Lincoln And The Fight For Peace

  • Author: John Avlon
  • Narrator: John Avlon
  • Publisher: Simon & Schuster
  • Duration: 11:00:01
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Synopsis

A groundbreaking, revelatory history of Abraham Lincoln’s plan to secure a just and lasting peace after the Civil War—a vision that inspired future presidents as well as the world’s most famous peacemakers, including Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, Jr. It is a story of war and peace, race and reconciliation.

As the tide of the Civil War turned in the spring of 1865, Abraham Lincoln took a dangerous two-week trip to visit the troops on the front lines accompanied by his young son, seeing combat up close, meeting liberated slaves in the ruins of Richmond, and comforting wounded Union and Confederate soldiers.

The power of Lincoln’s personal example in the closing days of the war offers a portrait of a peacemaker. He did not demonize people he disagreed with. He used humor, logic, and scripture to depolarize bitter debates. Balancing moral courage with moderation, Lincoln believed that decency could be the most practical form of politics, but he understood that people were more inclined to listen to reason when greeted from a position of strength. Ulysses S. Grant’s famously generous terms of surrender to General Robert E. Lee at Appomattox that April were a direct expression of the president’s belief that a soft peace should follow a hard war.

While his assassination sent the country careening off course, Lincoln’s vision would be vindicated long after his death, inspiring future generations in their own quests to secure a just and lasting peace. As US General Lucius Clay, architect of the post-WWII German occupation, said when asked what guided his decisions: “I tried to think of the kind of occupation the South would have had if Abraham Lincoln had lived.”

Lincoln and the Fight for Peace reveals how Lincoln’s character informed his commitment to unconditional surrender followed by a magnanimous peace. Even during the Civil War, surrounded by reactionaries and radicals, he refused to back down from his belief that there is more that unites us than divides us. But he also understood that peace needs to be waged with as much intensity as war. Lincoln’s plan to win the peace is his unfinished symphony, but in its existing notes, we can find an anthem that can begin to bridge our divisions today.

Chapters

  • 001 LincolnAndTheFightForPeace Open

    Duration: 29s
  • 002 LincolnAndTheFightForPeace Dedication

    Duration: 13s
  • 003 LincolnAndTheFightForPeace Epigraph

    Duration: 34s
  • 004 LincolnAndTheFightForPeace Introduction a

    Duration: 43min
  • 005 LincolnAndTheFightForPeace Introduction b

    Duration: 48min
  • 006 LincolnAndTheFightForPeace SectionI WithMaliceTowardNone

    Duration: 38min
  • 007 LincolnAndTheFightForPeace SectionII UnconditionalSurrenderLincolnAtWar

    Duration: 38min
  • 008 LincolnAndTheFightForPeace SectionII UnconditionalSurrenderLincolnAtWar BlackInBlueAndGray

    Duration: 08min
  • 009 LincolnAndTheFightForPeace SectionII UnconditionalSurrenderLincolnAtWar FatherAbrahamOnTheFrontLines

    Duration: 14min
  • 010 LincolnAndTheFightForPeace SectionII UnconditionalSurrenderLincolnAtWar LincolnAndTheKittens

    Duration: 14min
  • 011 LincolnAndTheFightForPeace SectionII UnconditionalSurrenderLincolnAtWar PeacemakersOnTheRiverQueen

    Duration: 11min
  • 012 LincolnAndTheFightForPeace SectionII UnconditionalSurrenderLincolnAtWar TheGhostsOfPetersburg

    Duration: 32min
  • 013 LincolnAndTheFightForPeace SectionIII AMagnanimousPeaceLincolnAndTheFallOfRichmond

    Duration: 22min
  • 014 LincolnAndTheFightForPeace SectionIII AMagnanimousPeaceLincolnAndTheFallOfRichmond InsideTheConfederateWhiteHouse

    Duration: 21min
  • 015 LincolnAndTheFightForPeace SectionIII AMagnanimousPeaceLincolnAndTheFallOfRichmond ConversationsWithTheEnemy

    Duration: 27min
  • 016 LincolnAndTheFightForPeace SectionIII AMagnanimousPeaceLincolnAndTheFallOfRichmond DixieAndMacBeth

    Duration: 14min
  • 017 LincolnAndTheFightForPeace SectionIV AppomattoxAndTheArtOfPeace

    Duration: 03min
  • 018 LincolnAndTheFightForPeace SectionIV AppomattoxAndTheArtOfPeace WeAreAllAmericans

    Duration: 20min
  • 019 LincolnAndTheFightForPeace SectionIV AppomattoxAndTheArtOfPeace LincolnsLastSpeech

    Duration: 29min
  • 020 LincolnAndTheFightForPeace SectionIV AppomattoxAndTheArtOfPeace GoodFriday1865

    Duration: 35min
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