Lincoln's Body explores how a president ungainly in body and downright "ugly" of aspect came to mean so much to us.The very roughness of Lincoln's appearance made him seem all the more common, one of us--as did his sense of humor about his own awkward physical nature.

Part I. The public body (1840-1865) -- Lincoln's body politic -- Last words, last breath -- The martyr and his relics -- African Americans and their emancipator -- Rolling funeral, living corpse -- Part II. The enshrined body (1865-1909) -- The first Lincoln memorials -- Monuments for the ages -- Black emancipation, White reunion -- Celebrating the Centenary of 1909 -- Part III. The national body (1909-2015) -- Solidifying the Lincoln cult: two memorials -- The hero on screen, from Griffith to Gage -- Standing in Lincoln's shadow -- Reviving the emancipator -- Lincoln sightings at the bicentenary: Obama, Disney, Spielberg.