With Malice Toward None: A Life of Abraham Lincoln by Stephen B. Oates

Stephen B. Oates’ acclaimed biography, “With Malice Toward None: A Life of Abraham Lincoln,” is an extensive look at the life of one of America’s greatest presidents. Oates weaves the story of Lincoln’s life from the humble beginnings in a one-room cabin in the backwoods of Kentucky to his eventual rise to the White House in 1860.

The biography begins with an exploration of Lincoln’s childhood in the Wilderness, providing readers with insight into the formative years of Lincoln’s life and the values he developed from being surrounded by the wilderness. Oates provides an account of the harsh realities of frontier life, the constant struggle to hunt, chop wood and survive, and the pain and joy of Lincoln’s family.

Oates then chronicles Lincoln’s move to Indiana and the influence of his adopted Hoosier home and the development of his political ideology. Oates delves into the passion of young Lincoln and his intense desire, at a mere 22 years old, to see the territory officially become a state of the union. Oates describes how this experience had a lasting impact on Lincoln’s political career.

The book then moves on to describe Lincoln’s term in Congress, the subsequent years as a lawyer, and ultimately the emotionally draining challenge of his 1860 presidential campaign. Through these chapters, the life of Lincoln’s family, his relationship with Mary Todd, and the traumas of the Civil War are described in painstaking detail.

The final chapters explore the ending of the war and Lincoln’s work towards unifying the states and granting rights to the newly liberated African Americans. Oates paints Lincoln’s final days as a tragedy in which all of the struggles, joys and disappointments of Lincoln’s life seem to culminate into a moment of national grief and despair.

In “With Malice Toward None,” Oates provides readers with an in-depth look into the life of Abraham Lincoln that is both informative and moving. Oates does a masterful job of capturing the emotion and tragedy of Lincoln’s life and events that brought him to the White House, creating an inspiring and complex portrait of a man whose life and legacy will be remembered for generations to come. Oates provides an intimate look at a man whose beliefs endured through some of the darkest days in American history and stand as a beacon of hope and progress.