Lincoln grappled with major constitutional issues. It is fascinating to see constitutional scholar George Anastaplo grapple with Lincoln grappling with constitutional issues.

Paul Simon, director of the Public Policy Institute, Southern Illinois University and former U.S. Senator.

This beautifully written book offers the considered judgments of a penetrating, judicious, and temperate mind concerning the American constitutional order and its most far-sighted and deeply prudential defender and representative, Abraham Lincoln. Anastaplo's lucid and perceptive essays, combining philosophical insight and historical sensitivity to the exigencies of political context, encourage in the reader both an awareness of and a disposition toward qualities of moral excellence required in a well ordered republican polity.

Herman Belz, University of Maryland

The writings of George Anastaplo have as one of their main purposes the attempt to teach Americans how to maintain their freedom with justice and moderation. These essays on Lincoln's constitutional thought are among the finest lessons one can have on the art of republican statesmanship.

Leo Paul S. de Alvarez, University of Dallas

The finest scholarly writing on Lincoln's words that I know. My feeling is that Anastaplo must have sat at Lincoln's elbow as he composed the Proclamation of September 1862, and discussed it with him, paragraph by paragraph. As a proof of the possibility that one can understand a great writer as he understood himself, it is the definitive refutation of historicism.

Harry V. Jaffa, Philosophy Emeritus, Claremont McKenna College and Claremont Graduate School

The mature product of a lifetime of reflection on Lincoln, Anastaplo brings to the study of America's deepest president a rare combination of philosophic depth, practical sense, and sensitivity to constitutional issues. Both inclination and study have taught Anastaplo to think like Lincoln.

Laurence Berns, St. John's College, Annapolis

Anastaplo illustrates in this original and stimulating work that Lincoln based his political principles on a deep and abiding faith in popular government. Lincoln scholars, Civil War buffs, and well-informed general readers will find much that is revealing here.

Jay Freeman, Booklist