In this age of divisiveness and political crises, we may learn a lot from a president who presided over a divided nation. Abraham Lincoln was at the height of American strength when obstinate secessionists refused to back down in a conflict of visions based on power, wealth, race, identity, and religion. He was reviled and praised, hated and praised, and excoriated and venerated. He represents both the potential and the constraints of the presidency. Lincoln is either seen as the greatest American president?a distant icon?or as a politician who was more motivated by calculation than by conviction. He was both well-known and elusive at the same time. This insightful new portrait reveals a very human Lincoln?a flawed guy whose moral antislavery devotion, crucial to the tale of justice in America, started as he was growing up. This book tells the story of Lincoln from his birth on the Kentucky frontier in 1809 to his leadership during the Civil War to his tragic assassination in 1865: his rise, his self-education, his loves, his bouts of depression, his political failures, his deepening faith, and his persistent conviction that slavery must end. In a nation shaped by the courage of the enslaved of the era and by the brave witness of Black Americans, Lincoln?s story illustrates the ways and means of politics in a democracy, the roots and durability of racism, and the capacity of conscience to shape events.