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This book restores Aaron Burr to his place as a central figure in the founding of the American Republic. Abolitionist, proto-feminist, friend to such Indian leaders as Joseph Brant, Burr was personally acquainted with a wider range of Americans, and of the American continent, than any other Founder ...

This book restores Aaron Burr to his place as a central figure in the founding of the American Republic. Abolitionist, proto-feminist, friend to such Indian leaders as Joseph Brant, Burr was personally acquainted with a wider range of Americans, and of the American continent, than any other Founder except George Washington. He contested for power with Hamilton and then with Jefferson on a continental scale. The book does not sentimentalize any of its three protagonists, neither does it derogate their extraordinary qualities. They were all great men, all flawed, and all three failed to achieve their full aspirations. But their struggles make for an epic tale. Written from the perspective of a historian and administrator who, over nearly fifty years in public life, has served six presidents, this book penetrates into the personal qualities of its three central figures. In telling the tale of their shifting power relationships and their antipathies, it reassesses their policies and the consequences of their successes and failures. Fresh information about the careers of Hamilton and Burr is derived from newly-discovered sources, and a supporting cast of secondary figures emerges to give depth and irony to the principal narrative. This is a book for people who know how political life is lived, and who refuse to be confined within preconceptions and prejudices until they have weighed all the evidence, to reach their own conclusions both as to events and character. This is a controversial book, but not a confrontational one, for it is written with sympathy for men of high aspirations, who were disappointed in much, but who succeeded, in all three cases, to a degree not hitherto fully understood.

Drawing upon Lewis Cass's voluminous private papers, correspondence, and published works, Willard Carl Klunder provides the first comprehensive biography of the man who was the Democratic spokesman for the Old Northwest for more than half a century. A champion of spread-eagle expansionism and an ...

Drawing upon Lewis Cass's voluminous private papers, correspondence, and published works, Willard Carl Klunder provides the first comprehensive biography of the man who was the Democratic spokesman for the Old Northwest for more than half a century. A champion of spread-eagle expansionism and an ardent nationalist, Cass subscribed to the Jeffersonian political philosophy, embracing the principles of individual liberty; the sovereignty of the people; equality of rights and opportunities for all citizens; and a strictly construed and balanced constitutional government of limited powers. Cass was a significant player in American politics, from the Burr conspiracy during Thomas Jefferson's presidency, through the Trent affair of the Lincoln administration. During his career, he served as a prosecuting attorney, state legislator, federal marshal, army officer, territorial governor, secretary of war, minister to France, United States senator, and secretary of state. More than any other individual, he was responsible for the growth of Michigan from a frontier territory to the threshold of statehood. Aptly named the "father of popular sovereignty", Cass championed this doctrine that provided an expedient solution to the volatile question of slavery expansion for a decade. A vehement opponent of slavery, Cass supported the right of citizens in each state or territory to decide the question for themselves. Klunder presents a balanced and insightful look into the character and career of this significant 19th-century Michigan politician. Lewis Cass emerges as a bright symbol of antebellum nationalism and political moderation. Lewis Cass and the Politics of Moderation will be of interest to anyoneconcerned with American biography, White-Indian relations and the coming of the Civil War.

Preeminent Civil War historian Frank Vandiver always longed to see an interpretive biography of Jefferson Davis. Finally, more than twenty years after Vandiver expressed that wish, publication of Jefferson Davis, Unconquerable Heart makes such an interpretive biography available. Felicity Allen ...

Preeminent Civil War historian Frank Vandiver always longed to see an interpretive biography of Jefferson Davis. Finally, more than twenty years after Vandiver expressed that wish, publication of Jefferson Davis, Unconquerable Heart makes such an interpretive biography available. Felicity Allen begins this monumental work with Davis's political imprisonment at the end of the Civil War & masterfully flashes back to his earlier life, interweaving Davis's private life as a schoolboy, a Mississippi planter, a husband, a father, & a political leader. She follows him from West Point through army service on the frontier, his election to the U.S. House of Representatives, his regimental command in the Mexican War, his service as U.S. secretary of war & senator, & his term as president of the Confederate States of America. Although Davis's family is the nexus of this biography, friends & enemies also play a major role. Among his friends fully explored in this book are such political greats as Andrew Jackson, John C. Calhoun, Zachary Taylor, Franklin Pierce, & Robert E. Lee. With the use of contemporary accounts & Davis's own correspondence, Jefferson Davis, Unconquerable Heart casts new light upon this remarkable man, thawing the icy image of Davis in previous accounts. Felicity Allen shows a strong, yet gentle man; a stern soldier who loved horses, guns, poetry, & children; a master of the English language; a man of powerful feelings who held them in such tight control that he was considered cold; & a home-loving Mississippian who was drawn into a vortex of national events & eventual catastrophe. Davis's Christian view of life runs like a thread throughout the book as shown by his devotion to his family, to the land, & to God. "Duty, honor, country" always occupied Davis's mind. Jefferson Davis, Unconquerable Heart brings Davis to life in a way that has never been done before. The variety of his experience, the breadth of his learning, & the consistency of his beliefs make this historical figure eminently worth knowing.