The Impeachment of Abraham Lincoln

Nov 03, 2012 Mark rated it 4 of 5 stars

Stephen L. Carter's latest novel is an alternate history thriller that posits Lincoln surviving Booth's assassination attempt, only to face impeachment two years later at the hands of the Radicals of his own party. With the Senate moving towards a trial, a young African American woman, Abigail Canner, arrives in Washington to serve as a clerk for the law firm preparing to defend the president. Soon she finds herself tackling a series of mysteries all tied to the effort to bring down Lincoln. The...more

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Jan 26, 2013 Jason rated it 4 of 5 stars

The Impeachment of Abraham Lincoln is an intriguing and entertaining attempt of helping modern readers understand the social and political upheavals after the American Civil War. Using the historical counter factual that Lincoln was only injured in a Booth assassination attempt, rather than murdered, and set a year after that attempt, the reader is allowed to ask plenty of what if questions, that they normally would not ask. Primarily, the reader is able to see the debate between the Radical Rep...more The Impeachment of Abraham Lincoln is an intriguing and entertaining attempt of helping modern readers understand the social and political upheavals after the American Civil War. Using the historical counter factual that Lincoln was only injured in a Booth assassination attempt, rather than murdered, and set a year after that attempt, the reader is allowed to ask plenty of what if questions, that they normally would not ask. Primarily, the reader is able to see the debate between the Radical Republicans and the Lincoln aims of reconciliation with the South, and former slave integration into broader American society.

The central character & protagonist, in this novel is the college educated, female black lawyer Abigail. By using her as the central character, the reader is able to see not only the political implications of life in Washington, post Civil War, but the social implications. You can see why Carter saw the need for doing this, because the reader is able to see, and not be told, of the privileges of power that the ruling and white class had post Civil War, over and against blacks, freed from slavery and otherwise.

Stephen Carter, a Yale law professor, has explored themes of ethics, race and morality in previous fictional writing, in ways that he cannot by strictly exploring legal themes in the abstract. He does that again in this novel by exploring, through the fictional impeachment of Lincoln, and with a murder of one of Lincoln's lead counsels, the legal and ethical issues that were driving American society through the aftermath of that terrible war.

Largely this is an entertaining novel that takes its premise seriously, and especially all the various historical threads from real life that its premise unravels, and how that would effect the world. The plot line that drives his narrative is entertaining as a legal, political and murder story, but even more so, because it forces the reader to reconsider the America that actually came to be after the Civil War.(less)

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Dec 31, 2012 Cathy Colton rated it 4 of 5 stars

A very interesting, strongly-written alternate history that speculates on what might have happened had Abraham Lincoln survived the assassination attempt by John Wilkes Booth and been impeached for actions he took during the Civil War--e.g. suspending habeus corpus and censoring some newspapers. Carter is a law professor at Yale so his background led to compelling trial scenes; according to his notes at the end, many of the speeches made by the prosecutors and senators at the impeachment hearing...more

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Dec 14, 2012 Monique rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: back-in-the-day-historical

Well I was hyped to read this book..so hyped I ordered it from another library because hey I have read all of Carter's books: The Emperor of Ocean Park, Jericho Falls, Palace Council and now this I believe and always find his writing intelligent, alittle verbose and wordy but extremely clean and intriguing..And the premise for this book drew me in like a moth to a flame especially after seeing the movie Lincoln starring the amazing Daniel Day Lewis and the surprising standout supporting castmate...more Well I was hyped to read this book..so hyped I ordered it from another library because hey I have read all of Carter's books: The Emperor of Ocean Park, Jericho Falls, Palace Council and now this I believe and always find his writing intelligent, alittle verbose and wordy but extremely clean and intriguing..And the premise for this book drew me in like a moth to a flame especially after seeing the movie Lincoln starring the amazing Daniel Day Lewis and the surprising standout supporting castmate Tommy Lee..I was all into reading this book about the most improbable and fascinating of scenarios: what if Lincoln survived the assasination at Fords Theater by John Wilkes Booth, would he stil be the revered president, Negro savior or would the South come for him and his questionable Reconstruction tactics to include shutting down newspapers, limiting the support to freedmen and the diehard slavery enthusiasts and the Klan. So the book starts from there with two law clerks assisting the President's counsel defending the impeachment charges and fighting the rival Radicals..I admit in this aspect of the law and politics there were just two many names and positions to keep up with for five hundred plus pages..I must confess to being muddled up more than a few times, I pulled through and though sometimes I felt like it was a chore to read there were flashes of brillance, and a sense of suspense that made you want to finish..add to this plot the side story of one of the law clerks, the extrodinarily ambitious Abigail-a free black woman with her heart set on becoming one of the first women admitted to the bar despite the obstacles and blatant discrimination she faces at every turn..She was endearing and you root for her and feel her embarrasment and shame in fresh post slavery America before the Civil Rights movement. Abigail's determination, the consipiracy/murder plot and the curiousity of wanting to learn what would theoretically happen to Lincoln kept me reading and if you can take time to savor, write notes and reread certain parts it is worth the time..I can actually say though it was tough at times it could have been longer to allow Carter time to get more into each character, they just came at you LOL..(less)

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Dec 07, 2012 Gena rated it 3 of 5 stars

I've never read anything by Stephen L. Carter before but I enjoyed this one. He's basically asked "what if" Lincoln wasn't assassinated but lived on to face impeachment at the hands of congress two years later. Carter has taken fact and mixed in fiction to create a very interesting plot, filled with intricate details and fascinating personalities. It take a bit to get into the book, the beginning is dry and the legal aspects are fairly uninteresting until you know more facts. My one complaint ab...more I've never read anything by Stephen L. Carter before but I enjoyed this one. He's basically asked "what if" Lincoln wasn't assassinated but lived on to face impeachment at the hands of congress two years later. Carter has taken fact and mixed in fiction to create a very interesting plot, filled with intricate details and fascinating personalities. It take a bit to get into the book, the beginning is dry and the legal aspects are fairly uninteresting until you know more facts. My one complaint about this book is the character of Abigail Canner; female, black and an aspiring law clerk. I've read a lot of fanfiction and one of the things any fanfic reader hates is called a "marysue". MarySue is normally a younger character, she's always beautiful, smarter than anyone else in the room, clever, brave, knows how to get things done. MarySue is annoying in the extreme. Abigail Canner comes off as a marysue in this novel. We are told she is beautiful, though of course she takes no notice of her looks and we are told she is supposedly a brilliant legal mind, though I saw very little evidence of it. In fact there were times she came off as very thick indeed. Still, she somehow defies the odds and stumbles into a complex plot to bring Lincoln down. I know this is a work of fiction and Carter is merely providing characters around which a plot can be written, but by choosing Abigail Canner he's really made it hard to believe much that happens. I am sure there was a free, black middle-class as well as an upper class but Abigail's movements through society seem much too easy. Even after the Civil War, and in the north, blacks had a really rough time. Carter makes it so easy for Abigail to not only solve the mystery, but meet the rich and famous whites who ruled society in Washington at that time that it is hard to follow what is going on. I kept asking myself if it would be possible for Abigail to do all that. And of course she has all the men falling for her. Even her would-be suitor Octavius, a young educated black man, is brilliant and pining over her. It was just too much. I wish he would have used someone else, or even made Abigail a little more believable. Still, it was a good read and I would recommend it anyone interested in historical fiction.
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Nov 10, 2012 Dale rated it 2 of 5 stars

I Expected So Much...

Published by Alfred A. Knopf in July of 2012

I love Stephen L. Carter the essayist. He writes brilliant essays. He makes me think and I learn a lot. I have now determined that I just don't care much for Stephen L. Carter the novelist and I will stick to the essays.

When I saw the topic of this book I was thrilled. Carter is a law professor so he knows all of the legal angles. I am an enthusiastic student of the Civil War so I was already very familiar with all of the politics,...more

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Nov 09, 2012 Doug Clark rated it 3 of 5 stars

I finished reading Stephen L. Carter’s new novel, The Impeachment of Abraham Lincoln. It was a fascinating read. It is a historical what if? novel. Basically, it examines what might have happened if Abraham Lincoln had survived and recovered from the assassination attempted by John Wilkes Booth on April 14, 1865. Carter speculates that had Lincoln survived, his conflicts with the Radical Republicans on his conduct during the Civil War and how to govern the southern states following the War would...more I finished reading Stephen L. Carter’s new novel, The Impeachment of Abraham Lincoln. It was a fascinating read. It is a historical what if? novel. Basically, it examines what might have happened if Abraham Lincoln had survived and recovered from the assassination attempted by John Wilkes Booth on April 14, 1865. Carter speculates that had Lincoln survived, his conflicts with the Radical Republicans on his conduct during the Civil War and how to govern the southern states following the War would eventually lead the Radicals to impeach him.

The story is told primarily through the eyes of an educated, ambitious African-American woman, Abigail Canner. Raised in a successful free black family in Washington, D.C., Abby, a graduate of Oberlin College, is seeking to become a lawyer. She has a letter from a former professor who strongly recommends that she be hired as a clerk at the law firm of Dennard & McShane. Presenting herself there, she finds that Mr. Dennard, the partner who hired her, is away on business. The other partner, Mr. McShane, is not pleased to see her, but puts her to work anyway. Unfortunately, she is not considered worthy to actually train as a law clerk. Her duties go more to finding books for the partners, cleaning, and running errands. However, when she’s not busy with menial tasks, Abby studies and reads the law books available, and as the novel progresses, she contributes more and more to assisting in the main case the firm is handling, the impeachment of the President, Abraham Lincoln.

Lincoln has been charged with four counts of offences, all doing with his conduct during the Civil War and Reconstruction. Issues such as the suspension of habeas corpus during the War, the closing of newspapers during the War, not being sufficiently supportive of House policies after the War, and the belief that Lincoln planned to declare martial law over Washington DC and rule as a dictator, all contributed to the particulars of the impeachment bills.

Abby, as an employee of Dennard & McShane, along with a law clerk, Jonathan Hilliman, finds herself in the middle of the impeachment defense. To add to the mix, there is a mysterious letter that may or may not exist and that may or may not have been written by Lincoln or someone close to him with an incriminating list of names. The search for the letter is of major importance to the novel. And if that is not enough, Mr. McShane is found murdered alongside an African-American woman who is believed to be a prostitute.

All of this and a developing friendship between Abby and Jonathan (who is engaged), keeps the reader very interested in all the goings-on. The novel is a wonderful mix of history, speculation and filled with well written characterizations of major historical figures, including Lincoln himself. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about all the events involved: the murder, the actual trial in the Senate, and the developing relationship between the two clerks. Unfortunately, as events in the trial grew bleaker and bleaker for Lincoln surviving to finish his Presidency, it seemed to me that Carter wrote himself into a corner. Feeling this, I feared a deus ex machine resolution, and unfortunately, my fear was justified. To me, this was a copout. Maybe it’s what had to be, but I didn’t care for the ending. After enjoying the novel all the way through, the end left me feeling dissatisfied.

Following the novel, Carter includes a very interesting author’s note on what was true and how he played with the actual history of the times. This makes for interesting reading.

Overall, I enjoyed the novel. It paints a great picture of the post-Civil War years, not only in the political sense, but also in how African-Americans were treated. It’s a good tale, well told, except for the ending.
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Oct 10, 2012 Dominick Lemas rated it 3 of 5 stars

In Ford's Theatre on April 14, 1865 there is an assassination attempt on Abraham Lincoln and although wounded, Lincoln survives. The Impeachment of Abraham Lincoln provides a thought provoking novel that examines how the political process would hold the 16th president of the United States accountable for his policies in a post-Civil War America. I really enjoyed the innovation of this book and became deeply wrapped up in the sub-plots that keep the story moving. Although Abraham Lincoln and the...more In Ford's Theatre on April 14, 1865 there is an assassination attempt on Abraham Lincoln and although wounded, Lincoln survives. The Impeachment of Abraham Lincoln provides a thought provoking novel that examines how the political process would hold the 16th president of the United States accountable for his policies in a post-Civil War America. I really enjoyed the innovation of this book and became deeply wrapped up in the sub-plots that keep the story moving. Although Abraham Lincoln and the impeachment trial provide the overarching theme of Carter's book, there are several interesting characters including Abigail Canner, a recent graduate of Oberlin College. Miss Canner is a bright, beautiful, and curious young woman that is aspiring to be one of the first black female lawyers in the country and the key to President Lincoln's defense. Perhaps Carter's greatest achievement with this book is his succinct description of the nation's capital: Washington City. The streets are covered in mud, the politicians are ruthless war heroes, and secrets are hard to keep. I was surprised that William H. Seward was not a larger part of this book given his commitment to Lincoln and his political mojo at the time. The actual arguments that are used in the impeachment proceedings forced me to think about Lincoln, not as the revered icon that held our country together during the Civil War, but rather a politician who likely overstepped his constitutional authority in order to maintain control of a delicate situation. What I did not like about this book was the long court room banter. Carter would have been wise to cut about 100 pages from this novel, condense some of the sub-plots, and provide a more satisfying ending. Ultimately I would recommend this book to readers that want to challenge their ideas of Lincoln with more than the possibility that he was a Vampire Slayer (Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter); however be warned that this books achievements can sometimes seem drawn out. (less)

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Oct 05, 2012 JBradford rated it 4 of 5 stars

I am more than tempted to give this novel a 5-star rating except that I did not care for the ending. I had never read any of Stephen Carter’s novels, but I will be looking for them, to see if the others are this good.

I have a fascination for alternative histories, but also a fear that I will learn the “wrong” history and never get things straight in my mind, but details Carter supplies at the end of the book, as well as some online research, suggests that most of the details are so trivial as to...more

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Oct 03, 2012 Tamora Pierce rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: adult, alternate-history

I am a bear for interesting alternate history, and the American Civil War period seems to generate some of the best. This has a truly mind-bending premise: Lincoln survives his attempted assassination, to be brought up on impeachment charges two years later for his suspension of habeas corpus during the war and three other charges. The chief motive driving his main foes is that his "malice toward none and charity toward all" policy is a kind of treason in its kinder treatment of the South than t...more I am a bear for interesting alternate history, and the American Civil War period seems to generate some of the best. This has a truly mind-bending premise: Lincoln survives his attempted assassination, to be brought up on impeachment charges two years later for his suspension of habeas corpus during the war and three other charges. The chief motive driving his main foes is that his "malice toward none and charity toward all" policy is a kind of treason in its kinder treatment of the South than the legislators who were notorious in real history for their waving the "bloody shirts" of the Union dead want.

The principal characters are the attorneys who are to defend Lincoln, in particular a law clerk who comes from a wealthy family and the unusual (to say the least) potential law clerk who is a recent graduate of the radical Oberlin cottage, not at all well off, possessing two siblings who are definitely criminals, and who is both female and black (or colored, as the custom of the time had it). She is determined to succeed, a worshipper of Lincoln (unlike her criminal brother), very well thought of by the Oberlin president who put her up for the job, and she is not about to let anything--pride, prejudice, romance, Lincoln's enemies, murderers, Confederate spies--stop her. By sheer doggedness and intelligence she means to convince those she meets, be they lawyers, Congressmen, or the many brilliant women who worked behind the scenes in the Washington of the time--that she can do what she sets out to do, if she dies trying.

Carter does a very good job of keeping Lincoln in the picture without letting him overshadow his main characters. He is absolutely fascinating, as is Carter's view of those would-be great men who think they are greater than Lincoln.

It is an adult book, and the time is more raw, so the language is more so. The female hero is subjected to plenty of hazing. There is sexual material, but not in excess of the period. I definitely recommend it, not just for alternate history fans, but for those who are already familiar with the issues and the personalities of Washington during and at the end of the war and would like to see another, thoughtful, examination of them.(less)

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Sep 27, 2012 Sarah rated it 2 of 5 stars

I personally did not like this book. I thought it was very boring, focused mainly on a lot of law that I was not interested in. The intricacies of law and law philosophy do not interest me, and if I had known this was a "lawyer book", I wouldn't have picked it up. It was a struggle to finish, and I was listening to it on audiobook.

I felt like the author spent so much time researching random facts and people from this era of history that he felt like he just HAD to include all this random inform...more

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Sep 13, 2012 Jackie Scheidlinger added it

Shelves: fiction

Book has an interesting premise…suppose Abraham Lincoln had survived his assassination attempt and remained in office. Carter imagines this eventually leading to impreachment proceedings being instituted against him, for the things he did during wartime, like suspending habeus corpus. Basically the argument for impeachment being that Lincoln overstepped the bounds of the exec branch, taking too much power on the Presidency, and ignoring the wishes of Congress (even though Congress had previously...more

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Sep 06, 2012 Judy rated it 4 of 5 stars

An alternate look at the United States in the early Reconstruction Period. Abraham Lincoln survived the Good Friday assassination by John Wilkes Booth, Vice-President Andrew Johnson was killed in the same conspiracy, and Secretary of State William Seward was so gravely wounded that, two years later, he hasn't left his house since that April evening in 1865. By 1867 the conflict between the President and the Radical Republicans in the Congress over who has the power to lead Reconstruction continu...more An alternate look at the United States in the early Reconstruction Period. Abraham Lincoln survived the Good Friday assassination by John Wilkes Booth, Vice-President Andrew Johnson was killed in the same conspiracy, and Secretary of State William Seward was so gravely wounded that, two years later, he hasn't left his house since that April evening in 1865. By 1867 the conflict between the President and the Radical Republicans in the Congress over who has the power to lead Reconstruction continues. Lincoln argues that the Confederate states were in rebellion, but still in the Union so Reconstruction is being appropriately handled by the Executive Branch. The Radical Republicans insist that the states of the Confederacy left the Union in 1861, were conquered by the armies of the North, and, therefore, Congress has the right to exercise its Constitutional power to admit states into the Union. By 1867, the conflict between Lincoln and the Congress reached such an impasse that Congress decides to seize power by impeaching Lincoln in the House of Representatives, putting him on trial in the Senate, and removing him from office on charges stemming from his actions during the Civil War. Because the office of Vice-President is empty, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, Benjamin Wade, a Radical Republican, will assume the presidency after Lincoln's removal. Working as a clerk with the law firm defending Lincoln is Abigail Canner, a young African-American woman who is a recent graduate of Oberlin College in Ohio and who believes that the limitations that constrict African-Americans in post-Civil War Washington, D.c. do not apply to her. While the events outside of the Stenate trial read like something out the The DaVinci Code, the Senate trial of Linoln is fascinating especially with the personalities involved--Lincoln, Salmon P. Chase, Charles Sumner, Thaddeus Stevens, Kate Chase Sprague, Edwin Stanton, Daniel Sickles, and a host of others. It helps to have a basic knowledge of the historical figures who interact in this book because their personalities and actions are related to events that often occurred a decade or two before these supposedly events of 1867. (less)

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Sep 03, 2012 Joanne rated it 3 of 5 stars

Stephen L. Carter’s novel account of what if? He re-writes history so that Abraham Lincoln succeeds his assassination attempt but then goes onto impeachment.

This was a good story, but long and I found most of the impeachment trial write ups confusing. I think because there were several characters with S names – Stanton, Sickles, Seward, Sumner and I found it hard to keep track of who was who and what role they played.

Despite the title, Abigail Canner is the central figure. A young educated Afri...more

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Aug 31, 2012 Darrenglass rated it 4 of 5 stars

Stephen L Carter has written a handful of novels that are on one hand legal thrillers and on another hand a portrait of upper-class African American society often involving strong matriarchs. So it seemed simultaneously surprising and totally inevitable that he would write a novel set in Washington DC in the early days after the Civil War, about a major trial where one of the lawyers is an African American woman who is dealing with several layers of racism, sexism, and the challenges of reconstr...more

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Jul 23, 2012 Mary Frances rated it 4 of 5 stars

I truly enjoyed this book despite its flaws. he characters really didn't seem like 19th century characters- they give lip service to the societal strictures of the day but then those get thrown to the wind very quickly. I also could tell this book was written by a man- it lacked a certain richness of description and emotion that might have come more easily to a woman's pen. One thing that bugged me is that the heroine's beauty is a really important factor that affects how she is received, but Ca...more

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Jul 09, 2012 Jaylia3 rated it 5 of 5 stars

What might have happened if Abraham Lincoln had survived Booth’s assassination attempt? Impeachment? That’s what novelist and historian Stephen L. Carter imagines in this riveting alternate history. Abigail Canner, a young black woman recently graduated from Oberlin College, is working for the law firm defending Lincoln from accusations that he overstepped his constitutional authority during the war. Interestingly, these charges are brought by grandstanding Radical Republican members of his own...more

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Jun 27, 2012 Bart Breen rated it 5 of 5 stars

Top Historical Fiction

Stephen L. Carter has done a remarkable job of bringing to life a piece of historical fiction creating a scenario of what could have happened had Lincoln survived his assassination attempt, Johnson's assassination attempt been successful and the impeachment faced later by Johnson in real life been brought to bear upon Lincoln himself. Add to this a narrative plot that introduces characters both real and imagined along with a murder mystery and you have all the ingredients n...more

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Apr 08, 2013 Cbancroft83 rated it 4 of 5 stars

I had never read a book by Stephen L. Carter before this one, which I picked up at the library because the title intrigued me. Man, am I ever glad I did pick it up, I really enjoyed this historical fiction! Historical fiction is one of my favorite genres because the best of them so cleverly mix actual history with great fictional characters and events to make a great thriller that includes enough true history to satisfy the historian in my soul. This novel let's us imagine that Lincoln survived...more

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Mar 19, 2013 Eddy Allen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: arts-and-historical

Stephen L. Carter’s thrilling new novel takes as its starting point an alternate history: President Abraham Lincoln survives the assassination attempt at Ford’s Theatre on April 14, 1865. Two years later he is charged with overstepping his constitutional authority, both during and after the Civil War, and faces an impeachment trial . . .

Twenty-one-year-old Abigail Canner is a young black woman with a degree from Oberlin, a letter of employment from the law firm that has undertaken Lincoln’s defe...more

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Aug 02, 2012 Everyday eBook rated it 5 of 5 stars

Recommended to Everyday by: Joe Muscolino

After reading Stephen L. Carter's novel The Impeachment of Abraham Lincoln, you'll be thankful President Lincoln was assassinated. Yes, you heard that right. Abraham Lincoln was a hero and the brightest beacon of goodness the world could offer. But that's precisely the point. His assassination helped enshrine his greatest qualities. He became a martyr of a noble cause, a symbol of freedom so large it swallowed all the likely flaws and bad behaviors of the President whole.

Lincoln was human, after...more After reading Stephen L. Carter's novel The Impeachment of Abraham Lincoln, you'll be thankful President Lincoln was assassinated. Yes, you heard that right. Abraham Lincoln was a hero and the brightest beacon of goodness the world could offer. But that's precisely the point. His assassination helped enshrine his greatest qualities. He became a martyr of a noble cause, a symbol of freedom so large it swallowed all the likely flaws and bad behaviors of the President whole.

Lincoln was human, after all, and Carter uncomfortably explores his mortality by asking a simple question: What if President Lincoln didn't get assassinated? What if he lived on, only to be impeached by an incumbent Congress offended by his heavy-handed use of executive power?

As difficult as it is to see Lincoln nearly dethroned by the American public, it's equally as fascinating. The premise takes off when John Wilkes Booth misses his intended target in Ford's Theater in 1865. Instead, VP Andrew Johnson falls to the floor, dead. Honest Abe, still alive and kicking, continues to sweep up the mess left by the Civil War to foster a sense of camaraderie among a broken nation.

Meanwhile, opposition factions plot to impeach him. Even in Lincoln's own Republican Party there are dissenters, a sizeable group of folks upset with Lincoln for choosing to fill his Cabinet with conquered Southern politicians merely to placate their pride. As he suffers the spite of a tired and ungrateful country, Carter's novel begins to elicit the same emotions you felt when Mom sat you on her lap and explained away your belief in Santa Claus.

But the President must defend himself against impeachment, and this is when the man, the myth, and the legend are all rolled back into one. He's fiery, reflective, pithy, and irresistibly inspiring. He hires the law firm Dennard & McShane, of which one Abigail Canner -- an educated African American from Oberlin -- is the clerk and eventual confidante of the President's counsel. As the case continues, murder, scandal, framers, and schemers abound. You are layers deep in counter-factual brilliance when you finally wonder how all this was left out of your history textbooks. Isn't this real?

It isn't, of course; you're just a tourist in a time machine belonging to the fantastical imagination of Stephen L. Carter. A world so deeply believable you'll find yourself years from now quoting Senator Charles Sumner -- "Like so many people of liberal persuasion, they value their own progressive opinions more than they value the people they hold those opinions about" -- only to realize you're actually quoting Carter himself. While Lincoln will always deservedly be the archetype of good in America's collective conscience, reimagining him mired in the sandbox of everyday politics is at once a sobering and unforgettable experience.

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Jul 27, 2012 Bill Hall rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: abraham-lincoln, alternate-history

Abraham Lincoln is, with the possible exception of George Washington, the closest the United States has come to producing a secular saint. His martyrdom has made it hard for many to understand how reviled and persecuted he was during his presidency. Both of these dimensions of Lincoln find echoes in Stephen Carter’s masterful new novel, “The Impeachment of Abraham Lincoln.” In Carter’s what-if story, it is Vice President Andrew Johnson who is killed on April 14, 1865, while Lincoln survives John...more Abraham Lincoln is, with the possible exception of George Washington, the closest the United States has come to producing a secular saint. His martyrdom has made it hard for many to understand how reviled and persecuted he was during his presidency. Both of these dimensions of Lincoln find echoes in Stephen Carter’s masterful new novel, “The Impeachment of Abraham Lincoln.” In Carter’s what-if story, it is Vice President Andrew Johnson who is killed on April 14, 1865, while Lincoln survives John Wilkes Booth’s bullet. (Or, as Carter memorably puts it, “He had been shot on Good Friday. On Easter Sunday, he had risen.”)

Carter’s premise is one that historians have speculated on for nearly a century and a half now: had Lincoln lived, would he have faced impeachment as Johnson did? In these pages, Lincoln finds himself in the battle of his political life in the spring of 1867, as he faces trial in the United States Senate and potential removal from office. The charges center on his alleged abuses of power during the Civil War; the real motivation for the Radical Republicans who led the real-life effort to oust Johnson was that Lincoln had failed to harshly punish the rebellious states, but instead sought to welcome them back into the Union on generous terms. (“With malice toward none…”)

Lincoln himself is only an occasional presence in these pages. The story centers on two young clerks in the Washington law firm he has hired to handle his defense. Jonathan Hillman is the son of a wealthy family and an interesting character in his own right, but the most fully-drawn portrait is that of Abigail Canner, a recent graduate of Oberlin College who is determined to pursue a legal career despite two seemingly insurmountable obstacles for that time: she is female, and she is black. Together, Abigail and Jonathan are at the center of a maelstrom that is part political thriller, part legal thriller and part murder mystery. Throughout, Carter does a masterful job of recreating the sights, sounds, smells, manners and morals of Washington City in the post-Civil War era. The plot is multi-layered and demands a careful reader to follow all the threads, but that reader will be rewarded with a very satisfying experience.
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Apr 27, 2013 Scott Rhee rated it 5 of 5 stars

Abraham Lincoln is chic right now. I'm not sure why, but everybody and their uncle has felt the need to put in their two cents' worth to the growing number of Lincoln books currently on the bookshelves and bestseller lists. Most notably (in the non-fiction entry) are Doris Kearns Goodwin's "Team of Rivals", Bill O'Reilly's "Killing Lincoln", and James L. Swanson's "Manhunt". In the fiction arena, Lincoln has battled vampires in Seth Grahame-Smith's "Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter" and, now, in...more Abraham Lincoln is chic right now. I'm not sure why, but everybody and their uncle has felt the need to put in their two cents' worth to the growing number of Lincoln books currently on the bookshelves and bestseller lists. Most notably (in the non-fiction entry) are Doris Kearns Goodwin's "Team of Rivals", Bill O'Reilly's "Killing Lincoln", and James L. Swanson's "Manhunt". In the fiction arena, Lincoln has battled vampires in Seth Grahame-Smith's "Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter" and, now, in Stephen L. Carter's science fictional re-imagining of history, Lincoln (who survived the gunshot wound at Ford theatre) faces an impeachment trial.

Carter, whose previous works have dealt with political conspiracies and murder mysteries, was clearly attracted to the potential fun he could have with the subject. And, he has more than succeeded. Carter, a Yale Law Professor and obvious history buff and a top-notch writer of elaborate thrillers, has written one of those books that is sure to appeal to everyone. For the sci-fi nerds, he has written an extremely plausible alternate history. For mystery lovers, he throws in a murder mystery in the first ten pages, and, for the womanfolk, he even has a love story. There is also a conspiracy plot involving secret codes and a courtroom drama. That Carter can weave all these elements together in a way that is immensely readable, entertaining, and fun is a testament to his talent as a writer.

The protagonist of the book, Abigail Canner, is a young black woman who happens to be a college graduate and a law clerk, two accomplishments for which she has had to fight, considering the time in which she lives. She is hired on by the same firm that has taken on the defense of Lincoln during his impeachment trial. While her sex and race often impede her from being a productive member of the firm, she finds ways to be useful. When one of the partners in the firm is found murdered outside a brothel with the body of a black woman, Abigail takes on the role of part-time detective, with the help of Jonathan Hilliman, one of the lawyers in the firm with whom she shares a mutual (unspoken) attraction. When she finds out that the woman, whom the police has dismissed as a mere prostitute, was involved in an underground political circle of anti-Lincoln conspirators, and that certain parties are searching frantically for a missing list of conspirators, Abigail and Jonathan quickly find themselves embroiled in a race against time (the trial against Lincoln is quickly coming to a close, and things do not look good for Lincoln) and powerful forces of the upper classes and the wealthy. Mixed in with all this, of course, is a fascinating courtroom drama in which Lincoln is held accountable for very real impeachable offenses.

As Carter states in an Afterword, Lincoln actually did do things which would have been considered grossly unconstitutional, such as shutting down newspapers, arresting opposition spokesmen, suspending habeas corpus, and refusing to recognize court orders of prisoner releases. He also did place certain cities in the North under martial law and forcibly shut down the Maryland legislature. History tends to forget that, at one point, Lincoln was the most hated man in America, even---and especially---by members of his own party. Who is to say how history would have played out if Lincoln had survived his assassination? Carter makes a compelling case. And an extremely entertaining one. (less)

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May 01, 2013 Michael Charton rated it 4 of 5 stars

I enjoy and write Alternative History. Stephen Carter is a law professor at Yale who writes fiction. Abigail Canner is an African-American graduate of Oberlin College, now working as a clerk in a law firm representing President Lincoln in his impeachment trial. Lincoln has survived John Wilkes Booth, but is now on trial for violating the constitution.

Miss Canner, along with law clerk Jonathan Hilliman strive to unravel conspiracies in a Post-Civil War Washington, DC, where politics is the name...more

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Sep 11, 2012 John rated it 4 of 5 stars

In Stephen L. Carter's reimagining of history, Abraham Lincoln is shot by John Wilkes Booth and critically injured. But the president does not die. He miraculously recovers and resumes his work with little ill effect. However, his vice president, Andrew Johnson, is assassinated, and his secretary of state, William Seward, survives serious injuries but never re-emerges from his mansion. Separately, Mrs. Lincoln drowns.
Having dispatched with all those details, Carter moves quickly to early spring...more In Stephen L. Carter's reimagining of history, Abraham Lincoln is shot by John Wilkes Booth and critically injured. But the president does not die. He miraculously recovers and resumes his work with little ill effect. However, his vice president, Andrew Johnson, is assassinated, and his secretary of state, William Seward, survives serious injuries but never re-emerges from his mansion. Separately, Mrs. Lincoln drowns.
Having dispatched with all those details, Carter moves quickly to early spring 1867. President Lincoln has been impeached by the House of Representatives, and his legal team is preparing for his trial before the Senate.
Then Lincoln's lead attorney is stabbed to death along with, and in the company of, a black woman widely believed to be a prostitute. (Their bodies are found in front of a brothel.)
It doesn't look good for the president.
But Lincoln has a few tricks up his presidential sleeve and a few people on his side, not least of whom is the heroine of this book, Abigail Canner, a young black woman from an upper-middle-class family who wins appointment as a law clerk in the firm representing Lincoln. While the firm's lawyers' intent is for her to do nothing more than perform chores, Abigail has much more in mind. She prevails to become a key, if mostly unacknowledged, part of the defense. The secondary lead role is played by Jonathan Hilliman, a white law clerk from a well-to-do New England family who quickly develops a crush on Abigail and becomes her sidekick.
Abigail only gets to see Lincoln twice during the book, but we see quite a bit of him, and he invariably has a homespun story to tell. Carter assures us, in his author's note, that all of these were stories Lincoln really did tell.
It might seem a ridiculous notion that our greatest president, had he not been assassinated, might eventually have been impeached. Carter himself, in his author's note, says he thinks it's unlikely. But Johnson was impeached, and nearly convicted, while carrying out Lincoln's policies, albeit clumsily. There can be no doubt that Lincoln would have faced continued opposition from the same source that clashed with Johnson, the Radical Republicans. (There's a phrase you don't hear very often these days.) That is the group that confronts Lincoln in this novel.
And people aren't always kind to the leaders who led them during times of war, even in victory. It's hard to imagine anyone leading Great Britain more effectively than Winston Churchill did during World War II, yet the voters turned him out of office in July 1945.
As he does in previous novels set in more contemporary times, Carter portrays the black upper class and upper middle class in this novel, a group that I think is almost unknown in anybody else's fiction. I admit I didn't know that there was a black upper class in Lincoln's day, but Carter assures us, in his author's note, that there was.
He also seems to make sly references to more contemporary legal questions and power struggles between the executive, legislative and judicial branches.
At one point, a character refers to an incident as a "third-rate burglary." I imagine Carter was thinking of Watergate when he wrote that.
Elsewhere, he has one of the lawyers argue that there is no right to privacy in the Constitution. Surely, he wanted us to think of the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, in which the justices discovered such a right.
I caught several references to more recent power struggles, and there were probably many I didn't catch. I was having too much fun with the story to bother with them much.
And "The Impeachment of Abraham Lincoln" was a joy to read. At times, the narrative came across as a bit melodramatic. At times, events crossed from implausible to impossible. During that third-rate burglary, for example, when the heroine's brother showed up in the nick of time to rescue her, how did he get through a locked door to do it? That's not explained.
But if those are failings, they are minor. In my mind, "The Impeachment of Abraham Lincoln" further seals Carter's place as one of the most interesting fiction authors of our time.(less)

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Jul 16, 2012 Jill rated it 4 of 5 stars

The premise of Stephen L. Carter’s new book, The Impeachment of Abraham Lincoln is so audacious – so fascinating – that it virtually begs to be read.

In this reimaging of the Lincoln assassination, the bullet’s trajectory changes by just a fraction of an inch and Lincoln survives. After the country collectively exhales, the “fun” begins. The radical part of his own party presses for impeachment because he has chosen to not punish the south sufficiently in an effort to reunite the country. He is c...more The premise of Stephen L. Carter’s new book, The Impeachment of Abraham Lincoln is so audacious – so fascinating – that it virtually begs to be read.

In this reimaging of the Lincoln assassination, the bullet’s trajectory changes by just a fraction of an inch and Lincoln survives. After the country collectively exhales, the “fun” begins. The radical part of his own party presses for impeachment because he has chosen to not punish the south sufficiently in an effort to reunite the country. He is charged with actions that actually occurred under his presidency as a screen – suspension of the writ of habeas corpus, circumventing Congress while borrowing from the U.S. Treasury, placing portions of Maryland under martial law and trying to establish a military-run Department of the Atlantic.

Heady and rich stuff! Mr. Carter is a professor of law at Yale University and his erudition is on full display. The political maneuverings, the impeachment and trial by House Managers, the nuances of removing a sitting president – all are done beautifully by this skilled author. And the key question – can noble ends ever justify ignoble means when the U.S. is under internal threat – is one that resonates today.

However, the core of Impeachment is a mystery. Mr. Carter’s protagonist, Abigail Canner, is a brilliant and beautiful black woman and one of only a dozen black law clerks in the country at that time. Like Miss Marple or Nancy Drew, she is preternaturally able to detect conspiracies, patterns, and intrigues that reach the highest levels of government, even when far more seasoned lawyers can’t.

The result is a rather convoluted subplot (or in many cases, primary plot) in which Abigail – along with another law clerk, Jonathan, the white scion of a northern family – single-handedly crack ciphers, deal with Abigail’s gangster brother, gain Lincoln’s ear (and even meet with him alone), capture the intrigue of high society, and unveil motives of shady politicians.

Real people – such as Dan Sickles, one of Lincoln’s lawyers and a real-life scoundrel – and Salmon P. Chase, the Supreme Court Chief Justice and Edwin Stanton, Lincoln’s trusted secretary of war, are all part of this novel. Lincoln himself, a man given to spun homilies and a far more adept politician than is generally acknowledged – is also portrayed very credibly. When the book delves into legal thriller and political drama, it soars to 5-stars. But the convoluted mystery and too one-dimensional Abigail and Jonathan tether it to earth.
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Aug 10, 2012 Thom rated it 4 of 5 stars

What a great read! Carter (as he explains in the notes at the end of the book) took a "what could have happened" approach (rather than a "what would have happened" stance) to the question of what could have happened to Lincoln politically had he survived the assassination attempt at Ford's Theater at the end of the Civil War. The novel works well in many ways; political junkies will eat up the volatile rift in the Republican party that resulted (in the novel) in Lincoln's impeachment (and which,...more

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Aug 28, 2012 Mary rated it 2 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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May 22, 2013 Jack Cheng added it

Clever conceit: Lincoln survives Booth's attack, and is impeached by the Radical Republicans who feel he is too lenient during Reconstruction. The heroine of the book is an Oberlin educated middle class black woman who comes to DC to work in the law firm that is defending the president.

There are lots of interesting historical facts about the range of experience for blacks at the time. Also, in the author's note Carter explains that a lot of the arguments are taken from the actual impeachment of...more

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Aug 25, 2012 Irene B. rated it 4 of 5 stars

Carter did a good job with his protagonist Abigail's character development and makes you appreciate what it would have been like to be a black, female "paralegal" in the mid-nineteenth century in "Washington City". I especially enjoyed the feisty character of Nanny Pork, an older relative who was freed from slavery, came into this Washington family's life to die, and ended up the matriarchical figure after Abigail's parents died. Carter makes me want to research what life was like for people in...more

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