Lincoln's melancholy how depression challenged a president and fueled his greatness

Drawing on seven years of his own research and the work of other esteemed Lincoln scholars, Shenk reveals how the sixteenth president harnessed depression to fuel his astonishing success. Lincoln found the solace and tactics he needed to deal with the nation's worst crisis in the "coping s...

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Main Author: Shenk, Joshua Wolf (Author)
Corporate Authors: Frank and Virginia Williams Collection of Lincolniana (Mississippi State University. Libraries)
Format: Books Print Book
Language: English
Published: Boston : Houghton Mifflin Co., 2005.
Subjects:
Summary: Drawing on seven years of his own research and the work of other esteemed Lincoln scholars, Shenk reveals how the sixteenth president harnessed depression to fuel his astonishing success. Lincoln found the solace and tactics he needed to deal with the nation's worst crisis in the "coping strategies" he had developed over a lifetime of persevering through depressive episodes and personal tragedies. With empathy and authority gained from his own experience with depression, Shenk crafts a revelatory account of Lincoln and his legacy. Based on careful research, this book unveils a wholly new perspective on how our greatest president brought America through its greatest turmoil. By consciously shifting his goal away from personal contentment (which he realized he could not attain) and toward universal justice, Lincoln gained the strength and insight that he, and America, required to transcend profound darkness.--From publisher description
Physical Description: xiv, 350 pages ; 24 cm
Bibliography: Includes bibliographical references (pages 300-322) and index.
ISBN: 9780618773442
0618773444
9780618551163
0618551166
Author Notes: Joshua Wolf Shenk is an essayist and independent scholar whose work has appeared in numerous magazines and in the national bestseller Unholy Ghost: Writers on Depression. He has written for The New Yorker, Harper's Magazine, The Atlantic Monthly, The New York Times, New Republic, the Economist, U.S. News and World Report, and other publications. His book, Lincoln's Melancholy: How Depression Challenged a President and Fueled His Greatness, has won awards from the Abraham Lincoln Institute, the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, and the National Mental Health Association.

(Bowker Author Biography)