Dan Abrams - Lincolns Last Trial--The Murder Case That Propelled Him to the Presidency

The true story of Abraham Lincolns last murder trial, a case in which he had a deep personal involvementand which played out in the nations newspapers as he began his presidential campaign

At the end of the summer of 1859, twenty-two-year-old Peachy Quinn Harrison went on trial for murder in Springfield, Illinois. Abraham Lincoln, who had been involved in more than three thousand casesincluding more than twenty-five murder trialsduring his two-decades-long career, was hired to defend him. This was to be his last great case as a lawyer.

What normally would have been a local case took on momentous meaning. Lincolns debates with Senator Stephen Douglas the previous fall had gained him a national following, transforming the little-known, self-taught lawyer into a respected politician. He was being urged to make a dark-horse run for the presidency in 1860. Taking this case involved great risk. His reputation was untarnished, but should he lose this trial, should Harrison be convicted of murder, the spotlight now focused so brightly on him might be dimmed. He had won his most recent murder trial with a daring and dramatic maneuver that had become a local legend, but another had ended with his client dangling from the end of a rope.

The case posed painful personal challenges for Lincoln. The murder victim had trained for the law in his office, and Lincoln had been his friend and his mentor. His accused killer, the young man Lincoln would defend, was the son of a close friend and loyal supporter. And to win this trial he would have to form an unholy allegiance with a longtime enemy, a revivalist preacher he had twice run against for political officeand who had bitterly slandered Lincoln as an infidel...too lacking in faith to be elected.

Lincolns Last Trial captures the presidential hopefuls dramatic courtroom confrontations in vivid detail as he fights for his clientbut also for his own blossoming political future. It is a moment in history that shines a light on our legal system, as in this case Lincoln fought a legal battle that remains incredibly relevant today.

Praise for Lincolns Last Trial

Dan Abrams and David Fisher write the heart-pounding pulse of history. Abraham Lincoln: the dusty shoes, the weary eyes, the Jedi mastery of a jury in a true case of life and death. So pull up a chair. This book not only brings a rare transcript to life, it makes you feel as if you are watching a live camera riveted on a courtroom more than one hundred and fifty years ago.

Diane Sawyer

You didnt know that Abraham Lincoln was the defense lawyer in a notorious murder case on the eve of his presidency? Neither did I. But Dan Abrams and David Fisher tell the remarkable tale in Lincolns Last Trial , and the story is both compelling on its own terms and a lesson about some eternal truths about criminal justice.

Jeffrey Toobin, author of American Heiress

Lincolns wartime leadership overshadows his life as a lawyer. But you cant understand one without the other. In this rich and previously unexplored corner of history, the authors take you inside the courtroom to watch Abraham Lincolnat the height of his powers as a lawyer and on the edge of eternal fameas he tries a thrilling murder trial to a jury.

Chris DeRose, author of The Presidents War , Congressman Lincoln , and Founding Rivals

We all know the story of Abraham Lincoln the wartime president, the defender of the Union, and the emancipator of the slaves. But Abraham Lincoln, the defense lawyer? Dan Abrams and David Fisher recount the engaging story of Lincolns last trial, occurring on the cusp of the Civil War. An entertaining book filled with twists and turns and tailor-made for Civil War buffs.

Jay Winik, author of April 1865 and 1944

Also by Dan Abrams

Man Down

Also by David Fisher

A Lawyers Life (with Johnnie Cochran)
Hard Evidence: Inside the FBI Crime Lab

Dan Abrams is the chief legal affairs anchor for ABC News and CEO and founder of Abrams Media. He is also the host of top-rated Live PD on A&E Network. A graduate of Columbia University Law School, he is the author of the Washington Post bestseller Man Down and has written for the New York Times , the Wall Street Journal , Newsweek and Yale Law & Policy Review , among many others. He lives in New York.

David Fisher is the author of more than twenty New York Times bestsellers. He lives in New York with his wife, Laura.

Dan-Abrams.com

I dedicate this book to my mentor and father Floyd Abrams whose genuine love for, and mastery of, history and the law established a lifelong example that I continue to emulate, but will never quite live up to.

Contents

INTRODUCTION

Like most, my professional endeavors are largely separate and distinct from personal hobbies and passions. Never the twain shall meet, unless, of course, you are truly charmed.

The bulk of my professional career has been spent covering, analyzing and evaluating the most well-known and often notorious legal cases. Some momentous, others heartbreaking and many just driven by a well-known individual accused of some foolish act. But the best ones, the trials or arguments where I looked forward to sitting on rigid wooden benches for long stretches within the tight confines of a courtroom gallery, were the close ones. The ones where the verdict or ruling was uncertain and each days testimony or lawyering could alter the outcome and potentially change minds, including my own.

Fortunately for me, my encounters with the criminal justice system, at least thus far, have been strictly professional.

On the personal side, about a decade ago I finally realized that rather than curling up with magazines before bed, I find it far more rewarding to have a book or e-reader in hand every night. History was always of great interest to me as a student, but recently Ive become a borderline buff. World War I and II, Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt, Thurgood Marshall, Henry Ward Beecher, the Civil War, its aftermath, even James Garfield and, yes, Lincoln have been the subjects of some of my favorite nonfiction tomes. With the opportunity to tell the story of Lincolns final murder trial, pairing my fascination with history and my work in the law, I am now officially charmed.

Even by todays standards, The State of Illinois v. Peachy Quinn Harrison would be considered newsworthy. The prerequisite elements for a high profile trial were all there: a well-liked and promising young man stabbed to death by a neighbor with whom he had grown up; a struggle and claim of self-defense; eyewitness testimony, including from the victims own brother; an alleged deathbed admission; a critical celebrity witness; and a community fiercely divided. That division stemmed, in part, from the fact that this was one of those close ones where the lawyering could absolutely impact the outcome.

So if Abraham Lincoln had not been retained to represent the accused, the case still would have been closely watched and scrutinized by the community and local media alike. But in 1859, just nine months before the Republican convention that would catapult him to the presidency and eventually schoolbooks of every American child, having Lincoln for the defense made it that much more notable. While hardly a household name yet, political insiders certainly were coming to know of Abe Lincoln, particularly on the heels of the Lincoln-Douglas debates. This trial would serve as an audition for some, a second look for others, but in either case Lincoln had far more to lose than gain. The starting point for this book was a pristinely stored transcript (which very few cases had at that time) of the trial unearthed in the late twentieth century. While the discovery of this meaningful piece of Lincoln history was covered as a news story in 1989 by some of the usual media suspects, I was struck by how limited that coverage and analysis was, and has been. After all, we are talking about the final murder trial Abraham Lincoln ever tried and a truly compelling one at that. Having his exact words from a captivating trial should not be, for the most part, lost to history.