While today’s presidential speeches are community efforts designed to offer sound bite-sized statements on policy and politics, Lincoln’s speeches were brilliant reflections on governance and nature that, when looked at together, track his political and moral evolution during the most critical four years of his life.
                                                                  
White puts it best in his prologue: “These speeches are like a string of pearls. . . . Some are well known gems. Other speeches, known in their own day, have receded from memory in our day, and are presented and interpreted here as important signposts both of Lincoln’s political vision and of his rhetorical artistry. 

The contention that underlies this book is that Lincoln’s speeches can be appreciated best not in splendid isolation from one another, but when they are seen together in all their shimmering beauty.”

In his new book, THE ELOQUENT PRESIDENT, acclaimed historian Ronald White looks closely at the speeches Lincoln gave to provide a nuanced portrait of the man and his presidency.

"More than perhaps any other president, Lincoln led and persuaded by the words of his speeches and writings.

―James M. McPherson, 
Pulitzer Prize-winning author of 
Battle Cry of Freedom