Book Review: 366 Days In Abraham Lincoln's Presidency

366 Days In Lincoln's Presidency
Stephen A. Wynalda
Skyhorse Publishing, 2010
590 pp

Abraham Lincoln is without a doubt one of the most popular subjects for books on American history, so finding a new approach to the topic of Lincoln would seem to be nearly impossible. Not so, for 366 Days In Lincoln's Presidency takes an approach that is really is novel. As such, it gives the reader a unique look into Lincoln's life and personality.

Stephen Wynalda has selected 366 days (1864 was a leap year) arranged chronologically from November 1860, when Lincoln won the presidential election, to his assassination in April 1865. For each of these days he writes a mini-chapter summarizing what Lincoln did on that day. Wynalda is especially focused upon Lincoln's thought processes and how he made decisions - the subtitle of the book is The Private, Political and Military Decisions of America's Greatest President.

In addition, there are several sidebars interspersed throughout, which give a more in-depth look at issues such as Lincoln's medical history, family issues, and other biographical information about him and members of his family (Mary Todd Lincoln was fond of going to New York for shopping sprees, for example - and tackled the problem of refurbishing the rather dowdy White House with gusto).

This book is written for a general audience, not Lincoln scholars. I found the size of the work a bit overwhelming - though impressive, and researched thoroughly. As such, I enjoyed reading in it as one would in an encyclopedia (which I've always quite enjoyed doing, so this is a plus as far as I'm concerned). My particular interest is in quirky social/personal history, so the days that especially caught my interest were not the ones involving larger political machinations. For example:

-Lincoln as a keen theater-goer and his watching John Wilkes Booth act in Marble Heart in November 1863, at which performance Booth had to utter threats as part of his role, but when he did so he looked at and shook his finger at the President

-Lincoln's enjoyment of the family pets at the White House, including the goats Nanny and Nanko who recognized his voice and rushed to him when they heard it. And when his son Tad asked Lincoln to spare Jack the Turkey (also in November 1863), Lincoln did so.

-Mary Lincoln's fury, in March 1865, that Lincoln had reviewed his troops with an army officer's wife riding beside him: "Do you mean to say she saw the President alone? Do you know that I never allow the president to see any woman alone?" Things got worse as the trip progressed and Lincoln was shouted at well into the night. (The glimpses I got of Mary Lincoln - and of the Todd family -  made me interested in reading her biography, by the way.)

Wynalda makes some fascinating connections between people and events as well. In April 1861, Lincoln offered Robert E. Lee the command of the federal army, and it was only with great anguish that Lee declined, preferring in the end to serve his home state of Virginia, which had seceding the very day before Lincoln offered him the commission on April 18th. This is well known as a pivotal moment in the struggle between North and South.

But did you know that, soon afterwards, Lee met Benjamin Helm of Kentucky, who was also in great distress. Helm was Lincoln's brother-in-law and good friend. He had also been offered a commission in the federal army, and like Lee was native to a Confederate state. Helm decided, in the end, to join the South - but it cost him great personal pain to have to decide between his home and his good friend. It is this sort of little-known intertwining of the personal and political - the well-known and more obscure historical detail - that Wynalda illuminates so nicely in this book.

The year for each mini-chapter is not made clear, and having this at the top of each page would make it far easier to keep track of events, especially if one is using the book as a reference. And although I liked the sidebars, a brief summary of Lincoln's life in one place would have been welcome - not only since the audience is a general one, but even people with a background in American history (that would include me!) might welcome a concise one or two-page timeline of Lincoln's life.

In conclusion, I would think that anyone interested in American history would enjoy this book and find it a useful and unique reference.

NOTE: This book was sent to me for free by Skyhorse Publishing, but the opinions in the review are entirely my own.