Lincoln's Last Trial: The Murder Case That Propelled Him to the Presidency

By: Dan Abrams, David Fisher

Narrated by: Dan Abrams, Adam Verner

“Makes you feel as if you are watching a live camera riveted on a courtroom more than 150 years ago.” —Diane Sawyer

The true story of Abraham Lincoln’s last murder trial, a case in which he had a deep personal involvement—and which played out in the nation’s newspapers as he began his presidential campaign

At the end of the summer of 1859, twenty-two-year-old Peachy Quinn Harrison went on trial for murder in Springfield, Illinois. Abraham Lincoln, who had been involved in more than three thousand cases—including more than twenty-five murder trials—during his two-decades-long career, was hired to defend him. This was to be his last great case as a lawyer.

What normally would have been a local case took on momentous meaning. Lincoln’s debates with Senator Stephen Douglas the previous fall had gained him a national following, transforming the little-known, self-taught lawyer into a respected politician. He was being urged to make a dark-horse run for the presidency in 1860. Taking this case involved great risk. His reputation was untarnished, but should he lose this trial, should Harrison be convicted of murder, the spotlight now focused so brightly on him might be dimmed. He had won his most recent murder trial with a daring and dramatic maneuver that had become a local legend, but another had ended with his client dangling from the end of a rope.

The case posed painful personal challenges for Lincoln. The murder victim had trained for the law in his office, and Lincoln had been his friend and his mentor. His accused killer, the young man Lincoln would defend, was the son of a close friend and loyal supporter. And to win this trial he would have to form an unholy allegiance with a longtime enemy, a revivalist preacher he had twice run against for political office—and who had bitterly slandered Lincoln as an “infidel…too lacking in faith” to be elected.

Lincoln’s Last Trial captures the presidential hopeful’s dramatic courtroom confrontations in vivid detail as he fights for his client—but also for his own blossoming political future. It is a moment in history that shines a light on our legal system, as in this case Lincoln fought a legal battle that remains incredibly relevant today.

Exhaustive

This exhaustive recounting of a court case gave great insight into court dealings of the day and of a side of Lincoln that many of his have never seen. At times though, the level of extreme detail failed to keep my interest.

An excellent read.

An excellent story. While much of it is based on trial transcripts and newspaper accounts, I really wonder how much of it is artistic license and educated speculation.

The difference between the legal procedures then and now is quite eye opening. The digressions for history lessons were very enlightening, but they broke up the flow of the trial in a very annoying way.

What really struck me was the strange confluence of so many future politicians at this one obscure trial. A future president, governors, senators, congressmen... No editor would accept that as the plot of a fiction novel. But truth is indeed stranger than fiction!

Great narration and fascinating story!

I really enjoyed this audiobook. I thought the narrator did an excellent job. I do think it got a bit confusing at times, but largely it's because I tend to do other things while listening (driving, running, cooking, etc.). This might be a better audio for a long road trip or a peaceful walk, so that you can keep all the stories straight. A few times I wondered if it would have been better to read the paper book. That being said, it was a great listen and I definitely recommend.

Insightful View of Lincoln before the White House

This book was based on a transcript of Lincoln's last major trial before becoming President. As a lawyer, it was interesting to see how Lincoln approached things. Lots of insight into Lincoln’s legal career. Probably half the book is on young Lincoln and half about this trial. The transcript provides concrete evidence of what was said in court, but I was left to wonder about the accuracy of some of the other descriptions of smaller details in the book. For history like this it just seems it would be very hard to confirm such details so long after the fact. That being said as a lawyer it held my interest without the small details that can’t be confirmed. Lincoln was renowned as a trial lawyer and the transcript shows why. I also learned an interesting fact that I didn’t know. In the 1850s in Illinois criminal defendants were prohibited from testifying in their own defense. Which in a case of self defense like this one, made a defense very difficult.

I wanted to like it more

Maybe my expectations were too high. I found this story a bit tedious. I wanted to like it. I like Dan Abrams. But this book focuses on the weeds of Lincoln's last trial (as the title says), but offers no real perspective on how that trial and the way he conducted himself in it affected the great and grave decisions Lincoln would go on to make.