My research and publications centre on the United States between 1776 and the Civil War; their primary thematic focus is the relationship between politics and religion in a democratising society that tolerated slavery and lacked a national church establishment. I have a particular interest in the life, presidency, and international legacy of Abraham Lincoln. I am currently working on a book analyzing the place of religion in the construction of the American nation during its first century and another on the political uses and personal significance of Lincoln's sense of humour. My published work includes the books Evangelicals and Politics in Antebellum America (New Haven, 1993), Lincoln: A Life of Purpose and Power (New York, 2006), and The Global Lincoln (2011).
