A Friend of Mr. Lincoln by Stephen Harrigan

Stephen Harrigan shows us a different side of Abraham Lincoln told through a fictional friend of his so we may get a glimpse of the younger "country bumpkin" man who will become one of this country's most legendary figures. Cage meets Abraham Lincoln on the battlefield and the two strike up an easy friendship. Cage is a poet and he and Lincoln are kindred souls. Harrigan showcases Lincoln's dichotomy - his ease with people making jokes to disarm his would be foes and his complete unease with women as he courts Mary while pining away for another he doesn't have a chance of winning. This is a very different view of Lincoln, one that tackles his inability to take a stand for or against slavery, his sometimes unpopular view of ethics and the law and how he and his friends play the same political games still in existence today and it is in sharp contrast to the typical view of the stoic defender of the Union and savior of slavery.
If nothing else you will chuckle at Lincoln telling any number of dirty jokes - not something you would think this heroic figure would have ever done yet Stephen Harrigan makes us believe that this was an every day occurrence and totally in character.