Lincoln vs. Davis

June 1, 2024

Bestselling Hamilton (JFK: Reckless Youth), who has been longlisted for the National Book Award, turns to the American Civil War. He considers Abraham Lincoln's role as commander-in-chief facing off against Jefferson Davis, who, unlike Lincoln, entered the war with battle experience. The new biography mines the papers of Lincoln's aides and generals as well as the collected archives of both Lincoln and Davis. Prepub Alert.

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October 15, 2024
Lincoln and Davis never met, but their strengths and weaknesses defined the shape of the Civil War, as this well-researched account explains. Hamilton, an award-winning author, has written a long list of history books, including a trilogy about FDR's leadership during wartime. So a study of the leaders of the Civil War--Abraham Lincoln in the Union, Jefferson Davis in the Confederacy--is a logical subject for him. It was an odd pairing: Lincoln knew about politics but not about military matters, while Davis was a hero from the Mexican War but weak on management. Neither of them wanted war but soon realized that conflict was inevitable. Both were plagued by incompetent generals, especially in the early stages of the war. Hamilton tracks the moves and countermoves of the two presidents, as well as the constraints acting upon them. Crucially, Lincoln could claim a popular mandate, whereas Davis had been selected by a cabal of state representatives. Hamilton unfolds the split-screen story at a magisterial pace, digging through records of the time and providing portraits of the main military and political figures. He investigates the fateful Confederate decision to invade the North, noting how close the Union came to losing the war. The critical turning point, however, was Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, which provided a moral basis for the war and robbed the South of international support. Hamilton provides a great deal of detail but he manages to keep the narrative focused. It should be said, however, that at over 700 pages, Lincoln vs. Davis is a daunting read. Nevertheless, those willing to accept the challenge will find it informative and authoritative. This immense examination of the Civil War presidents provides a crucial perspective on how wars are fought, won, and lost.

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Starred review from December 2, 2024
In this ingenious account, biographer Hamilton (War and Peace) surveys “the warring minds and hearts” of Abraham Lincoln and Confederate commander-in-chief Jefferson Davis during the first two years of the Civil War. Assessing the wartime management styles of both leaders (who were born one year and 100 miles apart in Kentucky, and even shared a physical resemblance), Hamilton argues that a defining aspect of the war’s early years—and the cause of much of the Union’s initial foundering on the battlefield—was Davis’s direct experience leading troops during the Mexican-American War pitted against Lincoln’s deficit of martial experience, which prevented Lincoln from “putting himself in Davis’s shoes as a soldier.” Hamilton intriguingly posits that Lincoln learning the fundamental art of perceiving the enemy’s point of view is what led him to evolve from a “vacillator in chief” to a confident tactician with emancipation as the cornerstone of his military strategy. It wasn’t until Lincoln understood how essential slave labor was to Davis that he understood how important it was to take it away, Hamilton suggests. He also fascinatingly proposes that part of Lincoln’s slow coming around on the issue stemmed from the Confederacy’s successful propaganda aimed at keeping slavery “sub rosa”—a critical move for gaining foreign aid—and instead presenting themselves as defending against “northern aggression.” It’s a penetrating and surprisingly fresh take on an oft-rehashed subject.