Mr Lincoln's T-Mails

Abraham Lincoln’s two great legacies to history – his extraordinary power as a writer and his leadership during the Civil War – come together in this close study of the President’s use of the telegraph. Invented less than two decades before he entered office, the telegraph came into its own during the Civil War. First it was an instrument of military command and control; then Lincoln seized upon it as a means to take the reins of his generals and lead the war effort. In a jewel-box of historical writing, Wheeler captures Lincoln as he encountered this tool and adapted his folksy rhetorical style to the telegraph creating an intimate bond with his generals, especially Ulysses S. Grant.

Author Biography

Tom Wheeler is managing director of Core Capital and the author of Take Command: Leadership Lessons from the Civil War. He is chairman and president of the Foundation for the National Archives, a nonprofit organization dedicated to telling the American story through its documents, and a former director of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). He lives in Washington, D.C.