It's on to Part 2 of my list of presidential biographies, taking us through the period from the Civil War to the end of the nineteenth century. Moving right along:
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
Lincoln remains a political figure that I deeply admire, despite his flaws. The first president who I might label a liberal pragmatist, he brought a formidable legal mind and political skill to the office at a crucial juncture in American history. Having read a lot about the Civil War era (which might be the subject of a future post), the 16th President fills a fair amount of shelf space in my library.
Honor's Voice: The Transformation of Abraham Lincoln by Douglas L. Wilson
Fascinating book that focuses on his personal development prior to reaching the White House. I found out that friends thought that his religious skepticism might deter his achieving high office among other things. A very worthwhile read if you want to gain insight into President Lincoln.
Abraham Lincoln: The Prairie Years and the War Years by Carl Sandburg
A single-volume edition of what had been a two-volume work. Sandburg's bio was very popular at one time (and in my household growing up), and it is also very dated in some of its perspectives and contains many factual errors. Unreliable as a work of history, it is a fine literary work.
Abraham Lincoln by D.W. Brogan
This book was a gift to me many years ago from someone who wondered if I would be put off by it. I wasn't. The author is kinder to Lincoln's antagonists Stephen A. Douglas and General George McClellan than I would be, but he assesses Lincoln to have been a great man. No challenge to the consensus there.
Abraham Lincoln: A Biography by Benjamin P. Thomas
A Modern Library reprint of a book originally published in 1952, it covers plenty of familiar ground very nicely. I recall that his commentary on the 1860 Republican Convention is especially well done.
With Malice Toward None: The Life of Abraham Lincoln by Stephen B. Oates
A more modern biography by an author who also wrote a fine bio about Martin Luther King (a subject for a future post). He covers familiar ground, of course (and was accused of plagiarism as a result), but I felt that he covered that familiar ground adroitly. From the difficulties, and many defeats, along the road to political success to growing into the role of wartime leader, trying to balance his sincere opposition to slavery with preservation of the nation, Oates provides a fine portrait of a complex and driven individual.
Abraham Lincoln: The Man Behind the Myths by Stephen B. Oates
Oates comes back for more with Lincoln. He points out that the mythmaking regarding Lincoln began almost immediately following his assassination in 1865. Martyrdom will do that for one's reputation. Oates points out the inaccuracies and presents a very human portrait of the 16th President, filled with flaws as well as impressive virtues. Very worthwhile for those wishing to take a nuanced view of this extraordinary President.
Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words That Remade America by Garry Wills
Wills places the Gettysburg Address in historical and intellectual context. Very well done, and similar to Oates, he blasts away at some popular myths regarding the speech and its development.
Abraham Lincoln and the Second American Revolution by James M. McPherson
A leading Civil War historian offers his perspective on Lincoln in seven engrossing essays. Very interesting and persuasive.
Reelecting Lincoln: The Battle for the 1864 Presidency by John C. Waugh
Lest we forget, President Lincoln was an astute and capable politician. This book delves into the politics of a presidential election during a time of civil war. Well written and filled with drama, the leading political figures of the time, including the President himself, are well portrayed. Lincoln's re-election was not a foregone conclusion and the military situation was the key to determining the outcome. Successfully re-nominated, the Democrats offered up General George McClellan as their nominee. A popular, if inept, past commander of the Union army, it was anticipated that he would carry the soldier vote. He did not, and Lincoln won a second term, that he would not live to finish out.
The Lincoln Murder Conspiracies by William Hanchett
The assassination of President Lincoln was the result of the only proven presidential assassination conspiracy in US history. Belief that the conspiracy ran far deeper was widespread at the time and beyond and fueled conspiracy theories long after the event. Hanchett explains what actually happened, what John Wilkes Booth had originally planned, which was to be a kidnapping, and how it ended up as an assassination (the only one of several planned for that night that came to fruition, although Secretary of State Seward survived a brutal attack). The author adroitly explores the conspiracy theories, debunking each in turn. Very readable and interesting.
Pending: Lincoln by David Herbert Donald
ANDREW JOHNSON
A pro-Union Tennesseean who was a Democrat, Johnson found himself as Lincoln's running mate in 1864 on a union ticket. Thrust into the White House upon Lincoln's death, Johnson proved that he was sympathetic to his fellow southerners when it came to Reconstruction, which put him at odds with the Republican Congress and led to his being the first president to be impeached (avoiding conviction by a single vote). Not a sympathetic character by any means.
Andrew Johnson: A Biography by Hans L. Trefousse
A thorough bio that follows the track from his early life to a failed presidency.
The Impeachment and Trial of Andrew Johnson by Michael Les Benedict
A thorough study of the political situation that led to Johnson's impeachment. There were complexities that went beyond Reconstruction and President Johnson's handling of his office which factor into why he avoided conviction.
ULYSSES S. GRANT
I long bought into the prevailing opinion that Grant was an overrated general and terrible president. My attitude began to change after I had read deeply about the Civil War. I came to appreciate his performance as a down-to-earth military commander. Would that he had left it at that. Allowing himself to be propelled into the White House put him into an office for which he was less well suited. He deserves credit for supporting his party's Reconstruction policy and trying to protect the civil rights of the freed slaves. His administration was badly stained by corruption (although not by him personally). Rumors of heavy drinking dogged him from the time of his service following the Mexican-American War, apparently exaggerated by his enemies.
Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant
Written while he was nearly broke and dying of cancer, Grant's memoirs are quite readable and revealing.
Grant: A Biography by William S. McFeely
Very thorough bio of the eighteenth President and well worthwhile.
U.S. Grant: American Hero, American Myth by Joan Waugh
An excellent study of Grant's life, death, memorialization, and the development of his reputation and popular perception over the years.
Pending: Grant Takes Command by Bruce Catton & Ulysses S. Grant: Triumph Over Adversity, 1822-1865
RUTHERFORD B. HAYES
Elected in 1876 in a genuinely disputed election that had to be decided by an Electoral Commission, President Hayes endured a difficult term in office. Other than that, he is perhaps best remembered for his wife, dubbed "Lemonade Lucy", who forbade the serving of alcohol in the White House. She was also the first First Lady to have a college degree and was an advocate for African-Americans who invited the first African-American musician to the White House. Maybe someone should write a biography about her. I have yet to obtain a biography of President Hayes.
Pending: Fraud of the Century: Rutherford B. Hayes, Samuel Tilden, and the Stolen Election of 1876 by Roy Morris, Jr.
JAMES GARFIELD
The second president to be assassinated was a surprise nominee at the 1880 Republican Convention.
Dark Horse: The Surprise Election and Political Murder of President James A. Garfield by Kenneth D. Ackerman
Excellent account of the political situation in 1880 that led to Garfield's nomination and election. The factionalized Republican Party had stymied President Hayes and led to the nomination of the "dark horse" Garfield who won a stunningly close general election. The story is filled with drama and intrigue and contains an excellent account of the assassination itself that led to the twentieth President's death two months later.
CHESTER A. ARTHUR
The urbane and amiable 21st President, known as "Chet" to his friends in New York society, was added to the 1880 Republican ticket as a sop to the Stalwart faction of the Republican Party and its leader, New York Senator Roscoe Conkling. With expectations low upon his accession to the presidency upon Garfield's death, President Arthur made an effort to prove that he could rise above faction and party and made a generally good impression. The Civil Service Commission was an enduring part of his legacy.
The 22nd and 24th President, due to his serving non-consecutive terms (I will list him just one time here), Cleveland was elected the first time, in 1884, in an extremely dirty campaign in which the then-bachelor admitted to having fathered a child out of wedlock, which enhanced his reputation for honesty. A conservative Democrat, he proved to be an able and hard-working administrator. His return to the White House in 1893 was marred by a severe economic depression. President Cleveland did marry during his first term, and Frances Cleveland, the youngest First Lady at 21 (he was 49), was popular with the public and a counter-balance to the President's dour personality.
The last Civil War veteran to reach the White House, McKinley was long dismissed as an unwitting tool of his campaign manager and financier Mark Hanna. Biographers have concluded otherwise, as you will see. He twice defeated Democrat William Jennings Bryan, who ran a strong liberal populist campaign against McKinley in 1896 and emphasized imperialism in the 1900 rematch, as a result of the Spanish-American War acquisitions, most notably the Philippines. In 1901 the 25th President was assassinated by an anarchist (the terrorist threat du jour) just a few months into his second term.
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