On Becoming Abraham Lincoln

by John Torrey Morse Jr.

Book by

189 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2008

About the author

Aka John T. Morse Jr.

John Torrey Morse (1840–1937) was an American historian and biographer. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts on Jan. 9, 1840, and lived in that city as a lawyer. Morse was the editor of the ‘American Statesmen Series,’ and published biographies of Alexander Hamilton in two volumes, considered his most significant work, He also wrote biographies on John and J. Q. Adams, Jefferson, Lincoln, Franklin, and Dr. Holmes. Morse also authored ‘Banks and Banking’, ‘Arbitration and Award’ and ‘Famous Trials.’

(wikipedia)

Reviews

[Jeff Bracken · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although this short book does not address Lincoln's whole life, it does 2 things very well. First, the author takes time to refute various exaggerations about Lincoln's life and character which had been propounded by Lincoln's earlier biographers--principally this former law partner and close aide (this book was written in 1893). Second, the author does an exceptional job of clearly stating Lincoln's arguments on slavery. He does this primarily by closely examining Lincoln's arguments during the Douglas-Lincoln debates, using Lincoln's own words to clearly state and explain them.