jon meacham

Abraham Lincoln signed the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation in September 1862. He issued the formal Emancipation Proclamation the following January. Lincoln was under tremendous pressure to withdraw emancipation as a precondition for peace talks with the Confederacy.

Books
Politics & Government

Lincoln prioritized democracy over his political future. A new biography explains why

7:03am October 18, 2022

by Rachel Treisman

Presidential historian Jon Meacham speaks with NPR about his new biography, And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle. It examines Lincoln's actions as well as motivations.

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In new books, Doris Kearns Goodwin and Joseph J. Ellis — also Jon Meacham, whose tome hit shelves in May — aim to contextualize or contrast the Trump era with the leadership of previous presidents.

National
Books
Politics & Government

Three Pulitzer Prize-Winning Historians Aim To Put American Politics In Context

1:24pm October 11, 2018

by Scott Detrow

In new books, Doris Kearns Goodwin and Joseph J. Ellis — also Jon Meacham, whose tome hit shelves in May — aim to contextualize or contrast the Trump era with the leadership of previous presidents.