{"product_id":"he-has-the-people-jonathan-earle-9780195341652","title":"He Has the People: Abraham Lincoln and the Election of 1860","description":"\u003cstrong\u003eA gripping and granular look at how Abraham Lincoln got elected the 16th president of the United States.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJames McPherson calls the election of 1860 \"undeniably the most important--and pivotal--in all of American history.\" The nation was not merely divided over the issue of slavery; the opposing camps were at each other's throats. The moment John Brown and his men attacked the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry in the fall of 1859 the compromises that had stitched the country together for decades unraveled. The presidential election was therefore about more than who the next president would be. It was about how soon war would follow his inauguration. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eUsing the writings and story of Murat Halstead, the nation's first campaign journalist, as well as previously unused documents from Lincoln's campaign manager, Jonathan Earle captures the full drama of the 1860 election. He shows how Lincoln, a one-time Congressman from Illinois, and a dark horse against the more established Stephen Douglas, the Democratic frontrunner, and William Henry Seward, the presumptive Republican nominee, got the people and votes he needed to win in a protracted yet furiously disputed election cycle. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eEarle focuses on the chaotic campaigns themselves, as political bosses, candidates, and their self-appointed partisans took politicking in directions that at times resembled paramilitary exercises more than campaign events. In the end, Lincoln and his associates ran a brilliant campaign, leveraging Northern anger, growing antislavery sentiment, and divisions within both the Democratic Party and the nation as a whole. His platform was built on his speeches, which projected a vision for how the nation would persevere in the coming crisis. Behind the commanding rhetoric, however, was sophisticated and very modern political machinery. \u003cem\u003eHe Has the People\u003c\/em\u003e provides an engaging historical narrative and a fresh appraisal of the most consequential of all presidential elections.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Jonathan Earle\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0195341651\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780195341652\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Oxford University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 08\/03\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 256\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover","brand":"Jonathan Earle","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":48443022180607,"sku":"9780195341652","price":29.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_5e0a5cc9-6f26-4a7d-a14b-169f2c55e2d9.jpg?v=1777201327","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/he-has-the-people-jonathan-earle-9780195341652","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}