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 The last major book with a single focus on Lincoln in
the state legislature – Lincoln’s Preparation for Greatness: The
Illinois Legislative Years – was written by the late U.S. Senator
Paul Simon back in 1965, when Simon was near the beginning of his
own political career, serving in the Illinois Senate.
“I did not set out to rehash his book, but instead, I wanted to
reconsider Lincoln’s legislative years from a fresh perspective,”
Keller said. “On a few occasions I break with Simon’s conclusions.
For instance, in assessing Lincoln as the log-rolling legislator, I
am a bit more critical than Simon. I sought to heighten the personal
character of Lincoln and the relationships he forged in those
years.”
While the book serves as a biography of Lincoln during his state
legislative years, Keller explained that he wanted to accomplish
more.
“I hope this book contributes to the knowledge and the dialogue of
one of our greatest Americans in the midst of a very formative time
in his life but I also hope this book will serve as an examination
into the art of early Illinois legislative politics,” Keller said.
Keller’s book is the latest in the “Concise Lincoln
Library” series published by Southern Illinois University Press. The
book is available for purchase in bookstores and online retailers or
directly from SIU Press at www.siupress.com, and available soon at
the Lincoln Heritage Museum on the Lincoln College Campus.
While Lincoln’s four-term legislative career has been critiqued by
some historians as lackluster, Keller digs into Lincoln’s time in
the Illinois House to reveal how the underpinnings of his
temperament, leadership skills, and political acumen were bolstered
on the statehouse floor.
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Of about sixteen hundred bills, resolutions, and petitions passed
from 1834 to 1842, Lincoln introduced only about thirty of them. The issue he
most ardently championed and shepherded through the legislature — the internal
improvements system — left the state in debt for more than a generation. As
Illinois debates a new capital construction bill in 2019, Lincoln’s experience
and effectiveness in advocating and building support for his major project is
particularly timely.
Keller argues, it was during these early years that Lincoln displayed and honed
the traits that would allow him to excel in politics and ultimately define his
legacy: honesty, equality, empathy, and leadership. Keller reanimates Lincoln’s
time in the Illinois legislature to reveal the formation of Lincoln’s strong
character and political philosophy in those early years, which allowed him to
rise to prominence as the Whig Party’s floor leader regardless of setbacks and
to build a framework for his future.
Lincoln in the Illinois Legislature details Lincoln’s early political platform
and the grassroots campaigning that put him in office. Drawing on legislative
records, newspaper accounts, speeches, letters, and other sources, Keller
describes Lincoln’s positions on key bills, highlights his colleagues’
perceptions of him, and depicts the relationships that grew out of his
statehouse interactions. Keller’s research delves into Lincoln’s popularity as a
citizen of New Salem, his political alliances and victories, his antislavery
stirrings, and his personal joys and struggles as he sharpened his political
shrewdness.
[Mark Gordon
Public Relations and Media Manager
Lincoln College] |
