Word: civilizations
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...Lincoln's stories provided more than mere amusement. Drawn from his own experiences and the curiosities reported by others, they frequently conveyed practical wisdom that his listeners could remember and repeat. For instance, when the Civil War was coming to an end and the debate began over what to do with the rebel leaders, Lincoln wished they could somehow "escape the country," even though he could not say this publicly. "As usual," General William Sherman recalled, "he illustrated his meaning by a story: 'A man once had taken the total-abstinence pledge. When visiting a friend, he was invited...
Once the Lincolns relocated to the White House, Mary made a grievous public-relations error that later First Ladies such as Nancy Reagan might have been wise to remember: she redecorated, expensively, extensively and--in the eyes of many--frivolously. Despite a historical catastrophe (the Civil War), Mary dedicated her formidable energies to buying china, ordering wallpaper, updating her wardrobe and bringing good taste and material splendor to a dowdy, poorly maintained residence whose appearance a White House secretary compared to that of "an old and unsuccessful hotel...
...Mary had already lost a mother and a son, and was about to lose another son, as well as her husband. She seemed to know that too, possibly as a result of her excursions into the mysterious spirit world, a popular pastime in the traumatized living rooms of the Civil War. Seeking comfort wherever she could find it, Mary switched off the lights and called her period's version of a psychic hotline...
...shaped the nation. We began with explorers Lewis and Clark, then focused on Ben Franklin and last year chose Thomas Jefferson. This year we decided to dedicate an issue to a man who may not have been there at America's founding but sealed its character by prosecuting a civil war over the scourge of slavery. "Lincoln has long been a favorite subject for historians," says executive editor Priscilla Painton, who conceived and supervised the package, "but this year, with a wealth of new research emerging, there's a fresh passion to get past the icon and find the real...
...project, we bring you stories from writers on the verge of publishing some major works of Lincoln scholarship. In our opening piece, author Joshua Wolf Shenk shows how much closer historians are coming these days to demystifying the Civil War President, both by humanizing him and by delineating his exceptional talents. Shenk's forthcoming book, Lincoln's Melancholy, focuses on how depression simultaneously challenged Lincoln and made him stronger. Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin offers us a preview of her forthcoming work on Lincoln's political genius by showing how different aspects of Lincoln's deep emotional intelligence made...