What are you reading now?

[Gencor]

I enjoyed the book, Gary. The larger print was easy on the eyes. One thing that was a little confusing to me was the way the author organized her endnotes. I think I prefer the more traditional numbered footnotes/endnotes. Jean Baker's biography is still my personal favorite.

I have to agree with you, RJ. I also thought that some of the history of how she explained Kate Chase was not as accurate as I had hoped. Jean Baker, I believe was much more enjoyable to me. I felt it was much more accurate and beautifully written.

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Very thoughtful and beautifully worded Gencor. I see it that way as well. As terrible as it sounds I think that might even apply to Abraham Lincoln too.

He was indisputably an extraordinary man under any circumstances. But would he be remembered today as such an icon, as the gold standard of the American presidency if he had lived to navigate the racial and political minefield that was Reconstruction?

I have often wondered the same thing myself, LTF. In fact, I have thought about the popularity of the military leaders that followed after Lincoln. McKinley, Garfield, Grant. These men were giants in the military but I have to wonder if they had a clue how complicated their jobs would be when it came to cleaning up the states and the nation after the war. The issues were moving on with rapid speed. It suddenly became about labor, the Railroads, industry, miners, business everywhere. The racial issues were just the beginning. Even the leaders of congress and the Senate found themselves in territory very different from when Lincoln was president.

It's a fascinating subject, LTF.