Lincoln's Melancholy by Joshua Wolf Shenk

How Depression Impacted the Sixteenth President

Jul 14, 2009 William L. Wunder

Lincoln's Melancholy is a very original book, offering a psychological biography on Abraham Lincoln and an explanation of his greatness.

Shenk divides Lincoln's Melancholy into three parts. Part one deals with the fear phase of Lincoln's depression in which young Abe had two breakdowns. The second part involves "engagement" where Lincoln turned to the world around him to channel his depression. In the last part, Lincoln developed a sense of purpose despite the melancholy. The book's organization allows the reader to witness Lincoln's mental progress.

Nervous Breakdowns

With Lincoln's first breakdown at age 26, many historians attribute it to the death of Ann Rutledge. Even Lincoln's neighbors assumed his dispondentcy after her death was an indication of a love affair. Shenk attacks this myth. He asserts that people with major depression are set off by all kinds of things. In this case, it was the rainy weather after Rutledge's funeral that was a prime factor, along with Lincoln's family history of melancholy.

The weather also contributed to Lincoln's second breakdown in the winter of 1840-41. According to Shenk, it was the accumilation of causes that pushed Lincoln toward the precipice, a typical characteristic of nervous breakdowns. Many historians have thought that his breakup with Mary Todd was the lone cause. Shenk claims that personal and political crises, united with bitterly cold weather, instigated the breakdown. In short, Shenk convincingly breaks down both breakdowns.

Kansas-Nebraska Act

After the second breakdown, Lincoln developed self discipline, turning adamant and dangerous behavior into a reserved sadness. Shenk goes through Lincoln's attempts to control his depression. He wrote poetry, told funny stories, and investigated mesmerism, the practice of reconnecting people to an invisible force called "animal magnetism" to prevent illness. More importantly, Lincoln plunged into his law work and the issue of slavery.

Lincoln, the politician, didn't go out on a limb against slavery until his Illinois rival, Senator Stephen Douglas, introduced the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854. Douglas called it "popular sovereignty," allowing residents in Kansas and Nebraska to vote on slavery. Applying a democratic principle to a moral evil galvanized Lincoln into action, eventually becoming the center of an antislavery coalition- the Republicans. Shenk insists that Lincoln found his mission in life, therefore keeping his illness in check.

American Civil War

Still, Lincoln continued to be melancholic and had spells of dispair right up through his presidency. But Shenk interestingly points out that all the mental distress and professional failures prepared Lincoln for the horrific trial of the Civil War. The multitude of setbacks during the war did not sway Lincoln from his mission. Lincoln realized he lived in an imperfect world and expected imperfect results.

Helping Lincoln throughout the war was religion. Although he didn't belong to a specific church, Shenk demonstrates Lincoln's receptiveness towards the devine as the burdens of the office weighed on him, giving some comfort amidst his melancholy. The subject of Lincoln and religion probably deserves (and has) its own works, but Shenk blends it well into this book on Lincoln's depression.

Lincoln's Melancholy reads like a historical biography and a psychology book combined. Not only would it be of interest to Lincolnphiles and historians, but also to those examining depression.

Published by Houghton Mifflin, 2005, ISBN-13: 978-0-618-55116-3, ISBN-10: 0-618-55116-6

The copyright of the article Lincoln's Melancholy by Joshua Wolf Shenk in Biographies/Memoirs is owned by William L. Wunder. Permission to republish Lincoln's Melancholy by Joshua Wolf Shenk in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Abraham Lincoln, 1846