On September 8, 2012, at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, President Barack Obama approached the podium in an attempt to explain the challenges of his presidency. To do so, he chose to use a quote recorded by Noah Brooks, a journalist and best friend of Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, who in the midst of the Civil War said:

 

"I have been driven to my knees many times by the overwhelming conviction that I had no place else to go."

 

Using Abraham Lincoln's letters, quotes, speeches, and documents, this book examines and explains what events drove him to his knees, what he discovered while he was down there, and what he accomplished when he stood up.