Daniel Aaron Lazar

Eric Foner, contributor and editor of Our Lincoln: New Perspectives on Lincoln and His World, lectures about the sixteenth presidents of the United States.

In 1876 the abolitionist Frederick Douglass observed, ‘No man can say anything that is new of Abraham Lincoln.’ Undeterred, the contributors to Our Lincoln: New Perspectives on Lincoln and His World believe it is possible even now, especially if the starting point is the interaction between the life and the times.

Several of these original essays focus on Lincoln’s leadership as president and commander in chief. James M. McPherson examines Lincoln’s deft navigation of the crosscurrents of politics and wartime strategy. Sean Wilentz assesses Lincoln’s evolving position in the context of party politics. On slavery and race, Eric Foner writes of Lincoln and the movement to colonize emancipated slaves outside the United States. James Oakes considers Lincoln’s views on race and citizenship. There are also essays on Lincoln’s literary style, religious beliefs, and family life. The Lincoln who emerges is a man of his time, yet able to transcend and transform it a reasonable measure of greatness.

Watch Foner here

A panel moderated by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Harvard University Professor and Director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Studies, discusses President Abraham Lincoln’s emancipation of the slaves, his ability to lead the Union during the Civil War, and his personal qualities.

Questions centered on Lincoln, ranging from his humility in leadership to his manipulation of others.

Watch it here