Harold Holzer -- Lincoln and the power of the press
=====================================================

There is lots of history about newspaper editors and political
operators, notably Horace Greeley and Thurlow Weed.  Of particular
importance is a story of how Weed supported Greeley and effectively
steered him away from nonpartisan journalism and towards more
partisan and party-oriented writing and publishing.  Greeley and the
newspapers he edited and published became strong supporters of the
Whig party, where a strong anti-slavery political force was taking
shape.

Journalism and the press cemented the relationship between Abraham
and Mary Lincoln.  While they were still dithering during courtship,
the two of them wrote a series of heavy-handed satires" that were
published in a local journal.  The controversy that followed and the
attending emotional stress (Lincoln was challenged to a dual and
came close to participating in one.) likely bound Abraham and Mary
together and pushed them over the edge and into marriage, at least
as recounted by Holzer.

There really is too much information and too many details in this
book for me to be able to process.  But, the writing is lively and
many of the stories are fascinating.  So, for some of you who want
both entertainment *and* history, and if you read a bit more quickly
than I do, it will be enjoyable and worthwhile reading.  

What makes a good deal of that information interesting and important
is that this is an account of a time when newspapers specifically
and communications in general were going through radical and
important changes.  So many people at that time were excited by and
addicted to there favorite newspaper.  Sales were booming and
editors and publishers were rushing and competing to get the "news"
to the most readers quicker than their competition.  I put the word
"news" in snicker-quotes because much of the press was extremely
partisan.  "Fair and balanced" was far from most editors' minds.
The press was so partisan that politicians who were able granted
political favors and contracts to the publication that supported
them, and editors and publishers, believe it or not, according to
Holzer, even served as political advisers and even in Congress,
arguing for and promoting their party and its positions all the
while.  There were grumblings about the influence of the press on
politics becoming too strong.

This influence, according to Holzer, seems to have flowed in both
directions.  Lincoln was an active writer of articles for
newspapers.  He was, during at least the time period between his one
term in the U.S. Congress and his nomination for the Presidency in
1860, his own publicist, and he was very active at it.  After his
nomination, he took on one, and then another secretary.  Both of
them were active contributors to newspapers on his behalf.

What is somewhat surprising to me, living in an age of carefully
scripted and vetted presidential speeches, is how direct Lincoln's
communications were.  Although Lincoln did ask others to review his
writings and especially his important speeches, they still turned
out to be almost entirely his words.  That contrasts dramatically
with speeches by recent presidents, which are written by a speech
writer or a committee and vetted through focus groups.

Apparently, newspaper publishers and editors played a active part at
the Chicago nominating convention in steering the Presidential
nomination to Lincoln.

And then we go from more newspaper coverage and more information in
the newspapers than citizens can possibly use to censorship during
the Civil War.  The chapter titled "Freedom of the press stricken
down" tells of the efforts on the Federal (Union) government to
silence editors, suppress newspapers, bring charges against
journalists and editors, and to close down newspapers.  According to
Holzer, Lincoln's fingerprints were not directly on these actions,
but they were clearly down with his knowledge.  Obviously, printing
information on troop movements, troop sizes, etc provides valuable
assistance to the enemy, in this case the Confederacy, egregiously
so when those papers are sent to states in the Confederacy, and
outlandishly so when the Federal mail is used to do so.  But, it's
interesting to pick out from Holzer's account when and where that
there government and military activities shaded off into suppression
of news and newspapers that were "unfriendly" and not supportive.
Newspapers were also closed down for being "pro-secession".  The
suppression and censorship was chaotic, in part because a genuine
fear that the Union might not survive muted indignation by
journalists, which resulted in a lack of clear directives on what
was and was not sedition.  Holzer is sanguine about the consequences
of all this, claiming that newspapers came back more thickly than
before, and that investigative journalism and its ability to as
embarrassing and revealing questions thrived.

Some of that detailed account is about Lincoln's come-back into
politics after his one-term period in Congress much of it due to
Lincoln's opposition to and speeches against the Nebraska bill,
which threatened to extend slavery into territories above the 36th
parallel.  And, this account prepares the background for Lincoln's
campaign for the Presidency in 1860.

There is quite a bit more in Holzer's book, including (1) an account
of Lincoln's preparation for the announcement of the Emancipation
Proclamation; (2) the events leading up to Lincoln's Gettysburg
Address and an evaluation of the reactions to it; and (3) a short
section on the effect of the Civil War on newspapers in the
Confederate states (the suffered, because of lack of supplies,
because of worsening economic conditions and its difficulty with
buying and paying for copies, because of disruptions from military
actions in the South, because of a lack of manpower since almost all
white males had been conscripted into military service, etc), and
more.  The Union military, by the way, closed down opposition
newspapers within their command (for example, when they gained
control of new territory), but in one case at least reopened a
newspaper with a Union slant, specifically the Vicksburg Daily
Citizen when Vicksburg was captured at the end of the siege of
Vicksburg.

Lincoln, who had been an avid, even addicted newspaper reader during
much of his life, read less and less as the War progressed.  His
secretaries even reported that he failed to read their summaries.
Still, he was active in feeding stories and opinion to the press.
He held no press conferences and did not grant major interviews to
journalists.  However, Lincoln did frequently invite journalists in
for private conversations.

Given the vehement opposition of some newspapers in New York,
Lincoln showed restraint in refusing to shackle those newspapers.

And, finally, there is a bit of summary of Lincoln's attempts to
obtain positive coverage in the press, and the press's response to
Lincoln's assassination.

The book ends with an "Epilogue" that summaries the lives of many of
the characters in "Lincoln and the power of the press".

12/11/2014

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