Which great American president was born in a log cabin in Kentucky and practiced as an Illinois country lawyer before entering politics? Abraham Lincoln, of course. But anyone who would make light of his legal career because he practiced in small Midwestern towns had better think again.

It turns out that Lincoln was "a shrewd, sophisticated litigator" during his 25 years of law practice in Illinois and beyond, according to a new book by AFT member Allen Spiegel. A. Lincoln, Esquire (Mercer University Press) uses recently discovered legal documents related to the thousands of cases Lincoln handled to bring new light to the 16th president's law career.

"I was surprised he was such a good lawyer," says Spiegel, a professor of preventive medicine and community health at the State University of New York Health Science Center in Brooklyn, and a member of United University Professions/AFT. Another surprise is how Spiegel, a prolific author of many books and articles mostly dealing with medical history, came to write about Lincoln.

"As usual, it was serendipity," Spiegel says. He was researching a sensational Lolita-type case from the 1860s that involved a young woman who murdered an older man who worked at the Treasury Department. Spiegel found that Lincoln's wife had sent the accused woman a bouquet of flowers. That led to research into President Lincoln, who was also involved in many medical-related cases, and before long, Spiegel was wading through the Lincoln legal papers to find out more.

Using the documents to tell the story of more than 50 of Lincoln's cases, Spiegel shows the incredible number and variety of cases Lincoln handled. They dealt with everything from bankruptcy and breach of marriage to medical malpractice and murder to sexual slander and slave ownership. "It's interesting to see how he dealt with things lawyers still deal with today," Spiegel comments. What's more, Lincoln was not particularly selective about the cases he accepted; for example, he once represented slave owners. Spiegel characterizes him as a "prolific rainmaker" who brought clients and fees into his firm.

Lincoln also "used his political and legal careers almost interchangeably," Spiegel notes. "Political connections nourished his law practice, and his legal work nourished his political ambitions." If Lincoln hadn't gone on to become president, Spiegel believes, the self-taught man with such humble beginnings would have gone on to become one of the top lawyers in the country.

[Barbara McKenna / AFT On Campus]

[March 24, 2003]