Ward Hill Lamon's work is a study of the life of the 16th President of the United States of America from his childhood to the day of his first inauguration. Lamon, who worked with Lincoln during his administration, and who had access to the papers of Lincoln's law partner and biographer William Herndon, paints a vivid portrait of the years that lead to what many considered to be an unlikely yet successful run for the presidency. From his time fighting in the west as both an officer and a private...

Abraham Lincoln came to the presidency under a heavy shroud of uncertainty, not only about his threatened life but, of course, the very existence of the United States, which was already falling apart. Ward Hill Lamon was, in effect, his first Secret Service agent, his security guard and this biography, heavily edited by his daughter, Dorothy Lamon sets down for posterity many details surrounding Lincoln's near-fatal journey to his inauguration, how he dealt with day to day presidential decisions and a wide range of interpersonal relationships with the visionaries, schemers and power brokers surrounding him. - Summary by John Greenman