David H. Donald
David H. Donald
David Herbert Donaldwas an American historian, best known for his acclaimed 1995 biography of Abraham Lincoln. He twice won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography for earlier works; he published more than 30 books on United States political and literary figures and the history of the American South...
ahead biography decision lincoln
When I made the decision to go ahead with the project, I said I was going to try and write as if no other biography of Lincoln had yet been written.
carefully cons debated draw figure lincoln list might pros talk test
Lincoln had no such person that he could talk with. Often, as a result, he debated with himself, and he would draw up a kind of list of the pros and cons of an argument, and carefully figure them out, and he might test them in public.
task
If you think about it, the historian's task is like that of the detective.
account increase personal popularity
But having said all of that, that still doesn't account for a lot of the increase in popularity which stems, I think, from Lincoln's personal characteristics.