Presenting himself as a compromise presidential candidate to the New York Republican establishment, the little-known westerner gave and later exploited the most successful political speech in the nation's history.
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Presenting himself as a compromise presidential candidate to the New York Republican establishment, the little-known westerner gave and later exploited the most successful political speech in the nation's history.
Read Less
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In October, 1859, a small group of young Republican leaders in New York City invited Abraham Lincoln to give an address at Henry Beecher's church in Brooklyn on a subject of Lincoln's choosing. At the time, Lincoln was heavily involved in helping Republican Congressional candidates, was still smarting from his 1858 defeat for the Senate by Stephen Douglas, and was a dark-horse, favorite son for the Republican presidential nomination. Lincoln accepted the invitation, worked painstakingly on the speech, and travelled to New York City to deliver what became the Cooper Union Address on February 27, 1860. (Lincoln was unaware that the venue for the speech had been changed until he arrived in New York.) The speech and its aftermath brought Lincoln national attention. It played a major role in allowing Lincoln to overtake the Republican front-runner, Senator William Seward of New York, and secure the nomination and the presidency.
Harold Holzer is an independent scholar who, in the midst of a busy career at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, has written or edited over twenty books about Lincoln. His most recent book: "Lincoln at Cooper Union: The Speech that made Abraham Lincoln President" (2004) is a comprehensive account of the "momentous" Cooper Union Address, including (p. 1) "its impetus, preparation, delivery, reception, publication, calculated reiteration, and its enormous, perhaps decisive impact on that year's presidential campaign." It is one of a number or recent books that examine in detail a specific Lincoln speech or proclamation, (such at the Gettysburg Address, Second Inaugural Address, Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln-Douglas debates.) But the book does more. It helps the reader understand Lincoln and the issues that lead to the Civil War.
The Cooper Union speech was lengthy, scholarly, and factual and endeavored to show that a majority of the founders -- those that signed the Constitution -- believed that Congress had the right to regulate and prevent the spread of slavery into the territories. This issue was central to the dispute between North and South and to Lincoln's debates with his great opponent, Senator Douglas. Holzer's book begins with a discussion of how Lincoln, the self-educated backwoods lawyer and stump speaker carefully researched this issue in an attempt to present a dispassionate yet morally committed approach to the issue of slavery.
The book includes excellent accounts of the difficult and tiring nature of train travel during Lincoln's time, especially for an aspiring presidential candidate travelling to make a major address. It includes fascinating discussions of the New York City of 1860 --Walt Whitman's New York -- and its docks, piers, hotels, and Broadway. There is a wonderful account of Lincoln's visit while in the City to Five Points -- a notorious slum -- and a letter he subsequently received in the presidency from young men in a charitable school that he visited at the time.
While in New York, Lincoln had a famous photograph taken by Matthew Brady. Brady's artistry made Lincoln look distinguished and presidential rather than like a tall, gangling shabbily dressed backwoodsman. The Brady photo together with the speech helped bring Lincoln to public attention.
In the heart of the book, Holzer offers a detailed analysis of the Cooper Union speech (the text is given in an appendix) and of Lincoln's delivery that fateful evening. Although his audience was initially taken aback by the rough-hewn Lincoln, the substance of the speech and Lincoln's style of his delivery captivated the audience and made an astonishing impression. Lincoln helped shepherd his text into print, and made a hectic speaking tour of New England while visiting his son Robert at Exeter, thus furthering his position as a statesman of vision, integrity, and prudence.
An interesting feature of the book is how Holzer reminds the reader of the fragile nature of historical accounts, including alleged eye-witness accounts. Many times, Holzer points out a received account of the Cooper Union speech and shows in detail how the account is questionably supported or is inconsistent with other sources. (For example, there is a story that Erastus Corning, Director of the New York Central Railroad offered Lincoln the position as corporate counsel following the speech for the large salary of $10,000. Holzer shows that this account lacks foundation.) The book shows how historical sources need to be approached, used, and interpreted with caution.
This book is an outstanding account of Lincoln in his complexity as a pragmatic, opportunistic and yet highly principled leader. It gives a vivid picture of our country and its political life in 1860. It considers issues about the nature of the Union and of human freedom that Lincoln addressed eloquently. These issues remain with us today.
