"This companion book to the major motion picture from Steven Spielberg, starring Daniel Day-Lewis as Abraham Lincoln, has leading historians answering the question: What Would Lincoln Do? Lincoln portrays America's 16th president when he faced two colossal challenges: winning the Civil War, and passing the Thirteenth Amendment, outlawing slavery and making permanent the promise of the Emancipation Proclamation. The politics of wartime, which required unity at all costs, conflicted with divisiveness of slavery. The president had to be at once true to his ideals and employ old-fashioned political cunning to outwit his rivals"-- Provided by publisher.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 255-264) and index.

The faces of Lincoln / Karl Weber Elizabeth Keckley : bringing an extraordinary woman to the screen / Gloria Reuben "A sacred effort" : Lincoln's unfinished journey from slavery to freedom / Henry Louis Gates Jr. "By no means excluding females" : Abraham Lincoln and women's suffrage / Jean Baker Lincoln, FDR, and the growth of Federal power / Daniel Farber "That this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away" : Lincoln and the Hiroshima decision / James Tackach At the end of two wars : 1865 and 1945, Lincoln and Roosevelt / Allen C. Guelzo

Abraham Lincoln : the president as outlaw / James Malanowski President Abraham Lincoln confronts the War on Terror / the Honorable Frank J. Williams "Public opinion is everything" : Lincoln the communicator / Douglas L. Wilson "The almighty has his own purposes" : Abraham Lincoln and the Christian right / Richard Carwardine The real Lincoln is the icon : an interview with Andrew Ferguson Lincoln, the unlikely celebrity / Harold Holzer.