44 Quotes by Fred Kaplan

Political history is not the only way to approach historical figures.

With all due respect to re-enactors, I consider the Civil War too tragic a subject to make a game of.

Is there really any relationship between artists' personal conduct and their art? Certainly not.

'Colonel Roosevelt' is compelling reading, and Morris a brilliant biographer who practices his art at the highest level.

I'm not a Lincoln expert, rather a biographer who has had the pleasure of reading much of what has been written about him from his lifetime to this year of his bicentennial. Some advice: Don't try that unless you have at least five years available.

A recommendation to scholars: Write only one book about Lincoln; give it your best shot, and then move on.

Words about Lincoln fill a small but ever-growing library.

Lincoln is distinguished from every other president, with the exception of Jefferson, in that we can be certain that he wrote every word to which his name is attached.

The challenge of a president himself struggling to find the conjunction between the right words and honest expression, a use of language that respects intellect, truth, and sincerity, has largely been abandoned.