Character Analysis
(Avoiding Spoilers)
Living… during one of the most trying times in American history: the Civil War. He makes tough decisions from D.C., but you get the sense he’d be out there on the front lines if he thought that would be the best way to make a difference.
Profession… President of the United States. As the war draws to a close, Lincoln must ensure the passing of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution. The amendment would abolish slavery, but Lincoln worries it won’t pass when the former slave states return to the union. Therefore he is convinced that he must accomplish it now, before the war's end.
Relationship Status… married to Mary Todd Lincoln. She’s worried by rumors than Lincoln originally did not want to marry her and she's saddled by a reputation as a difficult woman. But she has lived a tough life supporting a man whose work left her to be, in essence, a single mother. She may not love it, but she knows he is needed by his country. She says to him, “No one is loved as much as you by the people. Don’t waste that power.”
Challenge… winning the Civil War and passing the legislation necessary to prevent another war over slavery. He enlists Republican lobbyists to put the pressure on the congressmen whose swing votes will decide whether or not the important amendment passes. And he has to do all this during a time when half the country hates him for his abolitionist politics. It's not too much of a spoiler to say that more than a few in the divided nation want Lincoln dead.
Personality… humble, passionate, hard-working. He has a vision for the country, and exhausts himself making it a reality. His home life isn’t always easy, and the pressures of making decisions that affect millions weigh heavily on his tall but slender frame. But he pushes on and fights for what he believes in.
Get to Know him in...
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A revealing drama that focuses on the 16th President's tumultuous final months in office. In a nation divided by war and the strong winds of change, Lincoln pursues a course of action designed to end the war, unite the country and abolish slavery. With the moral courage and fierce determination to succeed, his choices during this critical moment will change the fate of generations to come.
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Gore Vidal's Narratives of Empire series spans the history of the United States from the Revolution to the post-World War II years. With their broad canvas and large cast of fictional and historical characters, the novels in this series present a panorama of the American political and imperial experience as interpreted by one of its most worldly, knowing, and ironic observers.
To most Americans, Abraham Lincoln is a monolithic figure, the Great Emancipator and Savior of the Union, beloved by all. In Gore Vidal's Lincoln we meet Lincoln the man and Lincoln the political animal, the president who entered a besieged capital where most of the population supported the South and where even those favoring the Union had serious doubts that the man from Illinois could save it. Far from steadfast in his abhorrence of slavery, Lincoln agonizes over the best course of action and comes to his great decision only when all else seems to fail. As the Civil War ravages his nation, Lincoln must face deep personal turmoil, the loss of his dearest son, and the harangues of a wife seen as a traitor for her Southern connections. Brilliantly conceived, masterfully executed, Gore Vidal's Lincoln allows the man to breathe again.
