Abraham Lincoln in the Post-Heroic Era

History and Memory in Late Twentieth-Century America

Cloth $30.00 ISBN: 9780226741888 Published January 2009

E-book $7.00 to $18.00 About E-books ISBN: 9780226741901 Published November 2008

By the 1920s, Abraham Lincoln had transcended the lingering controversies of the Civil War to become a secular saint, honored in North and South alike for his steadfast leadership in crisis. Throughout the Great Depression and World War II, Lincoln was invoked countless times as a reminder of America’s strength and wisdom, a commanding ideal against which weary citizens could see their own hardships in perspective.

But as Barry Schwartz reveals in Abraham Lincoln in the Post-Heroic Era, those years represent the apogee of Lincoln’s prestige. The decades following World War II brought radical changes to American culture, changes that led to the diminishing of all heroes—Lincoln not least among them. As Schwartz explains, growing sympathy for the plight of racial minorities, disenchantment with the American state, the lessening of patriotism in the wake of the Vietnam War, and an intensifying celebration of diversity, all contributed to a culture in which neither Lincoln nor any single person could be a heroic symbol for all Americans. Paradoxically, however, the very culture that made Lincoln an object of indifference, questioning, criticism, and even ridicule was a culture of unprecedented beneficence and inclusion, where racial, ethnic, and religious groups treated one another more fairly and justly than ever before. Thus, as the prestige of the Great Emancipator shrank, his legacy of equality continued to flourish.

Drawing on a stunning range of sources—including films, cartoons, advertisements, surveys, shrine visitations, public commemorations, and more—Schwartz documents the decline of Lincoln’s public standing, asking throughout whether there is any path back from this post-heroic era. Can a new generation of Americans embrace again their epic past, including great leaders whom they know to be flawed? As the 2009 Lincoln Bicentennial approaches, readers will discover here a stirring reminder that Lincoln, as a man, still has much to say to us—about our past, our present, and our possible futures.

Review Quotes
Contents

“Where have our heroes gone? And does it matter that they no longer speak to us? These are questions Barry Schwartz explores through the prism of Abraham Lincoln. This provocative book is an engaging critique of the conventional wisdom."--Thomas F. Schwartz, Illinois State Historian, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum

“Anyone—scholar or layman or buff—who wants to understand Lincoln's place in American life is obliged to read Barry Schwartz. He has made himself indispensable.”—Andrew Ferguson, author of Land of Lincoln: Adventures in Abe’s America

"Schwartz demonstrates engagingly and convincingly how Lincoln is a historical phenomenon who can weather misunderstanding, misrepresentation, mockery, caricature, and popular cultural exploitation and still maintain something of his real integrity."—Times Higher Education

“In this second volume of a study of how Lincoln has been remembered by Americans, Schwartz asserts that Lincoln is less revered in contemporary times as a great figure because the post-heroic United States is much more skeptical of greatness and has become more inclusive of historically marginalized individuals and distrustful of singular meta-narratives. Relying on a welter of survey data and public pronouncements, Schwartz shows how the image of Lincoln as the savior of the Union has morphed into a view of Lincoln the Great Emancipator, judged on his personal attributes and deeds rather than as the holder of the office o president during the Civil War. Disenchantment with celebratory nationalism and social outlooks that emphasize equality over disparate achievement makes a godlike Lincoln unnecessary. Further, Lincoln’s views on race mark him as a dated figure, even as the emancipationist record makes him relevant but demystified, key to a multicultural United States. . . . This volume illustrates how collective memory of the past both shapes and explains the contemporary. Recommended. All levels/libraries.”—Choice

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. Ascension: Abraham Lincoln in the Depression

2. Apex: Abraham Lincoln in World War II

3. Transition: Cold War, Racial Conflict, and Contested Images of Lincoln

4. Transfiguration: Civil Rights Movement, Vanishing Savior of the Union

5. Erosion: Fading Prestige, Benign Ridicule

6. Post-Heroic Era: Acids of Equality and the Waning of Greatness

7. Inertia: The Enduring Lincoln

Conclusion

Appendices (A–K)

Notes

Index

For more information, or to order this book, please visit http://www.press.uchicago.edu

Biography and Letters

Culture Studies

History: American History

Sociology: General Sociology | Social Change, Social Movements, Political Sociology | Social History

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