Lincoln vs. Davis: The War of the Presidents

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. (Nov.)