Today we’ll talk with historian Joshua Zeitz about his new book Lincoln’s God: How Faith Transformed a President and a Nation. Abraham Lincoln, unlike most of his political brethren, kept organized Christianity at arm’s length. He never joined a church and only sometimes attended Sunday services with his wife. But as he came to appreciate the growing political and military importance of the Christian community, and when death touched the Lincoln household in an awful, intimate way, the erstwhile skeptic effectively evolved into a believer and harnessed the power of evangelical Protestantism to rally the nation to arms.
Joshua Zeitz is a historian, contributing writer at Politico Magazine, and a New York Times best-selling author. His books include Lincoln’s Boys and Building the Great Society. He taught American history and politics at Cambridge University, Harvard University, and Princeton University and has written for Politico, Washington Post, LA Times, Smithsonian Magazine, The New Republic, The Atlantic, Dissent, American Heritage, and the New York Times. A former gubernatorial speechwriter and policy aide, Josh earned his B.A. at Swarthmore College and his Ph.D. in American History at Brown University. He lives in Hoboken and Ocean Grove, New Jersey with his wife and two daughters.
