Two American Presidents: A Dual Biography of Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis - Hardcover

Chadwick (Brother Against Brother, 1997) recounts what are by now well-known details in the lives of Lincoln, the prairie stalwart, and Davis, the gentleman farmer from Mississippi, who respectively led the United States and the Confederate States during the Civil War. His conclusion: that the two leaders were different, and that their personalities influenced the outcome of the conflict. Lincoln was stern, austere, in control of his emotions, although ambition burned in him like an incandescent candle. Davis, mercurial and violence-prone, was a steaming cauldron, although he was governing as a humanitarian interested in preserving individual liberties and running the army as an enlightened commander. Stir in cannons, and you have Appomattox. Chadwick does hit on a note of interest, for just a moment, when he briefly examines the unfolding scholarly literature on various attempts by the two leaders to have each other assassinated (one thinks of Kennedy and Castro); he cites Federal papers captured by Confederates at Richmond that ordered the immediate execution of Davis and his cabinet, and he suggests that John Wilkes Booth was under Daviss orders, but only to kidnap Lincoln from the Ford Theatre. Chadwicks unapologetic reversion to the Great Man theory of history will not impress professional historians, who have long since attributed to other causessuperior firepower, control of the seasthe eventual Union victory over the secessionists. Neither, because the book is so poorly written, will it likely impress Civil War buffs, who will already have almost all the information Chadwick presents. Relentlessly disappointing. (24 pages photos, not seen) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

In many ways, Lincoln and Davis led parallel lives, but, at the same time, they certainly came from far different backgrounds, possessed opposite types of personalities, and ultimately became foes of the highest order. The early 1860s was a watershed period, and one of the peculiarities of the time was its witness of dual presidencies: Abraham Lincoln of the United States and Jefferson Davis of the Confederate States. A provocative and revealing way of looking at the era, which Chadwick does with very engaging results, is to simultaneously study both presidents' paths to leadership--"their work as legislators, commanders-in-chief, politicians, husbands and fathers" --and the effect of their very distinctive characters on the quality of their administrations, particularly as each faced a nation-annihilating war. Lincoln knew poverty intimately, Davis was wealthy; Lincoln was barely schooled, Davis had a good education; Lincoln had charm, Davis was abrasive; and the comparisons go on and on. Brad Hooper