LINCOLN: PRESIDENT-ELECT
MONDAY, December 1, 2008, 6:30 p.m.
Free. Reservations required. Please call 215.409.6700 or order online.
Annenberg Center for Education and Outreach
Kirby Auditorium
Independence Mall
525 Arch Street
Philadelphia, PA
The National Constitution Center welcomes back Harold Holzer, one of America’s most eminent Lincoln scholars and winner of a Lincoln Prize, to discuss the four months between Lincoln’s election and Inauguration when the president-elect made the most important decision of his coming presidency—there would be no compromise on slavery or secession of the slaveholding states even at the cost of an inevitable Civil War. In Lincoln: President-Elect, the first book to concentrate on his public stance during these months, Holzer presents the momentous consequences when Abraham Lincoln first demonstrated his determination and leadership; he rejected compromises urged on him that might have preserved the Union for a little while longer, but enshrined slavery for generations. Publisher's Weekly describes the book as "an engrossing narrative" that reveals Lincoln to be an "astute political operator" who, as Holzer writes, drew "a line in the sand to prevent the spread of human slavery."
“This is a stunningly original work that casts completely new light on the most turbulent and critical presidential transition in American history…This groundbreaking book will take its place with the most valuable and indispensable works in the Lincoln canon.”
—Doris Kearns Goodwin
Harold Holzer is the co-chairman of the US Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, and has authored or coauthored thirty books on Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War. He is the winner of a Lincoln Prize for Lincoln at Cooper Union, four Barondess Awards, and three awards from the Lincoln Group of New York. He serves as senior vice president for external affairs at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Gary Ecelbarger moderates. He is a Washington-based author, historical tour guide and symposium speaker. He is the author and co-author of seven books and a dozen magazine articles about events and personalities of the mid-1800s. His latest book is The Great Comeback: How Abraham Lincoln Beat the Odds to Win the 1860 Republican Nomination. Publisher's Weekly writes "Ecelbarger's scholarship is sound, his prose enthralling and his topic one that has not previously received due diligence in the Lincoln literature."
A book sale and signing will follow the program courtesy of Joseph Fox Bookshop. Parking for this event is available for $7.50 at the National Constitution Center garage located at the rear of the building on Race Street between 5th and 6th Streets. Parking availability is subject to change. Please call the Center on the day of the program for more information. Please also see our directions by public transportation. http://www.constitutioncenter.org/visiting/VisitorInformation/index.shtml#Map
Link:
Lincoln: President-Elect