“Knee-deep in sources, Bicknell never pulls punches as he describes the divisiveness and drama going on behind the scenes. A good addition to the Lincoln canon due to the author’s clear-eyed examination of the political relationships Lincoln had to maintain during the Civil War.”

– Library Journal

“As revealed in John Bicknell's The Pathfinder and the President, the relationship between Abraham Lincoln and John C. Fremont was never a close one and quickly dissolved into mutual antipathy. Close reading of Bicknell's study essentially erases any thought that the pair's partnership could have been more productive had just a few things gone differently… Highly recommended.”

– Civil War Books and Authors

"Through his dual portrait of Frémont and Lincoln, Bicknell demonstrates the complexities of Civil War-era politics… Bicknell displays a clear understanding of material related to Frémont’s life. His book combines a wide range of sources, including correspondence, diaries, newspaper articles, and legislative records… [The Pathfinder and the President] adds nuance to our understanding of emancipation, leadership, and the fractious politics of the Civil War era. Neither the Pathfinder nor President was “a faultless monster as the world ne’er saw” (283). Bicknell’s study is all the stronger for showing us why."

– Emerging Civil War

“John Bicknell . . . frames this story around the competing approaches to emancipation of President Abraham Lincoln and Union General John C. Fremont in a splendidly written new book . . .”

– New York Journal of Books

“John Bicknell’s engaging and insightful examination of the oft-troubled relationship between Abraham Lincoln and John C. Frémont during the American Civil War highlights the intertwining paths of the Republican party’s first two presidential candidates as they struggled, usually unsuccessfully, to work together to preserve the Union and destroy slavery. Not even Frémont’s wily wife, Jessie, could save her husband from his military missteps or the machinations of Missouri politics. The result reminds the reader of just how complicated politics might become in a time of national crisis.”

– Brooks D. Simpson, author of Ulysses S. Grant: Triumph Over Adversity, 1822-1865

“John Bicknell's flair for tightly rendered historical storytelling sits atop a foundation of sweeping research in this powerful tale of two widely disparate Civil War figures whose conflicting aims and ambitions illuminate the North's early western campaign and its later Appalachian struggles. A colorful and distinctive narrative.”

– Robert W. Merry, author of Decade of Disunion: How Massachusetts and South Carolina Led the Way to Civil War, 1849-1861

“John Bicknell’s The Pathfinder and the President is a masterwork of history. An engaging tale of John C. Frémont’s Civil War era actions, Bicknell deftly interweaves Frémont’s story with the grander narrative of the war and Abraham Lincoln’s presidency. A fun, informative, and compelling read that scholars and general readers alike will find of great value.”

– Jon D. Schaff, author of Abraham Lincoln's Statesmanship and the Limits of Liberal Democracy

“Here is a new, scrupulously balanced, view of the crucial relationship between President Abraham Lincoln and John C. Frémont, the Pathfinder, and his wife, the highly charged Jessie Benton Frémont during the Civil War. John Bicknell’s book provides deep research and vibrant prose in advancing our understanding of what exactly went wrong among them, a fall from grace for the Frémonts that ultimately left them—despite their good intentions and ardent principles—outside the pantheon of the Union’s greatest protagonists. This is a story of political maneuvers, military intrigue, and presidential punch told with dramatic flair and penetrating insight—a book every Civil War enthusiast must read.”

– Glenn W. LaFantasie, Editor of The Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association

"John Bicknell fills a gap in any Civil War buff's shelf with this deeply researched and brilliantly insightful biography of an American hero and first Republican presidential nominee. This richly detailed telling of John Fremont's stormy life includes a full portrait of his bold, talented, and sometimes headstrong wife, Jesse, who served as his chief advisor during his run for president and the tumultuous years of the Civil War, and had the nerve to take on Abraham Lincoln in defense of her husband. Bicknell reveals warts and all in his nuanced portrait of Fremont -- and there are some very prominent warts."

– Edward Achorn, author of Every Drop of Blood: The Momentous Second Inauguration of Abraham Lincoln and The Lincoln Miracle: Inside the Republican Convention That Changed History