The Long Pursuit: Abraham Lincoln's Thirty-Year Struggle with Stephen Douglas for the Heart and Soul of America

From the time they first set foot in Illinois in the early 1830s, Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas were fated to become political competitors. The Long Pursuit tells the dramatic story of how these two radically different individuals rose to the pinnacle of American politics, and how their personal rivalry shaped and altered the future of the nation during its most convulsive era. Indeed, had it not been for Douglas, who served as Lincoln’s personal goad, pace horse, and measuring stick, there would have been no Lincoln-Douglas debates in 1858, no Lincoln presidency in 1860, and perhaps no Civil War six months later. The Long Pursuit is not only a detailed political study but also a compelling look at the personal side of politics on the rough-and-tumble western frontier.