Charlottesville Words

On Thursday, February 21 at 5:30 pm

William Lee Miller will discuss his new book

President Lincoln: The Duty of a Statesman

at New Dominion Bookshop

“One of the most insightful accounts of Lincoln published in recent years.” — Publishers Weekly in a starred review.

What is the moral duty of a president? Does it differ from that of an ordinary citizen? Are presidents held to a higher moral standard? Or do the duties of state require that they set aside certain ethical mores in order to protect the nation? In President Lincoln: The Duty of a Statesman, venerated scholar William Lee Miller, author of Lincoln’s Virtues, examines these questions through the presidency of Abraham Lincoln, one of the most remarkable men to serve the office.

Miller argues that Lincoln upheld two primary moral imperatives during his presidency—that the preservation of the Union carried with it the obligation to show the world that free constitutional government could sustain itself, and that slavery was a fundamental wrong. The first objective aligned with his official duties; the second did not. In fact, as president, Lincoln was sworn to preserve the very Constitution that included protections for the institution of slavery. With the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, he resolved this dilemma implicitly linked his two goals together in a way that would lead to the end of the “peculiar institution” (as well as bolster the Union forces) and to the preservation of the nation.

Miller brilliantly analyzes moral struggles that Lincoln faced as president. On his inauguration day, Lincoln received word that Fort Sumter would have to be either surrendered or supported—he knew his decision would likely mean war. During this war, he made the choice to suspend habeas corpus (thereby establishing a dangerous precedent for future presidents). Lincoln came to realize that in order to advance his ideals he had to work in terms of figures, maps, and the balance of forces. Legend quotes him: “I hope to have God on our side, but I must have Kentucky.”

Lincoln’s graceful and humane exercise of power remains exemplary, a startling assessment, perhaps, of the man who presided over the greatest slaughter in American history. But Lincoln was neither a prophet nor a saint, neither a reformer nor a revolutionary. Rather, he was an engaged, embattled politician who clearly understood the role of settled law and of government and who resisted the temptation to engage in moral posturing. Miller focuses on Lincoln’s moral reasoning, demonstrating how worthy statecraft requires the leader to attend to reality, to the objective situation, to achieve his goals, all the while hewing to certain principles that cannot be compromised.… Kirkus Reviews in a starred review

William Lee Miller, Scholar in Ethics and Institutions at the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia, is a member of the board of the Abraham Lincoln Institute, of the Lincoln Studies Group, and of the Lincoln Bicentennial Commission’s advisory committee.

From 1992 until his retirement in 1999, Miller was Thomas C. Sorensen Professor of Political and Social Thought and Director of the Program in Political and Social Thought at the University of Virginia. He was professor of religious studies from 1982 to 1999, and chaired the Department of Rhetoric and Communication Studies from 1982 to 1990. Prior to coming to the University of Virginia, he taught political science and religious studies at Indiana University, where he was also the founding director of the Poynter Center on American Institutions, at Yale University, and at Smith College. Miller served as a speech writer for U.S. presidential candidate Adlai Stevens’s campaign in 1956. He was also a contributing editor and writer for The Reporter magazine.

His previous books include Arguing About Slavery: John Quincy Adams and the Great Battle in the American Congress and Lincoln’s Virtues: An Ethical Biography. He lives in Charlottesville.

Filed under: authors, books, charlottesville, lectures, reading, virginia Tagged: | Abraham Lincoln, author readings, New Dominion Bookshop, President Lincoln: The Duty of a Stateman, William Lee Miller