William Lee Millers ethical biography is a fresh, engaging telling of the story of Lincolns rise to power. Through careful scrutiny of Lincolns actions, speeches, and writings, and of accounts from those who knew him, Miller gives us insight into the moral development of a great politician one who made the choice to go into politics, and ultimately realized that vocations fullest moral possibilities.

As Lincolns Virtues makes refreshingly clear, Lincoln was not born with his face on Mount Rushmore; he was an actual human being making choices moral choices in a real world. In an account animated by wit and humor, Miller follows this unschooled frontier politicians rise, showing that the higher he went and the greater his power, the worthier his conduct would become. He would become that rare bird, a great man who was also a good man. Uniquely revealing of its subjects heart and mind, it represents a major contribution to our understanding and of Lincoln, and to the perennial American discussion of the relationship between politics and morality.