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In 1847, in a small rural courthouse in Coles County, Illinois, Abraham Lincoln represented a Kentucky slave owner named Robert Matson in his attempt to recover a runaway slave woman and her four children. Most Americans, even those with a penchant for the nation's history, have never heard of this court case. This is no coincidence. Lincoln's involvement in the case has troubled and bewildered most students and biographers of the "Great Emancipator." In many assessments, the case inspires rationalizations and distortions; in others, avoidance and denial. These approaches are a disservice to the man and to those who seek to understand him. In Lincoln Apostate: The Matson Slave Case, lawyer a...
A masterful work by Pulitzer Prize–winning author David Herbert Donald, Lincoln is a stunning portrait of Abraham Lincoln’s life and presidency. Donald brilliantly depicts Lincoln’s gradual ascent from humble beginnings in rural Kentucky to the ever-expanding political circles in Illinois, and finally to the presidency of a country divided by civil war. Donald goes beyond biography, illuminating the gradual development of Lincoln’s character, chronicling his tremendous capacity for evolution and growth, thus illustrating what made it possible for a man so inexperienced and so unprepared for the presidency to become a great moral leader. In the most troubled of times, here was a man who led the country out of slavery and preserved a shattered Union—in short, one of the greatest presidents this country has ever seen.
The author Stan Billingsley is a retired Judge, having served on the bench for 25 years. He graduated from Western Ky. University and the UK College of Law. He has worked for the House of Representatives in Washington, D.C., served as an Administrative Assistant to Governor Edward T. Breathitt, was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the USAR, served as City Attorney for Carrollton, Kentucky and served in the Kentucky House of Representatives. He is a mediator and arbitrator of civil claims. In 1995 he was honored by the Ky. Bar Association as the Outstanding Judge in Kentucky. Judge Billingsley is the co-author of several legal texts including Ky. Driving Under the Influence Law co-authored with Hon. Wilbur Zevely and published by Thomson-West, and Ky. Medical Malpractice Law co-authored with the Hon. Richard Lawrence and published by LawReader Books. He has authored two novels concerning lawyers ethics issues: Alice VS. Wonderland and A Parliament of Owls.
The clashes between President Abraham Lincoln and Chief Justice Roger B. Taney over slavery, secession, and the president's constitutional war powers are vividly brought to life in this compelling story of the momentous tug-of-war between these two men during the worst crisis in American history.