Boss Lincoln: The Partisan Life of Abraham Lincoln, with Prof. Matthew Pinsker

Noted historian Matthew Pinsker of Dickinson College will be discussing his new book Boss Lincoln: The Partisan Life of Abraham Lincoln. We think of Lincoln as the eloquent, compassionate leader of a nation torn by civil war. But he had another, less visible side, equally central to his character and leadership as a master of party politics. Lincoln skillfully navigated treacherous partisan crosscurrents and helped build the Republican party into a viable force. His decades of experience as a party leader proved invaluable to him as president and commander in chief during the Civil War. In Boss Lincoln, Pinsker provides an eye-opening portrait of Lincoln behind the scenes, as a career-long party politician whose brilliant coalition-building during the Civil War set the political foundation for emancipation and Union victory.

The Wall Street Journal has labeled Boss Lincoln a "landmark book" and New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie has called it “extraordinarily relevant to our political moment.” Famed historian Eric Foner commented that the book does "something difficult, if not impossible - saying something new about Lincoln and his career."

Pinsker holds the Brian Pohanka Chair of Civil War History at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania and serves as Director of the House Divided Project, a popular educational initiative on nineteenth century US history. He is the author of three books, including Lincoln's Sanctuary: Abraham Lincoln and the Soldiers’ Home (Oxford, 2003) and, most recently, Boss Lincoln. He also produces a popular Substack series called: What Would Lincoln Do? A graduate of Harvard University and the University of Oxford, and named a “Distinguished Lecturer” by the Organization of American Historians, Matt has held visiting fellowships at New America Foundation, U.S. Army War College, and the National Constitution Center and serves on the advisory boards of several historic organizations, including the National Civil War Museum.