Your best read in 2014

[My Name Is Kate]

(01-04-2015 03:17 PM)LincolnToddFan Wrote:  My favorite Lincoln books for 2014 were "How A Nation Grieves", "The Last Lincolns" and Betty's first-rate biography of Lewis Powell. I have to admit that before I read Betty's work Lewis mostly creeped me out, I only felt revulsion for him. I am still chilled by what he did but I could never hate the man now, Betty did such a good job of humanizing him. In fact it was difficult to come to the end, because I found myself wanting the guy to be spared even though of course he was not. I now feel horribly sad for every one of the conspirators who were hung for having the misfortune and poor judgement of getting involved with JWB.

After reading in another thread on this forum, some of the things that were done to soldiers (and slaves) to break their spirits and make them toe the line, I wonder if Powell may have witnessed or experienced some of that. Also, being brought up by a strict father who was also a minister, it may have seemed almost like God himself had spoken whenever his father told him to do something. Plus, the Powell boys were named after some pretty famous people: George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Lewis was named after some prominent person too, though I forget who. So the implication, whether it was ever specifically stated or not, seems to have been that they were expected to be somebody and make their mark in the world. Powell's superiors probably regarded him as the ideal soldier. He payed the ultimate price trying to be the hero that his training led him to believe he was supposed to be.

BTW, happy b-day, Eva!