366 Days In Abraham Lincoln's Presidency

May 15, 2010
Wynalda, a Civil War buff and freelance writer, insists that the way to understand Lincoln is in discovering "the little things in his life," and he does so by offering a calendar of Lincoln's thoughts and actions from his election as President in 1860 through his death in April 1865. Drawing on contemporary documents, Wynalda reconstructs Lincoln's musings and comings and goings in chronological order, giving each day a particular focus, such as Lincoln as family man, as military planner, as political strategist, as storyteller, and with Wynalda's take on critical issues such as racism, emancipation, and war policy inserted throughout. The arrangement works well in showing Lincoln's evolving thought and in pointing to the connections between the private and public man. Wynalda has a novelist's eye for the telling detail, and he shows common sense and a good command of the Lincoln literature in his assessments of the President. If he sometimes relies too much on others' memories of Lincoln, which can be suspect, he does "get Lincoln" in ways that humanize him, which, in turn, points to those qualities of empathy and reflection that made Lincoln the very soul of the people. VERDICT Recommended for all Lincoln students and enthusiasts.Randall M. Miller, Saint Joseph's Univ., Philadelphia

Copyright 2010 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2010
This volume of recreational history lets readers browse through a Civil Wars worth of presidential decisions. From the mundane to the weighty, they were selected and arranged, indicates author Wynalda, to illuminate what most biographers of Lincoln confront: an elusive ambiguity about their subject. Whether or not he cracks the code, Wynalda certainly enlivens the Lincoln persona. This pertains especially to incidents that dont always make the cut in biographies, such as those revealing Lincolns temper. However, Wynalda is strongly drawn to Lincolns merciful side, citing numerous dates on which Lincoln granted reprieves to condemned men, though he conscientiously includes cases a sterner Lincoln let proceed to the gallows. Alongside Lincoln decisions affecting individual petitioners, who obtained remarkably easy access to the White House, Wynalda includes historical decisions related to military operations and signings or vetoes of congressional bills, carefully noting with Lincolns calculations who entered his office for the occasion. With calendar-style organization showing Lincolns attitudes and responses to the course of events, Wynaldas vignettes accessibly introduce the Civil Wars key historical character.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)