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Title: Lincoln's Ladder to the Presidency

Subtitle: The Eighth Judicial Circuit

Author: Guy C. Fraker

Narrator: Don Sobczak

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 50 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-31-13

Publisher: University Press Audiobooks

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 5 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

Throughout his 23-year legal career, Abraham Lincoln spent nearly as much time on the road as an attorney for the Eighth Judicial Circuit as he did in his hometown of Springfield, Illinois. Yet, most historians gloss over the time and instead have Lincoln emerge fully formed as a skillful politician in 1858.

In this innovative volume, Guy C. Fraker provides the first ever study of Lincoln's professional and personal home away from home and demonstrates how the Eighth Judicial Circuit and its people propelled Lincoln to the presidency.

Each spring and fall, Lincoln traveled to as many as 14 county seats in the Eighth Judicial Circuit to appear in consecutive court sessions over a 10-to 12-week period. Fraker describes the people and counties that Lincoln encountered, discusses key cases Lincoln handled, and introduces the important friends he made, friends who eventually formed the team that executed Lincoln's nomination strategy at the Chicago Republican Convention in 1860 and won him the presidential nomination.

As Fraker shows, the Eighth Judicial Circuit provided the perfect setting for the growth and ascension of Lincoln. A complete portrait of the sixteenth president depends on a full understanding of his experience on the circuit, and Lincoln's Ladder to the Presidency provides that understanding as well as a fresh perspective on the much studied figure, thus deepening our understanding of the roots of his political influence and acumen.

Critic Reviews:

Guy Fraker's superb book about Abraham Lincoln and the Illinois Eighth Judicial Circuit provides an effective lesson on the importance of political networking Fraker's book is great history, but it is also an excellent primer for aspiring politicians. (Jim Edgar, Illinois governor, 1991 - 1999)

...a refreshing and revisioning portrait of Lincoln the Illinois lawyer..." (Ronald C. White Jr., author of A. Lincoln: A Biography)

...richly detailed account of Abraham Lincoln's life on the Eighth Judicial Circuit... Fraker provides a comprehensive view of Lincoln's life in law and politics on the Illinois prairie. (John Hoffmann, Illinois History and Lincoln Collections, University of Illinois Library at Urbana-Champaign)

Members Reviews:

A great look at an overlooked portion of Lincoln's life a political success

Guy Fraker has spent years studying and promoting Lincoln's life on the legal circuit -- something many people seem overlook. But the men who won him the 1860 nomination all were "fellow travelers" on the 8th Circuit - lawyers who spent several months twice a year moving from county seat to county seat following the court schedule. Lincoln also spent considerable time meeting and greeting and building relationships among the citizens who would come in from the farms for the "entertainment". If you wonder how this unknown lawyer from central Illinois suddenly wins the presidential nomination from far better known individuals, this book demonstrates how he built his base. Read a good one on the convention and you'll see that Lincoln's rise wasn't as sudden and unplanned as it appears on first glance. But it started here - as described in this insightful book, full of names, places and key events. Thank you, Mr.