Lincoln Reminiscences and Nineteenth-Century Portraiture

The Private Virtues of Presidential Character

Bibliographic Data

ID12465237
AuthorsShawn J Parry‐gile (0000-0001-9609-6315, corresponding author), Shawn J Parry-Giles, David S Kaufer
Year2012
Volume15
Issue2
Pages199-234
Publication date2012-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueRhetoric and Public Affairs (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1094-8392 • E-ISSN: 1534-5238
PublisherMichigan State University Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.2307/41940571
OpenAlexW2133377424
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited20

This essay examines reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln that were published in the aftermath of his death by those who had interacted with Lincoln personally. An understudied genre y Lincoln reminiscences offered judgments of Lincolns character through a portraiture style designed to make salient private as well as public dimensions of his character. We historicize the rhetoric of portraiture and trace the rise of reminiscence out of biography as a stand-alone genre, which reached unprecedented popularity in the competitive subgenre of the Lincoln reminiscence. We argue that Lincoln reminiscences featured a balance of common and uncommon virtues thought essential for a president, a balance that helped democratize and humanize presidential character

Aesthetics · Art · Art history · Balance (ability · Biography · Character (mathematics · Literature · Political science · Politics · Popularity · Presidential system · Reminiscence · Rhetoric · Sociology · Style (visual arts · Theology · History · Law · Military history and social perspectives · Oral History, Memory, Narrative Analysis · Philosophy · Psychology · Rhetoric and Communication Studies

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