Author Talk: Raymond J. McKoski, 8 October | Event in Bloomington | AllEvents

Author Talk: Raymond J. McKoski

David Davis Mansion

Highlights

Wed, 08 Oct, 2025 at 07:00 pm

1000 Monroe Dr, Bloomington, IL, United States, Illinois 61701

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Date & Location

Wed, 08 Oct, 2025 at 07:00 pm (CDT)

1000 Monroe Dr, Illinois 61701

1000 Monroe Dr, Bloomington, IL 61701-3333, United States

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About the event

Author Talk: Raymond J. McKoski
Join us at the mansion for an evening with Raymond McKoski, author of David Davis, Abraham Lincoln's Favorite Judge!


About the Book:


One of Abraham Lincoln’s staunchest and most effective allies, Judge David Davis masterminded the floor fight that gave Lincoln the presidential nomination at the 1860 Republican National Convention. This history-changing event emerged from a long friendship between the two men. It also altered the course of Davis’s career, as Lincoln named him to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1862.


Raymond J. McKoski offers a biography of Davis’s public life, his impact on the presidency and judiciary, and his personal, professional, and political relationships with Lincoln. Davis lent his vast network of connections, organizational and leadership abilities, and personal persuasiveness to help Lincoln’s political rise. When Davis became a judge, he honed an ability to hear each case with complete impartiality, a practice that endeared him to Lincoln but one day put him at odds with the president over important Civil War–era rulings. McKoski details these cases while providing an in-depth account of Davis’s role in Lincoln’s two unsuccessful campaigns for U.S. Senate and the fateful run for the presidency.


About the Author:


Raymond J. McKoski is a retired Illinois Circuit Judge and adjunct professor at the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law. He is the author of Judges in Street Clothes: Acting Ethically Off-the-Bench.


Copies of McKoski's book will be available for purchase after the program in the Clover Lawn Museum shop, inside the David Davis Mansion. You can also purchase a book in advance on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/David-Davis-Abraham-Lincolns-Favorite/dp/0252046633


A short reception and book-signing will follow.


Advanced registration is REQUIRED as space is limited, and will open on September 1. Please check back for an online link for registration.


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Ticket Info

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1000 Monroe Dr, Bloomington, IL, United States, Illinois 61701
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David Davis Mansion

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Author Talk: Raymond J. McKoski, 8 October | Event in Bloomington | AllEvents
Author Talk: Raymond J. McKoski
Wed, 08 Oct, 2025 at 07:00 pm