Jon Meacham

I normally don't read biographies but this was part of my book club and I am glad that I read it. I have always understood Jefferson to be a complex character. Recent issues related to his slave holding and probable fathering of children with his slave Sally Hemmings have somewhat tarnished his reputation. This book helps put his actions into the context of the times. For me I learned so much about the continuing antagonism between the new country and Britain over the course of 60 years until the end of the war of 1812 led to a treaty that led to our ultimate connection between the 2 countries. Meacham's style made me feel that I was in the room for the conversations he detailed. A little more detail on things like Hamilton's death and the war of 1812 would have helped but there is so much information about Jefferson already out there that this was not a big omission. We saw the positives and negatives of the key players in the founding of our country. The views of the leadership on slavery and native Americans reflected the times and though many believed that slavery was wrong including Jefferson but his political and power views caused him to not take action. He especially did not want to upset his life. He was correct in seeing the future. Unfortunately had bolder actions been taken by him and others we might not have had to deal with what the country went through and continues to go through in terms of race relations. Overall a worthwhile book with Jefferson being mostly portrayed as an extraordinary person who had real human flaws.… (mere)

I am quite hesitant to attempt a review of this book for, no matter how hard I try, my words will not do it justice. Over the years, there have been many books about our 16th President, each contributing but a fraction of the man, but Meacham has given us as much of the whole man as one might reasonably expect. The Lincoln of the 1830s, 1840s, 1850s, and even the Lincoln who took office in March 1861, is not the Lincoln that went into eternity. This book does, what no other has done before and that is to demonstrate how Lincoln grew. The Lincoln of 1855 would be quite surprised by the Lincoln of 1865, and he would be astonished at the place held by Lincoln in 2023. The war-time President that so many history books tell us about, and some very well, fail in their efforts to tell us about the man and how that man's mind developed. The author does not just tell us but he supports what he tells us with 152 pages of notations. Meacham delivers his book in a straightforward way -- no double meanings and unemotional except in the Epilogue.… (mere)