Lincolns Virtues

William Lee Millers ethical biography is a fresh, engaging telling of the story of Lincolns rise to power. Through careful scrutiny of Lincolns actions, speeches, and writings, and of accounts from those who knew him, Miller gives us insight into the moral development of a great politician — one who made the choice to go into politics, and ultimately realized that vocations fullest moral possibilities.

As Lincolns Virtues makes refreshingly clear, Lincoln was not born with his face on Mount Rushmore; he was an actual human being making choices — moral choices — in a real world. In an account animated by wit and humor, Miller follows this unschooled frontier politicians rise, showing that the higher he went and the greater his power, the worthier his conduct would become. He would become that rare bird, a great man who was also a good man. Uniquely revealing of its subjects heart and mind, it represents a major contribution to our understanding and of Lincoln, and to the perennial American discussion of the relationship between politics and morality.

William Lee Miller's magisterial interpretative biography of our sixteenth president gives us new insight into a man who managed to navigate the narrow course between ethics and political realism to become a great man who was also a good man.

Miller shows us how Lincoln developed from an unschooled frontier politician who didn't always live up to the highest standards but who tirelessly educated himself through reading and learned from his mistakes. As Miller points out, Lincoln was not born with his face on Mount Rushmore; he achieved his genius through deliberate effort over time. It is this effort and growth that culminated in Lincoln's profound moral vision and strength during the Civil War.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 470-492) and index.

William Lee Miller's ethical biography is a fresh, engaging telling of the story of Lincoln's rise to power. Through careful scrutiny of Lincoln's actions, speeches, and writings, and of accounts from those who knew him, Miller gives us insight into the moral development of a great politician -- one who made the choice to go into politics, and ultimately realized that vocation's fullest moral possibilities.

As Lincoln's Virtues makes refreshingly clear, Lincoln was not born with his face on Mount Rushmore; he was an actual human being making choices -- moral choices -- in a real world. In an account animated by wit and humor, Miller follows this unschooled frontier politician's rise, showing that the higher he went and the greater his power, the worthier his conduct would become. He would become that rare bird, a great man who was also a good man. Uniquely revealing of its subject's heart and mind, it represents a major contribution to our understanding and of Lincoln, and to the perennial American discussion of the relationship between politics and morality.

William Lee Miller has taught at Yale University, Smith College, Indiana University, and the University of Virginia, where he is currently Miller Center of Public Affairs Scholar in Ethics and Institutions. He has been an editor and writer on a political magazine, a speechwriter, and a three-term alderman. He is the author of numerous books, most recently Arguing About Slavery, which won the D.B. Hardeman Prize for the best book on Congress.