The President and the Freedom Fighter

Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, and Their Battle to Save America's Soul

By: Brian Kilmeade

Narrated by: Brian Kilmeade

Length: 6 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

New York Times best seller

The New York Times best-selling author of George Washington's Secret Six and Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates turns to two other heroes of the nation: Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass.

In The President and the Freedom Fighter, Brian Kilmeade tells the little-known story of how two American heroes moved from strong disagreement to friendship, and in the process changed the entire course of history.

Abraham Lincoln was White, born impoverished on a frontier farm. Frederick Douglass was Black, a child of slavery who had risked his life escaping to freedom in the North. Neither man had a formal education, and neither had had an easy path to influence. No one would have expected them to become friends - or to transform the country. But Lincoln and Douglass believed in their nation’s greatness. They were determined to make the grand democratic experiment live up to its ideals.

Lincoln’s problem: He knew it was time for slavery to go, but how fast could the country change without being torn apart? And would it be possible to get rid of slavery while keeping America’s Constitution intact? Douglass said no, that the Constitution was irredeemably corrupted by slavery - and he wanted Lincoln to move quickly. Sharing little more than the conviction that slavery was wrong, the two men’s paths eventually converged. Over the course of the Civil War, they’d endure bloodthirsty mobs, feverish conspiracies, devastating losses on the battlefield, and a growing firestorm of unrest that would culminate on the fields of Gettysburg.

As he did in George Washington's Secret Six, Kilmeade has transformed this nearly forgotten slice of history into a dramatic story that will keep you on the edge of your seat to find out how these two heroes, through their principles and patience, not only changed each other, but made America truly free for all.

©2021 Brian Kilmeade (P)2021 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“What makes The President and the Freedom Fighter so compelling is that Kilmeade lets the actual history speak for itself.” (Shelby Steele, senior fellow at the Hoover Institution; author of Shame and White Guilt)

“A riveting page-turner that illuminates the fascinating and history-altering relationship between President Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass.” (Ben Carson, MD)

“This compelling account of Lincoln and Douglass’s friendship is the story of America itself and shows how intertwined race is with our history. Kilmeade understands that if we don’t acknowledge our complex past, we’ll never be the country we dream to be.” (Brad Meltzer, coauthor of The Lincoln Conspiracy)

the president and the freedom fighter

once again Kilmead wrote an intriguing accounting of history touching on little know facts about these two men. I just wish he would slow down a bit when he reads his books

An insightful view of these two great men.

I thoroughly enjoyed Brian kilmeade's narration and overall style in which he presents the content of this book. The inside view what both Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass had endured and overcome throughout their lives make me wish I had done more with mine.

The story, context and content waz great. Enjoyment waz minored by the performance.

Brian's book was well researched and his insight into the issues and conclusions is outstanding, however his rendition of the audio version was flat. Maybe he is too close to the material. There is a flatness a lack of emotion is his readings. A different performer might better express his passion .

Great History

I love this book and learned lotta new history. Also today I heard Jack Carr interview Brian Kilmeade on his show. I didn’t know that Bryan had done so many things.

I enjoyed this very much

I've always loved hearing and reading about Lincoln. and I enjoyed hearing about Frederick Douglas: how he and President Lincoln worked together to solve the war and free slaves

Great historical account

I like the way we were fully introduced to each man independently so we “knew” each of them before their meeting each other and interactions began.

Every American would benefit from
reading this book.

Excellent & Informative

So amazingly informative. Should be required reading for all high school and college students/any American!

A must listen.

The narrator kept the story interesting. I love the honesty of the information this book has to offer.

Thorough Recount

Kilmeade hits the bullseye with this one. Building the background from childhood to adult, the character of both Douglass and Lincoln are developed to enable the reader perspective as the historical plot develops. Great read for gaining insights into America’s coming of age.

Outstanding perspective of two great Americans

The “President and Freedom Fighter” provides an outstanding perspective of two great Americans. The writing is fast pace and page turning as we are presented with interesting and informative aspects of these giants’ and their respective contributions in shaping the future of the United States of America. Experienced as an Audio book.