct.

The book was written in a compelling, easy-going style complete with poetic references. I especially loved the preface wherein Leo Tolstoy tried to explain Lincoln to a group of local tribesmen in the Caucasus. It is such a beautiful, concisely written biography that I have been inspired to use it as the basis of a speech on Lincoln that I will deliver on the occasion of his bicentennial in February.

for more information click here

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

In this astonishing and illuminating book, Joshua Wolf Shenk reveals the deep melancholy that pervaded Abraham Lincoln's life and its influence on his mature character. Mired in personal suffering as a young man, Lincoln forged a hard path toward mental health. His coping strategies and depressive insight ultimately helped the sixteenth president find the strength that he, and America, needed to overcome the nation's greatest turmoil. Drawing on seven years of research, Shenk offers a nuanced, revelatory perspective on Lincoln and his legacy.

hot