Lincolnomics

Reviews / Votes

This unique blend of biography and policy prescription . . . traces the roots of Lincoln's support for the transcontinental railroad and other 'internal improvements' . . . Wasik convincingly argues that his economic policies deserve more credit. Liberals will cheer this eye-opening account.
-Publishers Weekly

A unique contribution . . . Exceptionally well written, organized and presented, Lincolnomics: How President Lincoln Constructed the Great American Economy is an impressively unique, extraordinarily informative, and a seminal work of simply outstanding scholarship.
-Midwest Book Review

In the engrossing new work, the only biography of its kind, Lincolnomics, John F. Wasik . . . explores Lincoln's foundational governing policies. . . . Lincolnomics is especially relevant at this moment as President Biden is proposing one of the biggest infrastructure packages in American history, and there is also debate on what that term really means.
-Brooklyn Digest

If we are to 'think anew and act anew' to overcome the 'American carnage' of the present, John F. Wasik's Lincolnomics provides an important and stimulating view of how Lincoln's vision may apply to the future. He shows us Lincoln the Great Builder and Lincoln the Great Innovator, whose works in his time and enduring idea of America served as the foundation for progressive change through the 20th century and may once again inspire us in the 21st. What would Lincoln do? Lincolnomics helps answer that question.
-Sidney Blumenthal, former senior adviser to President Bill Clinton, former national staff reporter for The Washington Post, and author, The Political Life of Abraham Lincoln

John Wasik invented a new word for this book because his theme bears new force: Abraham Lincoln sought a better-built nation and a freer legal space to help every individual, regardless of background, to aspire and rise. Most historians know this too vaguely about Lincoln; Wasik finally gives the great democratic idea the prominence it deserves.
-James M. Cornelius, Ph.D., Editor, Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association

Lincolnomics offers a unique insight into the remarkable career and accomplishments of America's most celebrated president-an icon in this country and around the world. Hundreds of books have been written about Lincoln's personal and political life, yet little has been researched regarding his leadership in promoting major infrastructure projects that positioned America to emerge ultimately as the world's leader in industry and technology. His belief in the importance of projects including canals, railroads, and communications has great relevance today as we explore the need for a major infrastructure initiative led by the federal government. If you are interested in history and public policy, Wasik's engaging publication is a must read.
-Gerald Adelmann, President and CEO, Openlands

Though I have read several bookshelf-feet on Lincoln books, Wasik clearly seems to have made the case for-and opened up-a whole new area of study regarding his heritage as an environmentalist, public educator, and infrastructure innovator.
-Don Rose, Chicago journalist and independent political consultant

Wasik presents Abraham Lincoln as 'nothing less than our foremost architect of economic opportunity.' In an engaging, informal style, he explores the policies Lincoln promoted across his career including transportation improvements, public education, and free labor. Wasik sees in Lincoln's policies a broad roadmap for promoting equal economic opportunity in the twenty-first century.

-Ann Durkin Keating, Professor of History, North Central College and author, The World of Juliette Kinzie, Chicago Before the Fire


At a brisk pace and in engaging prose, Wasik presents a persuasive case that Lincoln's obsession with public goods and services led to a series of policies that built modern America....Wasik is also careful to avoid the traps of sentimentality and hero-worship. He writes bracingly about how Lincoln's infrastructural agenda routinely robbed Native Americans of land, excluded Black workers, and exploited the labor of the poor.
-The Progressive Magazine