The Real Lincoln Summary

The Real Lincoln by Thomas D’Lorenzo is retelling the story of America’s sixteenth president, Abraham Lincoln. D’Lorenzo however is taking an unconventional and controversial route by attacking President Abraham Lincoln’s presidency and political agenda overall. This concept is a struggle for most Americans because of the overwhelming positivity that people have about President Abraham Lincoln’s legacy of ending slavery and reuniting a divided country. However there are two sides to every story and D’Lorenzo does just that, causing him to take on risque theories that are explored in this book. The overall theme of the book is to question the idea of “history is written by the victor”. In this case the victor being President Abraham Lincoln

D’Lorenzo states that President Lincoln’s agenda was less political and more fiscal. D’lorenzo is accusing President Lincoln of wanting a stronger government with more control and centralized power over the American economy. D’Lorenzo defends this argument by using Lincoln’s supporters and the economical history to persuade readers that his ultimate plan would align with his political predecessors. One of the two most important figures the D’Lorenzo brought up was Henry Clay and Alexander Hamilton. Lincoln’s republicanism was based off of Henry Clay’s Whig party. “It involved the nation’s most prominent statesmen and pitted the states’ rights Jeffersonians against the centralizing Hamiltonians (who became Whigs and, later, Republicans). The violence of war finally ended the debate in 1861. . . .A war was not necessary to free the slaves, but it was necessary to destroy the most significant check on the powers of the central government: the right of secession” (Introduction). This platform supported what is called the “American system”, which was largely based off of the ideology of Alexander Hamilton, an infamous early American figure whom supported a stronger, more centralized national government. This ideology included ideas such as protective tariffs, and a nationalized central banking. D’Lorenzo believed that with these men, whom have had these ideas on how to run the United States of America, would easily influence Abraham Lincoln. To D’lorenzo these ideas would get in the way of a total free market, and reminded him more of Imperial Europe than the United States that the Founding Fathers wanted to create (one based on as much economic freedom as possible). This to me is very valid. Lincoln’s platform is derived from the Whig party as he was once one. Lincoln also supported many protectionist style Tariffs such as both Morrill Tariffs. To D’Lorenzo these were against the founding fathers