Lincoln at Home: Two Glimpses of Abraham Lincoln's Family Life

Front Cover
Simon & Schuster, Nov 4, 2003 - Biography & Autobiography - 128 pages
As Lincoln led the nation into the Civil War, managing the Union war effort, issuing the Emancipation Proclamation, winning reelection in 1864, and planning the Reconstruction of the South, he also led a private life, defined by his close relationship with his wife and his devotion to his children. Lincoln at Home offers a view into the life of the family through their written correspondence.
With a brief account of their years in the White House and the complete collection of all the known letters exchanged by Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln, this elegant portrait defines the sixteenth president as a dedicated -- though often a desperately busy and distracted -- family man.
Lincoln at Home is an intimate and rare glimpse of the president as husband and father, a cheerful man pinned to the floor while playing with his children, and a desolate man struck down by grief at the death of his son. Beyond this, we are shown a personal side of the man who managed one of the most difficult periods in American history.

About the author (2003)

Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer and historian David Herbert Donald was born October 1, 1920 in Goodman, Miss. He married Aida DiPace in 1955, they had one child, Bruce Randall. He received an A.B. in 1941 from Millsaps College; an A.M. in 1942, and a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois in 1946. Donald has been an associate professor of history at Smith College and a professor of history at Columbia University; Princeton University and Johns Hopkins University. He was also Harry C. Warren Professor of American History, chair of the graduate program in American civilization, and professor emeritus at Harvard University. Much of Donald's work involves exploring and interpreting the American Civil War and its central figure, Abraham Lincoln. Some recent works includes Look Homeward: A Life of Thomas Wolfe, Lincoln, and Charles Sumner and the Coming of the Civil War, 1996. He received Pulitzer Prizes in biography for both Charles Sumner and Look Homeward.