Lincoln on the Verge

February 10, 2020
Historian Widmer debuts with a kaleidoscopic account of president-elect Abraham Lincoln’s 13-day journey from Springfield, Ill., to Washington, D.C., for his 1861 inauguration. Positioning the trip as an “odyssey to save democracy,” Widmer meticulously details each stop along the way, describing large crowds teetering between festive and threatening, and highlights the increasing danger Lincoln faced from would-be assassins on the way to the capital. Interspersed are sketches of historical figures, including John D. Rockefeller, then 20, and Grace Bedell, the 12-year-old girl who advised Lincoln to grow his beard, and vivid recreations of emerging industrial powerhouses such as Cincinnati and Pittsburgh. Widmer accentuates Lincoln’s tenuous political situation by drawing parallels to Jefferson Davis’s concurrent journey from Mississippi to Alabama to accept the presidency of the Confederacy. Widmer’s exploration of this historical footnote delivers real depth, though allusions to the Iliad and the Odyssey, including multiple comparisons of the railroad to the Trojan horse, feel forced and overly grandiose. Nevertheless, history buffs will be entertained and enlightened by this unique view of Lincoln and the country on the cusp of war. (Apr.)Correction: An earlier version of this review misstated the city in which Lincoln's trip originated.

February 15, 2020
On Feb. 11, 1861, three weeks before his inauguration, President-Elect Abraham Lincoln boarded a train for Washington, D.C. This lively account describes that eventful journey. "Lincoln's safe delivery," writes Widmer, "would become, over the next thirteen days, a powerful symbol for the survival of democracy in America. As he traveled his circuitous route, Lincoln carried the aspirations of millions on his shoulders. Around the country, they were waiting for him." No one doubted the occasion's historical significance, so the train overflowed with reporters, officials, friends, and fans. The author describes Lincoln's wandering, 1,900-mile journey, with well-wishers lining the tracks and huge crowds whose members clamored to shake his hand and hear a speech. Not every speech was memorable, nor were the many encounters, mishaps, and demonstrations, so Widmer wisely cuts away to deliver histories of the cities and states along the route, their citizens' reactions to the impending crisis (multiple states had already seceded from the Union), and the impressions of witnesses. Plenty of Southern sympathizers proclaimed murderous intentions, and newspapers published breathless reports of hidden bombs, efforts to sabotage the rails, and cabals of sharpshooters. Concerned railroad officials called on Alan Pinkerton, head of the famous detective agency, whose operatives swarmed over the route and reported numerous plots to harm Lincoln. Widmer is not certain if any competent assassins were at work, but Pinkerton and rail officials had no doubt. They convinced a reluctant Lincoln to depart from his schedule at the end of his trip and travel incognito through Maryland to Washington on an ordinary passenger train. This passed without incident, but news of the furtive journey produced an avalanche of bad publicity before greater events took over. While general readers may lose interest during the journey, Lincoln buffs will undoubtedly devour the book. A colorful, richly detailed overture to Lincoln's odyssey.

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March 1, 2020

Widmer (Macaulay Honors Coll.; City Univ. of New York) takes readers along with Abraham Lincoln (1809-65), as the president-elect journeyed by train from Springfield, IL, to his inauguration in Washington, DC, in 1861. The author describes how Lincoln traveled almost 2,000 miles, through eight states, stopping to give speeches along the way. In statehouses and at whistle-stops, Lincoln made his case for the Union as the last best chance to show the world that democracy could, and must, succeed, and that he was the right person to lead in a difficult time. The trip was exhausting but also exhilarating, for it made Lincoln more aware of peoples' interests, in addition to becoming more self-confident about his own maturing ideas. To reach his inauguration, he slipped past assassination plots and mob attacks, the author explains. Widmer offers riveting descriptions of the dangers on the journey, the many and varied people involved in Lincoln's goals, the technological improvements of telegraph and railroad, and the larger historical context of the secession crisis. These all give his book resonance and insight into the man and the moment. VERDICT Whether seasoned Lincoln scholars or interested general readers, all who pick up this book will learn much by going along for the ride with Widmer. [See Prepub Alert, 10/7/19.]--Randall M. Miller, St. Joseph's Univ., Philadelphia

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