Lincoln's lessons still hold

Differ We Must, in paperback, speaks to a changing America.

Differ We Must, which tells Lincoln’s life story through his face to face meetings with people who disagreed with him, is out in paperback February 11. It’s available now for pre-order!!

Penguin Random House gave the book a new cover. I loved it the instant I saw it.

They have also scheduled some amazing tour stops—at places I missed during the hardcover tour.

Feb 11 Kansas City, MO

I’ll be on stage with an amazing historian, my friend Candice Millard.

Rainy Day Books sponsors the event at Unity Temple, 7 PM.

Feb 12 St. Louis, MO

St. Louis County Library, 7 PM.

Feb 13 Ann Arbor, MI

Literati Bookstore, 7 PM.

Feb 27 New York City

Cooper Union, 6:30 pm.

This one is mind-blowing: 2025 is the 165th anniversary of Lincoln’s 1860 speech at Cooper Union, which launched his presidential campaign. They plan to mark the occasion by re-creating the speech, and also having me talk from the same stage.

Some details are still coming together—including for an appearance in Pittsburgh—but some things remain the same.

Lincoln operated in the same republic, under the same basic constitutional system, as we do. Human nature is also the same. So his example offers lessons for 2025, whether you are interested in politics or just in dealing with differences in your family.

In a democracy, so long as we keep it, the people who build a majority often prevail, within the bounds of the law. In a big diverse country, the party or movement that builds the larger coalition of disparate people has the greatest chance of winning. In 2020, the bigger coalition belonged to Democrats. In 2024, it was Republicans. Over the next few years, we find out who has the creativity and wisdom to shake up the political system again.

I also see this book as a guide for thinking about life—for example, for how to deal with friends and family members who we believe to be wrong, whether it’s about federal policy or just some personal family matter.

Ultimately it’s about how to deal with our fellow human beings. Lincoln didn’t give in just to get along—he led the United States through its deadliest war—but he did think strategically about how to win, and how to mix pragmatism with a higher cause. I can’t think of skills that are more timely.