While revealing as history, Wasik's account about the first Republican
President's launches of infrastructure shame the ignorant, obstinate,
narcissist Republicans of today who wish instead to build up tyrant
Trump's political infrastructure. This is a book to be read and used
today. --Ralph Nader
The only biography of its kind, Lincolnomics narrates The Great
Emancipator's untold legacy as The Great Builder of American
infrastructure--developer of an economic ladder to democracy through
national transportation, public education, and market access
Lincoln's view of the right to fulfill one's economic destiny was at the
core of his governing philosophy--but he knew no one could climb that
ladder without strong federal support. Some of his most enduring
policies came to him before the Civil War, visions of a country linked
by railroads running ocean to ocean, canals turning small towns into
bustling cities, public works bridging farmers to market.
Expertly appraising the foundational ideas and policies on
infrastructure that America's sixteenth president rooted in society,
John F. Wasik tracks Lincoln from his time in the 1830s as a young
Illinois state legislator pushing internal improvements; through his
work as a lawyer representing the Illinois Central Railroad in the
1840s; to his presidential fight for the Transcontinental Railroad; and
his support of land-grant colleges that educated a nation. To Lincoln,
infrastructure meant more than the roads, bridges, and canals he
shepherded as a lawyer and a public servant.
These brick-and-mortar developments were essential to a nation's lifting
citizens above poverty and its isolating origins. Lincolnomics revives
the disremembered history of how Lincoln paved the way for Eisenhower's
interstate highways and FDR's social amenities. With an afterword
addressing the failure of American infrastructure during the COVID-19
pandemic, and how Lincoln's policies provide a guide to the future,
Lincolnomics makes the case for the man nicknamed "The Rail Splitter"
as the Presidency's greatest builder.
