A Diplomat in Carpet Slippers - Jay Monaghan

A Diplomat in Carpet Slippers

I picked this book up off the cart without the faintest clue of the subject matter. There was just something comedically wonderful about the title.The cover proclaimed that "this book fills the most notable gap on the Lincoln bookshelf." I wasn't even aware the gap existed!

"A Diplomat in Carpet Slippers" proved to be a treasure trove of visual metaphors:

Russel could stand no more. History was not taught that way in monarchical England. His old turtle head was extended on the extremity of his wrinkled neck.

Lincoln was eager. "Let me have it," he said, reaching his long arm and fingers towards the pompous figure, who hesitated, reluctant to part with the letter. Chase wished to say something further but Lincoln did not wait and hastily broke the seals. Reading the contents, he said with a triumphant laugh and a glance toward Welles, "This cut the Gordian knot."

Seward looked over the document. He had disagreed with Lincoln on the whole colonization policy. He considered the contract a mistake. Seward called a clerk. In a jiffy the paper was carried away. Then Seward turned on Kock like an angry cockatoo.

Napoleon's mustache twitched eagerly, but his absent-minded eyes saw visions of Europe in chaos.

Napoleon's mustache twitched eagerly - Sketch by Tigh Tiefenbach  

Lincoln studied the records of half a dozen men. One of them appealed to him--Joe Hooker, a tall military figure with grand fighting head and grizzled russet hair.

The spectacle thrilled sixteen-year-old Julia Taft with conflicting emotions. A friend of the Lincoln family, nicknamed "the Flibbertigibbet who flies when she walks," Julia saw everything with her bright eyes.

Flibbertigibbet who flies when she walks - Sketch by Tigh Tiefenbach  

Horse and horseman raced down the midnight road. Turning in at the Home gate, Lincoln galloped up to the porch, dismounted and stamped up the steps laughing about his mad ride. He had lost an eight-dollar hat, he said. Lincoln's friends insisted that a guard must ride with him henceforth.