Lincoln's Wrath: Fierce Mobs, Brilliant Scoundrels and a President's Mission to Destroy the Press

Lincoln's Wrath by Jeffrey Manber and Neil Dahlstrom paints our 16th President as being somewhat less saintly than he has been generally depicted after his martyrdom. The book focuses on one particular Copperhead Pennsylvania newspaper publisher whose business property was confiscated by the Federal government. No specific charges were made against him following Lincoln's repeal of the Constitutional guarantee of the right of habeas corpus. Eventually the publisher had his day in court and won damages from the government. Many other publishers of pro-Democratic party newspapers in the North were imprisoned without charges after editorializing that there was no law against a state seceding or other opinions in sympathy with the Southern cause. Congressmen and state legislators were similarly jailed without charges, most notably the secessionist minded members of the Maryland General Assembly. The authors try to convince us that the heavy-handed actions of the administration during the Civil War permanently centralized Federal power, particularly that of the President, in a way unimagined by our founding fathers. Although we are left to judge for ourselves whether the methods of the President, his cabinet, his marshals and fellow party members in Congress were warranted. The book required ten years of research. The result is well worth our attention, since similarly tough decisions could again confront our elected officials.

In Lincoln's Wrath, historians Jeffrey Manber and Neil Dahlstrom have directed the reader's attention to a relatively narrow, but significant, segment of American history. They have probed deeply into the personalities and passions of individuals and groups who were players during much of the four-year period of our great Civil War. In the early stages of the war, our 16th president, Abraham Lincoln, declared his first priority was the preservation of the Union - at any cost. This man and this determination, for me, became an interesting backdrop for the strife that preceded and ensued. At stake were great issues of the day - slavery, secession, white supremacy, states rights and many civil liberties, i.e. habeas corpus, freedom of speech in the press and on the soapbox. Other items of contention were illegal imprisonment, seizures and confiscation of property and the interpretation of the Constitution of the United States as to primacy vs. elasticity During these years fierce accusations of passivity, participation in, or even direction of abridgments of civil rights were hurled at Lincoln, especially by an archenemy, publisher John Hodgson of West Chester, Pennsylvania. Was Lincoln guilty of riding roughshod over various civil rights and manipulation of the press? If he did, was there a shred of justification for it? At the end of the book we are left to define for ourselves what civil rights we regard as inviolable and absolute at any cost, vis a vis the powers given or assumed by our nation's chief executive officer in times of extraordinary national peril. Such issues are still relevant and hotly debated today. A provocative book!

This book has many quality elements. It is thoroughly researched ensuring the authenticity of the story. At times, the story is quite fascinating making it difficult to put it down. Finally, it is thought provoking by introducing new Civil War era American heroes while making usually subtle, and sometimes not so subtle connections to current politics.

Lincoln has always been heralded as a hero - and rightly so. And yet we learn from this book that even he has some secrets in the shadows! A very compelling read that will give you a better understanding of the Civil War and how it was fought.

All comparisons to the Bush Administration and the current political landscape aside, this is a very interesting story. This gives the reader a look at the other Lincoln from the viewpoint of those oppressed by his administration. Even though he is considered a great president today, and deservedly so, to think that he had a hand in obstructing free press in this country is shocking. This books gives us a look into the lives of a number of interesting figures that otherwise may have been swept under the rug of history never to have had their stories told. Thankfully the authors have done a nice job of bringing this story to light.