More than 15,000 books have been written about U.S. President Abraham Lincoln over many decades, so publisher Mikel Miller admitted he was somewhat skeptical when Guadalajara-based author and teacher Michael Hogan told him he wanted to add another one to this mammoth collection.
But when Hogan pitched the proposed theme of his book – Lincoln’s relationship with Mexico over two decades in the mid 1800s – “I was hooked,” Miller told an overspill audience packing the American School Library for the launch of the 322-page paperback tome Tuesday evening.
“The role of books is to inform, educate and entertain and ‘Abraham Lincoln and Mexico’ does all three,” Miller said. “But it also has the potential to change the way people think about relationships between the United States and Mexico.”
Noting that the book “corrects many previously held misconceptions and perceptions” of U.S. history, Miller speculated that this change in thinking will come about mostly as educators and students use the book as supplementary classroom material. “There are four million 11th grade students in the United States each year and all of them are required to take U.S. history,” Miller pointed out.
The book evolved from a U.S. history class Hogan was teaching at the American School and it was therefore appropriate that several seniors were invited to speak at the launch.
In impeccable English, Mauricio Moel explained how Hogan began his book because of his students’ comments that Steven Spielberg’s 2012 movie on Lincoln failed to mention Mexico. “Annoyed and exasperated by this omission, he decided to explore this gap. Luckily for us, Hogan came up with an all embracing and well researched biography that compressively narrates the turbulent period beginning with the Mexican-American war in 1846 and ending with the fall of the French empire in 1865.”
Fernanda Lopez read a glowing review in Spanish penned by Flor de Maria Salazar Mendoza, director of the historic archive in the state of San Luis Potosi, and a professor at the Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosi. Mistress of ceremonies Tania Romero then brought Hogan to tears with a heartfelt introduction that paid tribute to his inspired teaching methods and humanity.
Hogan then provided a fascinating synopsis of the book’s development and chronology, calling attention to how historians have shamefully neglected Lincoln’s two major interactions with Mexico.
Lincoln’s courage as a young congressman in denouncing the 1846 war with Mexico was an ethical stance against an unjust conflict that almost cost him his political career, Hogan explained. The author then spoke of his fortunate discovery of previously unseen documents that gave insight into Lincoln’s support for Mexico’s struggle to oust the French invaders – a rarely known episode in history that also saw freed black slaves fight alongside their southern neighbors.
Hogan finished his discourse by alluding to the current political climate and expressing the view that more informed knowledge about the past can help us better understand and improve current relationships.
Following the presentations, a long line formed as Hogan signed copies of his book. Vietnam veteran John T. Powell tucked three volumes under his arm as he stood patiently in line – one for himself and the others to ship to U.S. presidential candidates Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton.
“It’s about a real and honest Republican president,” were the words Powell instructed Hogan to write as a message to Trump on the title page. And for Clinton: “I think this book might provide you with some questions for your adversary.”
“Abraham Lincoln and Mexico” is available in Ajijic at Diane Pearl and La Nueva Posada, as well as on Amazon.com.