Paul Kendrick Books In Order

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Paul Kendrick
Paul Kendrick is a non-fiction author best known for his debut novels Nine Days and Douglass and Lincoln, that he co-authored with his father. Kendrick is also a leader, speaker, adjunct professor at National Louis University, and the Executive Director of Rust Belt Rising.
Previously, Kendrick served in President Obama’s office and worked tirelessly to recruit talent for different teams in the administration. He also worked with Governor J.B. Pritzker in his campaign and played a huge role in pushing President Obama to the White House.
Kendrick and his wife Kori live in Chicago with their cats.

Douglass and Lincoln
Douglas and Lincoln tells the story of two men who contributed immensely to the end of slavery and the outcome of the civil war. Lincoln and Douglass came from different worlds and led different lives. However, they had one thing in common – both were self-made men.

In this book, Paul Kendrick recreates the political battles that characterized the mid-nineteenth century. He mainly concentrates on the three historic meetings between Lincoln and Fredrick that changed the course of the Civil war.

He also explains the politicians’ personal lives and the obstacles they both had to overcome as they chased their dreams.
Lincoln was born poor and had a cruel man for a father. Until he reached the age of 21, Lincoln had no choice but to obey his overbearing father and put up with his abuse.

He would later become a politician and the sixteenth president in the U.S., but the journey to the top wasn’t easy for him.
Lincoln had to educate himself and go to extra lengths to get admitted to the bar. Once he joined the state legislature, Lincoln would remain vocal about the plight of minority groups.

He would fail a few senate bids for fighting against slavery, but his hard work was eventually rewarded when he ran for president.
Douglass was a slave, and he did not even know his father though he suspected it was the man who owned him. He also rose to become a politician, but not the self-seeking type.

Douglass was dedicated to fighting against slavery and ensuring justice for African Americans. He would go to start his movement after the abolitionist movement failed to damage slavery.

When Lincoln became president in 1860, Douglas wasn’t happy because he thought that the president was unwilling to enforce anti-slave laws. However, the two would become friends, and Douglass thought that their common childhood made it easy for them to relate and deliberate on slavery issues.
After Lincoln died, Douglass continued fighting for civil rights and justice, but he now had more ruthless and unsupportive presidents to deal with.
In elegant prose, the author parallels Lincoln and Douglass’s lives and gives insights into how this unusual relationship came to be at a time where blacks were seen as inferior.

Even if you know a lot about Lincoln and Douglass, this book will give you a unique picture of these two men.
Douglass and Lincoln is a captivating read perfect for anyone interested in U.S. history. The author has done an excellent job of capturing the essence of two leaders involved in the struggle for civil rights.

He goes over the three historic meetings between Lincoln and Douglass in detail and highlights some of the changes born out of these meetings.

Nine Days
Nine Days documents the events that unfolded when Martin Luther King, Jr. was arrested barely two weeks before the 1960 presidential election. Thirty-one-year-old King was arrested at a department store in Atlanta, and a traffic ticket was used as the reason for keeping him in prison. He would later be transferred to Reidsville, a state prison in Georgia where Violent white guards supervised black inmates.
News about this arrest spread throughout the country. The two presidential candidates, Richard Nixon and John F Kennedy were forced to answer why the controversial civil rights leader was behind bars.

Before MLK was jailed, the majority of blacks supported Republican candidates since the party seemed to be against segregation. However, a less than two minutes phone conversation between Coretta King and JFK on the plight of her son’s detention changed thousands of black voters’ stand.
This is despite the fact that Nickson and MLK had a personal relationship, and he had previously been identified as the civil rights candidate.
In nine days, the fate of the presidential election was sealed, and a man who wasn’t so popular amongst the minorities suddenly shot to the top. This change has grown deeper over the years, and today, it is clear that not much has changed where voting trends are concerned.

This book is also a tribute to the three men who made a difference and fought for MLK’s freedom. First, there is Louis Martin, a journalist who covered the movement’s events, JFK’s brother, Sargent Shriver, and Harris Wofford, a human rights attorney.

Louis Martin is rarely talked about in history’s retelling, but he played a big part in JFK’s win. Sargent Shriver established the Peace Corps while Harris Wofford became P.A.’s senator before Rick Santorum unseated him.

These three men believed in MLK and his dedication to fighting for civil rights. They walked the talk and, through a series of unforeseen events, propelled JFK to the Whitehouse.

This book is based on newspaper accounts, fresh interviews, and archival research. The author has done an excellent job of piecing these details and creating a political thriller that you will not want to put down.

If you are an American history lover, you will enjoy every bit of this book.

Nine Days is a riveting read on the events that led to an October surprise in the presidential election of 1960. During this period, the civil rights movement was in full swing, but white politicians were either silent or fighting against it. With two white politicians on the race, the minorities’ votes were divided.

However, a team in Kennedy’s campaigns decided to agitate for King’s release, and this saw the presidency tilt to his favor.