In Abraham Lincoln, Public Speaker, Waldo W. Braden presents a thought-provoking study of the sixteenth president's rhetorical style. In his discussion of Lincoln's speaking practices from 1854 through 1865, Braden draws extensively on Lincoln's papers and the reports of those who knew him and heard him speak. He portrays Lincoln in his various shows how Lincoln adapted to the public's growing recognition of his political abilities.

In separate chapters devoted to Lincoln's three most famous speeches, the First Inaugural Address, the Gettysburg Address, and the Second Inaugural Address, Braden analyses the ways in which each demonstrated Lincoln's persuasive abilities during the difficult years of the Civil War. Braden does not claim that Lincoln was an orator in the grand, classical style of Daniel Webster, Edward Everett, and Charles Summer. But he shows that Lincoln was a gifted speaker in his own right, able to win support by demonstrating that he was a man of common sense and good moral character.