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Lincoln's Autocrat: The Life of Edwin Stanton

Online ISBN:
9781469623313
Print ISBN:
9781469622491
Publisher:
University of North Carolina Press
Book

Lincoln's Autocrat: The Life of Edwin Stanton

Published online:
21 January 2016
Published in print:
15 April 2015
Online ISBN:
9781469623313
Print ISBN:
9781469622491
Publisher:
University of North Carolina Press

Abstract

Edwin M. Stanton (1814–1869), one of the nineteenth century's most impressive legal and political minds, wielded enormous influence and power as Abraham Lincoln's Secretary of War during most of the Civil War and under Andrew Johnson during the early years of Reconstruction. This biography offers a detailed reexamination of Stanton's life, career, and legacy. The text argues that while Stanton was a formidable advocate and politician, his character was hardly benign. Climbing from a difficult youth to the pinnacle of power, Stanton used his authority—and the public coffers—to pursue political vendettas, and he exercised sweeping wartime powers with a cavalier disregard for civil liberties.

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