Stephen A. Douglas

To understand Abraham Lincoln, one should look at the life of his nemesis and in a way, stepping stone to greatness, Senator Stephen Douglas. Douglas, while four years younger than Lincoln, was a major force in Illinois and later United States politics at an earlier point than Lincoln. When the two debated in the election for Douglas's Senate seat in 1858, Douglas was considered the masterful debater and Lincoln the uncouth upstart. Those debates have been studied over and over again as a model of two masters of the craft of debating. Douglas won the election, winning his third term in the Senate over Lincoln but Lincoln made an impact on the country and was able to capitalize on that to win the Republican nomination for President in 1860 and subsequently the general election for the Presidency. There are countless books on aspects of Lincoln's life both in print and out of print and there are countless general biographies of him but a single biography of Douglas is hard to find. That said, I managed to track down Robert Johannsen's massive bio of Douglas, first published in 1973 and subsequently in 1991. At 874 pages plus massive endnotes and index, this book is as much a definitive biography as we are likely to get. It goes into great detail about those turbulent times in the mid 1800's as tension over slavery threatened to rip to USA to pieces. Douglas died just as the Civil War was beginning but not before he put aside his rivalry with Lincoln and the two worked together, Lincoln as President, Douglas as a powerful Senator who still commanded a considerable amount of respect in the country.