Read from Mary A. DeCredico's introduction to Tad Lincoln's Father by Julia Taft Bayne:
"Abraham Lincoln remains one of this nation's most beloved and revered presidents. His elevation to iconic status came quickly after he was killed prematurely by John Wilkes Booth in April 1865. The man known variously as the Great Emancipator, the Savior of the Union, and Father Abraham did not live to see the end of the war that preserved the nation he held so dear.
It is—and has been—hard to separate the "real" Lincoln from the deified image most historians and biographers have crafted since his death in 1865. Essayist Edmund Wilson once wrote, "There has undoubtedly been written about him more romantic and sentimental rubbish than any other American figure, with the possible exception of Edgar Allen Poe."1 Other scholars have noted that Lincoln will forever be separated from history by the circumstances of his assassination. Even Lincoln's most even-handed biographers, such as David Donald, have portrayed a man destined for greatness. How refreshing it is—and how different—to view Lincoln through the eyes of a bright, sophisticated sixteen-year old girl. Julia Taft Bayne's Tad Lincoln's Father is a delightful, albeit sentimentalized, look at President and Mrs. Lincoln and their beloved sons, Willie and Tad, during the early years of Lincoln's presidency. The picture we see is of doting parents who refuse to let secession and a bloody civil war interfere with their sons' childhood.
Julia Taft Bayne was the vivacious daughter of Judge Horatio N. Taft, who had managed to have President James Buchanan appoint him chief of the U.S. Patent Office. Although Taft was a native New Yorker and had served the Empire State in a number of official positions, he quickly became friends with other members of the very pro-Southern Buchanan administration. Perhaps Taft was a doughface, a term used to describe Northerners who had strong Southern leanings and often pro-slavery sentiments. The Tafts did have two black servants, slaves who had been leased from their owner in Virginia, who, according to Julia, had nothing but disdain for the abolitionists. And Julia Taft makes mention of the numerous Southern senators who begged her father to cast his lot with the South once secession loomed on the horizon. Taft's position within the Patent Office and his friendship with Buchanan and other luminaries assured the family of a high profile within the nation's capital."
1See longer excerpt for footnote.
To read a longer excerpt or to purchase Tad Lincoln's Father, visit http://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/product/Tad-Lincolns-Father,672188.aspx.
Join the University of Nebraska Press in celebrating the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth! Save 25% off a selection of Abraham Lincoln books until the end of February. For more information, visit our Abraham Lincoln book sale page.
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