Mr. Lincoln's T-Mails

How Abraham Lincoln Used the Telegraph to Win the Civil War

By: Tom Wheeler

Narrated by: Tom Perkins

The Civil War was the first "modern war." Because of the rapid changes in American society, Abraham Lincoln became president of a divided United States during a period of technological and social revolution. Among the many modern marvels that gave the North an advantage was the telegraph, which Lincoln used to stay connected to the forces in the field in almost real time.

No leader in history had ever possessed such a powerful tool to gain control over a fractious situation. An eager student of technology, Lincoln had to learn to use the power of electronic messages. Without precedent to guide him, Lincoln began by reading the telegraph traffic among his generals. Then he used the telegraph to supplement his preferred form of communication - meetings and letters. He did not replace those face-to-face interactions. Through this experience, Lincoln crafted the best way to guide, reprimand, praise, reward, and encourage his commanders in the field.

By paying close attention to Lincoln's "lightning messages," we see a great leader adapt to a new medium. No listener of this work of history will be able to miss the contemporary parallels. Watching Lincoln carefully word his messages - and follow up on those words with the right actions - offers a striking example for those who spend their days tapping out notes on computers and BlackBerrys.

©2006 Tom Wheeler (P)2020 Tantor

Lincoln was brilliant

The book does an excellent job of highlighting the brilliance of Abraham Lincoln. He clearly was an early adopter of this new technology, and seemed to have mastered it to his advantage in managing the civil war. The book is written with exquisite detail to the historical facts around Lincoln‘s presidency and world events, especially the Civil War. If you are a civil war buff, this book does an excellent job of explaining the nuance that took place, with very colorful descriptions of all of the players involved.Highly recommended.

A Most Interesting Look at Lincoln!

I have loved Lincoln's story and studied his ways for much of my adult life. This book is a most interesting addition to that study. The story was the same, but viewing Lincoln's leadership by the way he used, and grew in his use of technology helped me to see him in a new light. Also the background information on the development of the telegraph was fascinating to me.
This was a very enjoyable book to listen to. The narrator was superb and I was almost disappointed to come to the end.