Lincolnomics

How President Lincoln Constructed the Great American Economy

John F. Wasik

• Publisher: Diversion Books
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN:
  9781635766936
  9781635766936
• eBook ISBN:
  9781635766875
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Historical Biographies
• Index: Politics & International Relations

A biography of Abraham Lincoln that examines his untold legacy as the Great Builder of American infrastructure.
Abraham Lincoln's view of the right to fulfill one's economic destiny was at the core of his governing philosophy?but he knew no one could climb that ladder without strong federal support. Some of his most enduring policies came to him before the Civil War, visions of a country linked by railroads running ocean to ocean, canals turning small towns into bustling cities, public works bridging farmers to market.
Expertly appraising the foundational ideas and policies on infrastructure that America's sixteenth president rooted in society, John F. Wasik tracks Lincoln from his time in the 1830s as a young Illinois state legislator pushing internal improvements; through his work as a lawyer representing the Illinois Central Railroad in the 1840s; to his presidential fight for the Transcontinental Railroad; and his support of land-grant colleges that educated a nation. To Lincoln, infrastructure meant more than the roads, bridges, and canals he shepherded as a lawyer and a public servant.
These brick-and-mortar developments were essential to a nation's lifting citizens above poverty and its isolating origins. Lincolnomics revives the disremembered history of how Lincoln paved the way for Eisenhower's interstate highways and FDR's social amenities. With an afterword addressing the failure of American infrastructure during the COVID-19 pandemic, and how Lincoln's policies provide a guide to the future, Lincolnomics makes the case for the man nicknamed "The Rail Splitter" as the Presidency's greatest builder.
"In this unique blend of biography and policy prescription, journalist Wasik . . . casts Abraham Lincoln as America's "foremost moral architect of economic and social opportunity" and looks to his life and political career for lessons in how the nation might rebuild its infrastructure and redress income inequality. . . . Wasik convincingly argues that [Lincoln's] economic policies deserve more credit." — Publishers Weekly
"While revealing as history, Wasik's account about the first Republican President's launches of infrastructure shame the ignorant, obstinate, narcissist Republicans of today who wish instead to build up tyrant Trump's political infrastructure. This is a book to be read and used today." —Ralph Nader
"Wasik invented a new word for this book because his theme bears new force: Abraham Lincoln sought a better-built nation and a freer legal space to help every individual, regardless of background, to aspire and rise. Most historians know this too vaguely about Lincoln; Wasik finally gives the great democratic idea the prominence it deserves." —James M. Cornelius, Ph.D., editor, Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association

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Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Lincolnomics
• Also by John F. Wasik
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Preface: The Once and Future President
• Introduction: Why Lincoln Was Our Greatest Builder, But Doesn’t Get the Credit
• I   Before Lincoln: Negotiating the Wilderness
• II   Lincoln and the Whigs’ American System
• III   Abe’s Great Depression: How Lincoln Recovered from the Failure of His First Infrastructure Push
• IV   Lincolnomics Hits the Rails: Attorney Lincoln and the Illinois Central
• V   Fighting the Furious Fight: Infrastructure During the Civil War
• VI   The Morrill Act: Creating an Intellectual Infrastructure
• VII   Moving West: Creating a Link to the Pacific
• VIII   Paying for It All: Financing Lincolnomics in the Nineteenth Century
• IX   Lincoln’s Infrastructure of Opportunity
• X   Building Upon Lincoln’s Legacy: Infrastructure to Date
• XI   Lincolnomics: Global Building for Today and the Future
• Afterword: Lincolnomics’ Impact on Social Infrastructure—A View from the Pandemic
• Appendix I: Lincoln’s Patent Application Letter
• Appendix II: Lincoln’s Major Speeches and Other Writings on Infrastructure
• Appendix III: A Note on Sources—Visiting Lincoln’s America
• Appendix IV: US Infrastructure Rebuilding Proposals
• Author’s Note: My Stake in Lincolnomics—A Full Disclosure
• Bibliography
• Acknowledgments
• About the Author