Lincoln in the World

October 15, 2013
In his workmanlike debut, veteran journalist Peraino examines Abraham Lincoln's role in American foreign policy, "one of the few sparsely stocked corners of an otherwise massive library." As is well-known, Lincoln was occupied with pressing domestic matters for his entire administration and largely left the conduct of foreign policy to Secretary of State William Seward. As president, Lincoln had only two overriding foreign policy goals: to keep the nation out of wars with foreign powers and to keep other nations from recognizing the Confederacy. Even the first of these was difficult, as there was a widely held notion that a foreign war might help resolve the Civil War, and public opinion was inflamed by several international crises during this period. These included a clash with Great Britain over the Trent Affair and the French invasion of Mexico in support of the puppet emperor Maximilian. Peraino treats both at length, crediting Lincoln with encouraging journalists to prepare the public for a necessary but embarrassing climb-down over Trent. Discouraging foreign intervention in our own war, particularly by Britain, where thousands of textile workers were idled by a cotton shortage, required further subtle skill. The author argues that it was accomplished in large part by Lincoln's gradual transition to emancipation as a war goal, which had a greater moral appeal to the European public than preserving a union that tolerated slavery. This was an approach advanced by, among others, Karl Marx, London correspondent for Horace Greeley's New York Tribune. Finally, however, it detracts nothing from Lincoln's glory to observe that the author's view of him as "one of America's seminal foreign-policy presidents" is something of a stretch. Peraino never fully brings into focus the contours of a distinctly Lincolnian foreign policy. Though well-researched and engagingly presented, Peraino's materials include too little new information about Lincoln to add much to readers' understanding of the 16th president.

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August 1, 2013
Lincoln's foreign policy reposes in the footnotes of the fiery trial of the Civil War. Aside from his cave-in to Britain over the Trent affair of 1861, which possibly averted its intervention on the side of the Confederacy, Lincoln was scarcely involved in diplomacy. So runs a conventional historical assessment that Peraino challenges. Asserting that Lincoln was one of America's seminal foreign policy presidents, Peraino positions Lincoln as a pragmatic idealist who anticipated America's destiny to become a world power. To show Lincoln believed this would and should be realized through economic growth and moral example, Peraino illustrates Lincoln's disagreement over the Mexican-American War with law partner William Herndon, who supported territorial expansion by conquest, which Lincoln opposed as unjust. In comparable contrasts with actors in American foreign affairs of the 1860s, Peraino opposes Lincoln's views and actions to those of Secretary of State William Seward, Lord Palmerston of Britain, Napoleon III of France, and Karl Marx of the proletariat. With original research, Peraino achieves a remarkable triple play for readers of Lincoln, the Civil War, and diplomatic history.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2015

Peraino proves that Lincoln was conscious of America's place in, and obligation to, the world. Although Peraino overstates Lincoln's focus on foreign policy, he reveals the inner workings of policymaking and reminds readers that Lincoln's success in foreign policy was that he never confused means with ends. (LJ 9/1/13)

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May 1, 2013

Veteran journalist Peraino tracks President Abraham Lincoln's emergence as a statesman on the world scene by considering Lincoln's concern as a young congressman with the conduct of the Mexican war; his conflicts as president with William Seward, Lord Palmerston, and Napoleon III; his ongoing interest in learning to shape public opinion; and, after his assassination, John Hay's efforts to define his legacy.

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September 1, 2013

Peraino (former senior writer, Newsweek) considers Lincoln in the wider context of Atlantic politics and imperial ambitions, in a work filled with riveting and revealing descriptions of the competing interests and inner workings of the mid-19th-century American, British, and French governments. He examines six episodes in Lincoln's political life--from his opposition to the Mexican War as a congressman to his efforts to block France's empire building in Mexico during the American Civil War--episodes that made Lincoln conscious of America's place in the world and of the limits and prospects of American global power. The author is especially effective in relating the foreign policy interests of such figures as Karl Marx, Lord Palmerston, and Napoleon III and in demonstrating that personality counted in making and enforcing policy in the United States and elsewhere. He overstates Lincoln's supposed preoccupation with foreign policy matters during the Civil War and the extent to which Lincoln became a touchstone for later American policymakers, but he makes a strong case for Lincoln as a principled and pragmatic leader who realized American power by never confusing means with ends--a lesson worth learning for any age. VERDICT A recommended addition to Lincoln collections. [See Prepub Alert, 4/8/13.]--Randall M. Miller, St. Joseph's Univ., Philadelphia

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Starred review from September 9, 2013
The scope of Abraham Lincoln’s presidency is usually portrayed as strictly staying within the borders of the United States. Journalist Peraino focuses on a wider, although not unfamiliar, narrative, placing Lincoln in the world using six distinctive episodes in his political career. Spanning from the first major American foreign conflict—the Mexican War, with a debate between Lincoln and his law partner Billy Herndon—and ending with Lincoln’s stalemate with Napoleon III over the French occupation of Mexico, Peraino explains how Lincoln used a public discourse campaign that made politician’s choices accountable to the people. In doing so, Lincoln helped to catapult the U.S. into a position of world power. The account is at once informative and interesting, showcasing the formation of specific slices of Lincoln’s foreign policy and portraying a very human Lincoln—as opposed to the demigod he has become in the popular imagination. Peraino’s account offers insight into specific moments in Lincoln’s career without recounting the generalities of his life; thus, it may be most fruitful to scholars already well versed in Lincoln studies. Nevertheless, he has produced a perceptive work that is both entertaining and accessible to a general readership. Agent: Amanda Urban, ICM.