Abraham Lincoln had a record of political failure. As the Republican National Convention opened in 1860 Chicago, New York Senator William Seward was the favorite for the presidential nomination - few thought Lincoln stood a chance. Chronicling the political drama as it unfolded, Achorn explores the genius of Lincoln's strategy, the partisanship tearing apart America, the battles raging over slavery, and Chicago as a symbol of the modernization transforming the nation, bringing alive the most consequential political story in America's history.