How Depression Challenged a President and Fueled His Greatness
Author: Joshua Wolf Shenk
Genre: nonfiction, biography
Publication info: Houghton Mifflin, 2005
Pages: 350 (including notes, bibliography, and index)
Have you heard? Abraham Lincoln was an amazing man. And he was also seriously depressed.
I hesitate to call this book a biography, because it doesn't discuss the events of Lincoln's life as a biography normally would. You don't really get a complete picture of his life from this book alone. But you do get a close look at one aspect of his life that until recently has been either ignored or outright denied by other biographers: Lincoln's depression. It is Shenk's goal in this book to show that Lincoln was in fact depressed, to show how he responded to his "melancholy" and what he did with it.
The research behind this book is impressive. Shenk goes straight to primary sources, using letters from Lincoln and interviews with people who knew him personally. All this evidence makes clear that Lincoln dealt with serious depression long before the condition was a recognizable illness. Along the way, Shenk gives us a picture of what depression in general is like, and I appreciate his doing so. I believe he's had personal experience in that area, so he knows what he is talking about. And what he says rings true for me.
But the remarkable part about Lincoln in this book is not the extent to which he suffered but rather what he was able to make out of his agony, his melancholy. Shenk emphasizes that Lincoln didn't passively endure his depression; he drew power from it somehow and used it to achieve the great things he did. Many times Lincoln expressed the desire to commit suicide, but he didn't do it, because he felt that he had a calling in life, something great to do. We all know now what great things he did, but the fact that he didn't—the fact that he didn't know he would be remembered or even accomplish anything of value—and yet carried on through his agony is one reason (among many) that he was so amazing.
I would recommend this book to just about anybody. If you are interested in the life of Abraham Lincoln (and what American wouldn't be?), you will like this book. If you want an inspiring story about overcoming enormous obstacles, this could be the one you're looking for. And especially if you have had close experience with depression, you will appreciate the insights of this book. You will find a great example of how to live a meaningful life even when your own mind is working against you.
