It was mere coincidence that I picked this book up from a used book sale shortly before the current impeachment inquiry began.
The author makes it clear in his afterward that he does not think that Lincoln should have been impeached, he merely took an argument that has been discussed among historians and formed an alternative history- that is; if Lincoln had not been assassinated, would he( rather than Johnson) have been impeached? If he had been impeached, what would have been the outcome?

This was a great book to read as a follow- up to Gore Vidal's book, "Lincoln" The book raises some interesting questions about history's interpretation of Lincoln and his motives. Has Lincoln's reputation as a much loved president, who saved the Union and freed the slaves, been influenced by his assassination? Would his reputation have been different if he had lived and possibly faced a political backlash by both Democrats as well as radical Republicans?

The book is a political "whodunnit" with a fast moving plot and very believable characters- some fictional and some who were contemporaries of Lincoln. Many of these real life characters also appeared in the Vidal novel.
The book also thoroughly describes the impeachment process, both politically and constitutionally.
I highly recommend this novel for lovers of history and politics.
( )

What kind of book is this? It's clearly not an academic or pure history where the author is introducing new evidence or coming to new conclusions which help us understand the past in a new way. An excellent example of a pure history is Annette Gordon-Reeds's The Hemingses of Monticello. Nor is this book a classic. Classics often describe events of the time in which they existed. These help us understand the time and place. These are often written about events the author may have lived through and their insights help. An example of this may be Thackery's Vanity Fair. Then there's another category where the past is just a convenient background for a story they want to tell. Here the past helps us suspend our normal disbelief and accept the premise as at least possible. Some of these authors work hard at researching the past heightening our belief that this story might really have happened. The author often becomes a source of understanding a time and place. Alan Furst's many novels are set in pre-WW II Europe with cars, cigarettes, liquors, streets, locations and restaurants of that time. Then there are laudatory history's which are more interested in praising a particular time, place or person. Think of the antebellum south of Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind. Some would put Walter Isaacson's Elon in that category. Then there's aspirational history which challenges us to think that we may have overlooked someone or something in the past because we had blinders on which obscured our ability to see what might has really happened. These point us to real people or events and ask what about them. Some place people we might see more positively in the light of today. This book has some of that. A young, female Black attorney makes sense using today's eyes.

More than anything this book is in a class I would consider alternative history. They raise the question of what if a known event had turned out differently. An example of this genre is Philip Roth's The Plot Against America. Often these reimagined histories eventually bring us back to a world looking the same as if the reimagined events never happened. Another well-known event is Lincoln's assassination. In this reimagined history Lincoln survives and Johnson is assassinated. Those events set the stage for this story. But like many alternative histories, the basic beat goes on. In this case the inevitability of an impeachment is presented. It's not Johnson's impeachment its Lincoln's. The same people who we know were upset with Johnson are, in this scenario, upset with Lincoln. And miracle of miracles, this impeachment also fails. What Carter introduces is yet another way we could wind up at the same place. Now the unlikely heroine is a young Black female attorney, someone we would least suspect of being able to save the day. To my mind that's Carter's point. There's potential here that needed to be released. Not only is this young woman Lincoln's savior but her unheralded sister and brother stepped up in their own ways. And not without cost. Carter has us convinced this might have been what happened if only the events at Ford's theater had gone differently. Interesting alternative. ( )

Steven L. Carter's book The Impeachment of Abraham Lincoln is an alternative history in which Lincoln survives only to face impeachment by northern Republicans who feel he has become too lenient with the southern states. His legal team faces an uphill battle but an unlikely addition to the team--Abigail Canner, a young black woman with a degree from Oberlin and a dream to be a lawyer--uncovers a conspiracy that will change everything. I don't profess to have followed all the political twists and turns but was pulled along by the narrative and the way Carter connects his fantasy with the facts. I do have a decent understanding of Civil War history so was at least familiar with the real characters. I wonder how someone without any knowledge would fare and not sure it matters. It was a legal and action thriller in its own right. ( )

It was mere coincidence that I picked this book up from a used book sale shortly before the current impeachment inquiry began.
The author makes it clear in his afterward that he does not think that Lincoln should have been impeached, he merely took an argument that has been discussed among historians and formed an alternative history- that is; if Lincoln had not been assassinated, would he( rather than Johnson) have been impeached? If he had been impeached, what would have been the outcome?

This was a great book to read as a follow- up to Gore Vidal's book, "Lincoln" The book raises some interesting questions about history's interpretation of Lincoln and his motives. Has Lincoln's reputation as a much loved president, who saved the Union and freed the slaves, been influenced by his assassination? Would his reputation have been different if he had lived and possibly faced a political backlash by both Democrats as well as radical Republicans?

The book is a political "whodunnit" with a fast moving plot and very believable characters- some fictional and some who were contemporaries of Lincoln. Many of these real life characters also appeared in the Vidal novel.
The book also thoroughly describes the impeachment process, both politically and constitutionally.
I highly recommend this novel for lovers of history and politics.
( )

Stephen L. Carter's latest novel is an alternate history thriller that posits Lincoln surviving Booth's assassination attempt, only to face impeachment two years later at the hands of the Radicals of his own party. With the Senate moving towards a trial, a young African American woman, Abigail Canner, arrives in Washington to serve as a clerk for the law firm preparing to defend the president. Soon she finds herself tackling a series of mysteries all tied to the effort to bring down Lincoln. The question is, can she solve them in time to save the president -- and perhaps even the nation itself?

Fans of historical mysteries and alternate history novels will find much to like in Carter's enjoyable prose and fast-paced plotting, all of which builds to a satisfyingly enjoyable conclusion. Its theme of plutocrats and extremist Republicans conspiring to destroy a presidency is one that will resonate for many readers today, but Carter's writing ensures that his book will endure as one of the best of the alternate history genre. ( )