Lincoln

PLOT

In January 1865, United States President Abraham Lincoln expects the Civil War to end soon, with the defeat of the Confederate States. He is concerned that his 1863 Emancipation Proclamation may be discarded by the courts after the war and that the proposed Thirteenth Amendment will be defeated by the returning slave states. He feels it imperative to pass the amendment beforehand, to remove any possibility that freed slaves might be re-enslaved.

The Radical Republicans fear the amendment will be defeated by some who wish to delay its passage; support from Republicans in the border states is not yet assured. The amendment also requires the support of several Democratic congressmen to pass. With dozens of Democrats being lame ducks after losing their re-election campaigns in the fall of 1864, some of Lincoln's advisors believe he should wait for a new Republican-heavy Congress. Lincoln remains adamant about having the amendment in place before the war is concluded and the southern states are re-admitted.

Lincoln's hopes rely upon Francis Preston Blair, a founder of the Republican Party whose influence could win over members of the border state conservative faction. With Union victory in the Civil War highly likely but not yet secured, and with two sons serving in the Union Army, Blair is keen to end hostilities quickly before the spring thaw arrives and the armies march again. Therefore, in return for his support, Blair insists that Lincoln allow him to engage the Confederate government in peace negotiations. However, Lincoln knows that significant support for the amendment comes from Radical Republicans, for whom negotiated peace is unacceptable. Unable to proceed without Blair's support, Lincoln reluctantly authorizes Blair's mission.

In the meantime, Lincoln and Secretary of State William Seward work to secure Democratic votes for the amendment. Lincoln suggests they concentrate on the lame-duck Democrats, as they will feel freer to vote as they choose and soon need employment; Lincoln will have many federal jobs to fill as he begins his second term. Though Lincoln and Seward are unwilling to offer monetary bribes to the Democrats, they authorize agents to contact Democratic congressmen with offers of federal jobs in exchange for their support. Meanwhile, Lincoln's son, Robert, returns from law school and announces his intention to discontinue his studies and enlist in the Union Army, hoping to earn a measure of honor and respect outside of his father's shadow before the war's end. Lincoln reluctantly secures an officer's commission for Robert. The First Lady is aghast, fearing that he will be killed. She furiously presses her husband to pass the amendment and end the war, promising woe upon him if he should fail.

At a critical moment in the debate in the House of Representatives, racial-equality advocate Thaddeus Stevens agrees to moderate his position and argue that the amendment represents only legal equality, not a declaration of actual equality. Meanwhile, Confederate envoys are ready to meet with Lincoln to discuss terms for peace, but he instructs they be kept out of Washington as the amendment approaches a vote on the House floor. Rumor of their mission circulates, prompting both Democrats and conservative Republicans to advocate postponing the vote. In a carefully worded statement, Lincoln denies there are envoys in Washington, and the vote proceeds, passing by a margin of just two votes. Black visitors to the gallery celebrate, and Stevens returns home to his "housekeeper" and lover, a biracial woman.

When Lincoln meets with the Confederates, he tells them slavery cannot be restored, as the North is united for ratification of the amendment, and several of the southern states' reconstructed legislatures would also vote to ratify. As a result, the peace negotiations fail, and the war continues. On April 3, Lincoln visits the battlefield at Petersburg, Virginia, where he exchanges a few words with Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant. On April 9, Grant receives General Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox Courthouse. On April 14, a cheerful Lincoln expresses to his wife that they will be happy in the future and later meets members of his cabinet to discuss future measures to enfranchise blacks, before leaving for Ford's Theatre. That night, while Lincoln's son Tad is watching Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp at Grover's Theatre, the manager suddenly stops the play to announce that the President has been shot. The next morning, at the Petersen House, Lincoln dies with a peaceful expression across his face; in a flashback, Lincoln finishes his second inaugural address on March 4 with Lincoln intoning the words, "With malice toward none, with charity for all...".

CAST

Lincoln household

Daniel Day-Lewis as President of the United States Abraham Lincoln

Sally Field as First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln

Gloria Reuben as Elizabeth Keckley, a former slave who was dressmaker and confidante to Mary Todd Lincoln

Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Robert Todd Lincoln

Gulliver McGrath as Tad Lincoln

Stephen McKinley Henderson as Lincoln's valet, William Slade

Elizabeth Marvel as Mrs. Jolly

Bill Camp as Mr. Jolly

Union Army

Adam Driver as Samuel Beckwith, Lincoln's telegraph operator, historically Grant's operator

Jared Harris as Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant

Clarence Key as Inspector General Seth Williams

Asa-Luke Twocrow as Lieutenant Colonel Ely S. Parker, a Native American Military Secretary to Grant and drafter of the terms of the Confederate Army's surrender at Appomattox Court House

Colman Domingo as Private Harold Green

David Oyelowo as Corporal Ira Clark

Lukas Haas as First White Soldier

Dane DeHaan as Second White Soldier

White House

David Strathairn as Secretary of State William H. Seward. Strathairn played Lincoln in the audiobook of the Lincoln/Douglas debates.

Bruce McGill as Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton

Joseph Cross as Major John Hay, Lincoln's military secretary

Jeremy Strong as John George Nicolay, Lincoln's private secretary

Grainger Hines as Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles

Richard Topol as Attorney General James Speed

Dakin Matthews as Secretary of the Interior John Palmer Usher

Walt Smith as Secretary of the Treasury William P. Fessenden

James Ike Eichling as Postmaster General William Dennison, Jr.

House of Representatives

Tommy Lee Jones as Republican Congressman Thaddeus Stevens of Pennsylvania. A leader of the Radical Republicans and a fervent abolitionist, Stevens feared that Lincoln would "turn his back on emancipation."

Lee Pace as Democratic Congressman Fernando Wood of New York

Peter McRobbie as Democratic Congressman George H. Pendleton of Ohio, leader of the Democratic opposition

Bill Raymond as Speaker of the House Schuyler Colfax of Indiana, a Republican

David Costabile as Republican Congressman James Ashley of Ohio

Stephen Spinella as radical Republican Congressman Asa Vintner Litton

Michael Stuhlbarg as Democratic Congressman George Yeaman of Kentucky

Boris McGiver as Democratic Congressman Alexander Coffroth of Pennsylvania

Walton Goggins as Democratic Congressman Clay Hawkins of Ohio

David Warshofsky as Congressman William Hutton, whose brother died in the war

Michael Stanton Kennedy as Republican Congressman Hiram Price of Iowa

Raynor Scheine as Republican Congressman Josiah S. "Beanpole" Burton of Missouri

Christopher Evan Welch as Clerk of the House Edward McPherson

Wayne Duvall as Bluff Wade, an abolitionist radical Republican from Ohio.

Republican Party

Hal Holbrook as Francis Preston Blair. Blair was an influential Republican politician who tried to arrange a peace agreement between the Union and the Confederacy. Holbrook portrayed Lincoln in the 1976 miniseries Carl Sandburg's Lincoln and in the 1980s North and South miniseries.

James Spader as Republican Party operative William N. Bilbo. Bilbo had been imprisoned but was freed by Lincoln, then lobbied for passage of the Thirteenth Amendment.

Tim Blake Nelson as lobbyist Richard Schell. Schell was a Democratic lobbyist who worked with Republicans to obtain votes in the House for passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

John Hawkes as Republican operative Colonel Robert Latham

Byron Jennings as Conservative Republican Montgomery Blair, son of Francis Preston Blair

Julie White as Elizabeth Blair Lee, a daughter of Francis Preston Blair. She wrote hundreds of letters documenting events during the Civil War.

S. Epatha Merkerson as Lydia Smith, Thaddeus Stevens's biracial housekeeper

Wayne Duvall as Radical Republican Senator Benjamin "Bluff Ben" Wade

John Hutton as Senator Charles Sumner

Confederate States

Jackie Earle Haley as Confederate States Vice President Alexander H. Stephens. Stephens had served with Lincoln in Congress as Whig party representatives from 1847 to 1849. He met with Lincoln on the steamboat River Queen at the unsuccessful Hampton Roads Conference on February 3, 1865.

Gregory Itzin as John Archibald Campbell. Campbell was a former Supreme Court Justice who resigned at the start of the war, then served as Assistant Secretary of War in the Confederate government. He was also a member of the Confederate delegation that met with Lincoln at the Hampton Roads Conference.

Michael Shiflett as the third Confederate delegate to Hampton Roads, Senate President Robert M. T. Hunter

Christopher Boyer (non-speaking role) as Robert E. Lee

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

loosely based on Doris Kearns Goodwin's 2005 biography Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, and covers the final four months of Lincoln's life, focusing on his efforts in January 1865 to abolish slavery and involuntary servitude by having the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution passed by the United States House of Representatives.