In 1847, Abraham Lincoln arrived in Washington in near anonymity. After years of outmaneuvering political adversaries and leveraging friendships, he emerged the surprising victor of the Whig Party nomination, winning a seat in the House of Representatives. Yet following a divisive single term, he would return to Illinois a failed job applicant with a damaged reputation in his home state, and no path forward in politics. Defeated, unpopular, and out of office, Lincoln now seemed worse off politically than when his journey began. But what actually transpired between 1847 and 1849 revealed a man married to his political, moral, and ethical ideals. These were the defining years of a future president and the prelude to his singular role as the center of a gathering political storm. With keen insight into a side of Lincoln never so thoroughly investigated or exhaustively researched, historian Chris DeRose explores this extraordinary, unpredictable, and oftentimes conflicted turning point in his career.--From publisher description.

Preface: Lincoln as legislator -- Prologue: An epistle to the muse of history -- The most ambitious man in the world -- The right to rise -- Turnabout is fair play -- A house divided -- Lincoln's Washington -- The secret question -- A great president-making machine -- The questions of war -- War and peace -- Not a sinecure -- The Gallows of Haman -- Internal improvements -- The trouble with Oregon -- Lincoln the young indian -- Miles gone by -- The valiant destroyer of windmills -- With malice toward none -- The last full measure -- General Taylor's grand triumphal march -- The comet at the end of the world -- Epilogue: The emancipation of Abraham Lincoln.