Abraham Lincoln as a man of ideas / Allen C. Guelzo ; with a foreword by Michael Lind.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Foreword / Michael Lind -- Introduction. What Would Lincoln Do? -- 1. The Unlikely Intellectual Biography of Abraham Lincoln -- 2. Abraham Lincoln and the Doctrine of Necessity -- 3. Come-Outers and Community-Men: Abraham Lincoln and the Idea of Community in Nineteenth-Century America -- 4. Lincoln and Natural Law -- 5. "Fiends ... Facing Zionwards": Abraham Lincoln's Reluctant Embrace of the Abolitionists -- 6. Apples of Gold in a Picture of Silver: Lincoln, the Constitution, and Liberty -- 7. Understanding Emancipation: Lincoln's Proclamation and the End of Slavery -- 8. Defending Emancipation: Abraham Lincoln and the Conkling Letter, August 1863 -- 9. Prudence and the Proclamation -- 10. Lincoln and the "War Powers" of the Presidency.

"Abraham Lincoln was a skilled politician, and inspirational leader, and a man of humor and pathos. What many may not realize is how much he was also a man of ideas. Despite the most meager of formal educations, Lincoln's tremendous intellectual curiosity drove him into the circle of Enlightenment philosophy and democratic political ideology. And from these, Lincoln developed a set of political convictions that guided him throughout his life and his presidency. Abraham Lincoln as a Man of Ideas, a compilation of ten essays from Lincoln scholar Allen C. Guelzo, uncovers the sources of Lincoln's ideas and examines the beliefs that directed his career and brought an end to slavery and the Civil War."--BOOK JACKET.