Portions of Ford's Theatre National Historic Site will be closed on September 15 and 16, 2010.

Lincoln as Leader: the Unlikely President

Intended for Grades 8 – 12, this lesson uses storytelling and primary source investigation to understand experiences and events that shaped Abraham Lincoln into a highly skilled, if unlikely, politician.

Chapters

1. Whole Class Together [WMV - Quicktime - Transcript]
2. Lincoln as Storyteller [WMV - Quicktime - Transcript]
3. Mastering the Direct Approach [WMV - Quicktime - Transcript]
4. Riding the Circuit [WMV - Quicktime - Transcript]
5. Our First Western President [WMV - Quicktime - Transcript]
6. Lincoln and Stanton [WMV - Quicktime - Transcript]
7. Making an Impression [WMV - Quicktime - Transcript]
8. Charles Sumner [WMV - Quicktime - Transcript]
9. Lincoln the Moderate [WMV - Quicktime - Transcript]
10. George McLellan [WMV - Quicktime - Transcript]
11. Slavery [WMV - Quicktime - Transcript]
12. Whole Class Together [WMV - Quicktime - Transcript]

About David Herbert Donald, author of Lincoln

David Herbert Donald was best known for his conscientious writing about the Civil War era, especially the monumental text Lincoln (1996), a classic in American history that is a strikingly original portrait of leadership and blazing political ambition. Probably the most challenging biographical subject in American history, this enthralling biography remained on The New York Times Bestseller List for 14 weeks. In 1961, Dr. Donald received his first Pulitzer Prize for Charles Sumner and the Coming of the Civil War. Over 20 years later, infused with an important writing career, the prolific writer would win this prestigious award again for Look Homeward: A Life of Thomas Wolfe in 1988. Donald served as the Charles Warren Professor of American History and Professor of American Civilization Emeritus at Harvard University until his death in May 2009.