I finally was able to get back to Jon Meacham's new Lincoln biography, And There Was Light. It's a little late, but this is a good "dad" book if you're looking for a gift. I've probably read about 10ish Lincoln biographies and a decent chunk of other period relevant books and papers. This probably isn't my favorite biography ever but it's good and it does a couple things that I think are important that other biographies didn't address or at least didn't do so as clearly.

Because of the whole "Actually, Lincoln was a racist" stuff that goes around, this book did a lot to contextualize it. It tries to put statements that are usually pulled out of any context to paint Lincoln one way or another, into context. Lincoln isn't absolved from racist sentiment or feelings, but is contextualized to show that he was progressive on the issue in a way that was practical. So you get these quotes about colonization or his statements to Horace Greely about freeing only as many slaves as needed, within the context of recent votes or elections or anticipation of the Emancipation Proclamation. It's all important context. It makes it clear that Lincoln wasn't the kind of autocrat who could dictate policy and have it followed. Lincoln was a politic player and bound by public opinion. He said some terrible stuff, but also did so to manage that opinion to reach highly commendable goals.

He also addressed the election of 1864 and its importance. It's hard not to read that section of the book as a rebuke on the modern GOP. But Lincoln made it clear that there would be elections, they would be on time, and he would step aside for McClellan (Who probably had a lock on the election up until Sherman took Atlanta). He also talked about the strides Lincoln took to make sure soldiers in the field could vote. Democratic states took pains to prevent troops in the field from voting and Lincoln used his powers to grant them furloughs and arrange transportation. It was to his advantage, but there's also an anecdote that Lincoln made sure a democrat that was being blocked was allowed on his train. And you can poo poo anecdotes like that, but you also have to remember how Lincoln used these things to his advantage with the press and I think it could just as easily be seen as a way for Lincoln to press his point about the importance of participatory democracy.

Overall I think it was a great biography and probably a good one if you're looking for a first biography of the man.

Edit: I'll add that this is also a really good example of how a work of history can indirectly address current issues without being didactic.