Vindicating Lincoln: Defending the Politics of Our Greatest President
By Thomas L. Krannawitter
(January 2009 Civil War News)

Maps, index, chapter endnotes, 353 pp., 2008. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 4501 Forbes Blvd., Suite 200, Lanham, MD 20706, $24.95, plus shipping.

Reviewer: Kenneth D. Williams
Kenneth D. Williams is writing a book on the 11th Pennsylvania Volunteers and is doing doctoral level work in American history. He has worked as a park ranger at Gettysburg National Military Park and Eisenhower National Historic Site.

Review:
Once almost universally revered (at least above the Mason-Dixon Line) as our greatest president, the reputation of Abraham Lincoln has received some serious and at times vitriolic criticism in recent years.

Accusations abound of Lincoln being the father of big, intrusive government, of being the ultimate political opportunist, of being a racist and of bringing on a needless war that cost the lives of hundreds of thousands. 

Authors such as Thomas DiLorenzo, Charles Adams and Walter Williams, as well as commentators such as Andrew Napolitano and past presidential hopeful Ron Paul, have consistently assailed the character and motives of our 16th President.

Thomas L. Krannawitter has spent a number of years defending Lincoln in lectures, speeches and articles. In Vindicating Lincoln, he presents his arguments in nine essays covering various accusations leveled at Lincoln.

Krannawitter is an assistant professor of political science at Hillsdale College in Michigan and a senior fellow at the Claremont Institute. Admitting to be a conservative, Krannawitter strongly disagrees with how many modern conservatives approach Lincoln as well as similar-sounding attacks from the left of the political spectrum.

Each of the nine essays is able to stand alone but they do tie together in a coherent argument. Topics examined include the questions of: was Lincoln’s war goal to end slavery or preserve the Union, was he the father of “big government,” did the Constitution support the right of secession and was Lincoln “a child of his age,” i.e. was he truly defined by the times in which he lived?

A very interesting essay is “Was the Kansas-Nebraska Act Pro-Choice or Pro-Slavery?”

Krannawitter ably equates the arguments over slavery in the territories to the current arguments over the abortion issue.  The debate logic of the 1850s closely parallels the modern controversy with some liberal writers even asserting that Lincoln would support the modern pro-choice position.  The author demonstrates, though, that Lincoln’s  adherence to the equality principles of the Declaration of Independence along with his firm belief in natural law serve to demolish that premise.

Krannawitter’s analysis of the arguments both pro and con is comprehensive. He liberally quotes from both period thinkers and modern commentators, including a certain Democratic candidate for president (this review was written before the election).

The reading is not always easy and many of the arguments can become very technical and involved. However, the presentation is well-written, often witty and will leave you with much to ponder.

Regardless of whether you feel Abraham Lincoln is our greatest president, or that he is a self-serving, murdering tyrant or a gifted but flawed 19th century politician, this book will challenge you. It most definitely belongs on every Lincoln bookshelf.