Holzer gives a detailed history of the engagement of Lincoln and the press from his years in Illinois to the end of his presidency. We are reminded by this history of the level of intense partisanship that existed in mid-nineteenth century America, both prior to and during the Civil War. The ties between the press and the political parties was quite different than we (mostly) see today in that newspapers were overtly organs of the political parties and made no pretense of neutrality or journalistic independence. Lincoln knew quite well that positive news coverage was vitally critical to personal political advancement and to political success in office. Lincoln famously said during his debates with Douglas that "with public sentiment nothing can fail; without it nothing can succeed." Lincoln took an active role throughout his career in managing news coverage; in newly discovered sources Holzer found that Lincoln had purchased a German-language newspaper to assist in courting the German-American populace. Lincoln frequently wrote letters to editors and opinion columns -- sometimes anonymously.

Today, the number of newspapers in the nation has shrunk to a considerably smaller level than in Lincoln's time' this may be largely due to the new forms of media now available. Holzer chronicles the 19th century rise of newspapers with national reach by focusing on three influential New York papers and their publishers/editors: James Gordon Bennett's New York Herald, Horace Greeley's New York Tribune, and Henry Raymond's New-York Times. These press magnates wielded enormous clout on political matters and the interaction between Lincoln and the press is well understood by examining the Machiavellian relationships between these journalists and Lincoln.

The book delves deeply into the affect of the Civil War on freedom of the press. The administration took a strong position against newspapers that showed sympathies toward the South or which were anti-war. Often, stern retribution exacted against newspapers was initiated independently by field generals with no direct sanction by the administration, but with little interference either. Presses were ransacked and editors put in prison for publishing articles deemed inimical to the Northern war effort. While there were expected howls of protest against violations of the first amendment's guarantee of press freedom, the position of the administration was that the existential threat to the preservation of the union justified actions in (temporary) contravention of the Constitution. To sustain the overarching purpose of the Constitution, i.e. a national union, it was necessary to suppress utterances that would imperil it. Alongside such drastic measures of press suppression the government also exercised stringent censorship over the reports of journalists from the field.

The three major newspapers, while aligning generally with either the Republican or Democratic parties, were not mouthpieces for the parties. They attempted to use their reach to influence public sentiment for or against particular policies; two examples detailed by Holzer are the movement toward emancipation and the institution of a draft in 1863. The prospects and means to find a negotiated settlement to the conflict was another reason for interplay between Lincoln and the press. On these and other issues, the editors and Lincoln continually engaged in chess game like strategies to manipulate public opinion. Lincoln was adroit in his handling of these powerful shapers of the public's reaction to his administration's aims; the tension between the two loci of power was never absent. Holzer shows as well how the bitter rivalries among the newspapers for predominance played significantly into the power dynamics of the era. While government suppression of the press during the war was extreme by today's standards, it is important that in 1864 Lincoln did not attempt to subvert press coverage in opposition to his re-election.

One cannot, of course, help but compare the press-political relationship of that era with today. While it may be the case that the press is independent from the political structures it is clearly not neutral, nor should it be. "We report, you decide" is more accurately phrased as "We decide what and how to report so that you will agree". While this results in messiness and strife this tension offers the best hope to our maintaining our freedom. ( )

"Our government rests on public opinion. Whoever can change public opinion can change the government." Abraham Lincoln


An interesting book though a bit dry. It tells the story of not only Lincoln's political life in light of making and writing the news but also the story of the three most influential newsmen of his day. A few things it reveals about Lincoln that may be off the beaten path of common knowledge:

Lincoln owned a German language newspaper;
Lincoln wrote a great many newspaper articles. Usually under a pseudonym so no one would know it was him. We don't even know how many for sure he wrote since even as president he frequently hid his authorship.
Lincoln became close to his wife thru their mutual interest in writing political articles under fake names.
One of the duels he was challenged to and showed up to fight was based on him taking the blame for a scandalous article Mary wrote.

"The newspaper press, controls the state and the church; it directs the family, the legislator, the magistrate, and the minister. None rise above it's influence, none sink below its authority." An unnamed newspaper editor.


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