Lincoln's Last Months.Lincoln's Last Months. By William C. Harris Captain William Charles Harris CB was the first Assistant Commissioner (Executive) of the London Metropolitan Police, holding the office from 1856 to 1881. In this office he was in charge of executive business, supplies and buildings. . (Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press The Harvard University Press is a publishing house, a division of Harvard University, that is highly respected in academic publishing. It was established on January 13, 1913. In 2005, it published 220 new titles. , 2004. Pp. [xii], 303. $27.95, ISBN ISBN abbr. International Standard Book Number ISBN International Standard Book Number ISBN n abbr (= International Standard Book Number) → ISBN m 0-674-01199-6.) In Lincoln's Last Months William C. Harris focuses his attention on the period between Lincoln's re-election in November 1864 and his death in April 1865, a time during which the "grinding burdens of the presidency for the man in the White House" were especially apparent (p. 6). Mopping up what was left of the Confederate military machine was just one concern: Lincoln was also compelled to address complex issues related to Reconstruction, emancipation, and possible retribution against the Confederacy's leaders. Small wonder that during this time the president described himself to a friend as "jaded and weary" (p. 49). Harris offers a detailed description of the various forces that wearied Lincoln so greatly. During that last winter of his life Lincoln faced difficult cabinet and Supreme Court appointments, ongoing political patronage problems, a ceaseless struggle to defend and expand the fruits of his emancipation policies, peace feelers from war-weary southern leaders, foreign policy problems with France and England, and the myriad vexing details of running a mammoth northern military operation. Harris offers an almost unfailingly positive view of Lincoln's approach to these matters, describing Lincoln as an unmatched politician, shrewd leader, and "the finest exemplar of America's democratic and republican values" (p. 1). Indeed, for Harris the whole point in studying Lincoln's last days was to "enhance our understanding of the scope and greatness of Lincoln's character and achievements" (p. 6). Harris does offer some relatively mild criticisms of Lincoln, pointing out that the president "never learned how to administer wisely" and that his focus on the collapsing Confederate armies caused him to neglect some important matters, such as U.S.-Canadian relations and the ballooning black market trade in southern cotton (p. 53). But these shortcomings A shortcoming is a character flaw. Shortcomings may also be:
How much value one finds in Lincoln's Last Months depends on what one is looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. when picking up yet another book on Abraham Lincoln. As the tremendous success of Doris Kearns Goodwin's Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln (New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of , 2005) has shown, there is a market for studies of Lincoln that retell re·tell tr.v. re·told , re·tell·ing, re·tells 1. To relate or tell again or in a different form. 2. To count again. Verb 1. his oft-told story with narrative verve and skill but without much in the way of new insight or critical commentary. Harris's book falls within this genre and has value as such. BRIAN R. DIRCK Anderson University There are two institutions in the United States with the name Anderson University, both formerly known as Anderson College:
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