Bloodless Coup

So I first read the book in bits and pieces, jumping around to get a feel for it. Now I've started to read it front to back, and my admiration for it continues to increase (as does my admiration for Lincoln and Seward - which was already pretty damn high). I'm now shortly after the 1st battle of Bull Run, in a section focused on George McClellan.

I'm finding it funny (and depressing) how much McClellan reminds me of George Bush - in a way born to his position; believes he's on a mission from God; amazingly arrogant, insolent and insulting; only has time for those who praise him; constantly whining that every failure he's involved in is someone else's fault; convinced only he can save the country and that everything he's doing is going to work and, reality to the contrary, he's right ... The appointment of Gen. McClellan make it clear that not every move Lincoln made was a good one. But hey, Lincoln was still adept enough to fire folks when they were incompetent and getting the job done - quite the contrast with George W. Bush.

I finally finished this last night (the plus of not being able to sleep b/c you are sick is that you really do get to catch up on your reading when you give up on sleep). I can't say enough good things about it. It's a beautifully written, very well examination of the people and politics at a key time in our nation's history.

I come away from it thinking even more of Lincoln than I did before. Not that he was blameless for all the faults of his administration - but especially reading this while George Bush is president - well, the contrast couldn't be more stark.

Whereas few things mark the current president more than his reliance on fear and vindictiveness and his complete lack of curiousity about major matters of state - Lincoln was exactly the opposite and the country benefited greatly from his gracious dealings with opponents and kicking the military leadership in the ass when failing policies needed changing.

But really the man's kindness and magnanimity was astonishing - he kept Chase in the cabinet while he was conspiring against him and later appointed him Chief Justice. He let arguably treasonous opponents of the government wage campaigns for political office. He understood that a harsh voice and oppressive politics are not the way to keep a heterogeneous society together - especially when it's under stress.

It's a shame that Bush is such a disinterested, little man who values his echo chamber and "loyalty" to failures - who can't even bear to have potential opponents in the same auditormium. What kind of America is going to result from that kind of politics?

I guess that's still unclear - but it is clear that the country has survived and prospered at least partially b/c of Lincoln's legacy. And if you want to get a sense of why that's the case - this is a good book to read.