This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1905 edition. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER LXXI. STORM-SWEPT. It was snowing and blustering on the day Stanton was born-- December 19,1814; blowing and drifting on the evening of his marriage--December 31, 1836; sleeting and gusty on the day his wife Mary was buried--March, 1844; dangerously tempestuous during his ocean trip to California in 1858; snowing and drifting when he was summoned from Pittsburg to a place in Buchanan's cabinet in December, 1860; blowing a gale when he was selected to be secretary of war in Lincoln's cabinet in January, 1862; snow-squalling and boisterous when, just a week later, he took the cabinet minister's oath of office; cyclonic the night he steamed down the Chesapeake to capture Norfolk and sink the Mcrrimac in May, 1862; rainy and stormy when President Grant selected him to be an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court in December, 1869; witheringly cold and windy when (December 20) he arose from the sick-bed to go to the White House to thank Grant in person for the honor thus conferred upon him; sleeting and storming on the night of his death (December 24, 1869) and cold, foggy, drizzling, and gloomy on the day of his burial--December 27, 1869. Every hour of his public service--Prosecuting-Attorney of Harrison County, Ohio; Public Prosecutor of Steubenville; Government Attorney in the enormous California land frauds; AttorneyGeneral in Buchanan's cabinet; Secretary of War under Lincoln and Secretary of War under Johnson--was a contest with the enemies of his country and of society. He was racked by asthma from childhood; denounced and assailed incessantly during his entire career as Secretary of War; crowded out of office after a stormy but patriotic struggle in which he prevented President Johnson from seizing the army, ..

Edwin M. Stanton (1814-1869), one of the nineteenth century's most impressive legal and political minds, wielded enormous influence and power as Lincoln's secretary of war during most of the Civil War and under Johnson during the early years of Reconstruction. In the first full biography of Stanton in more than fifty years, William Marvel offers a detailed reexamination of Stanton's life, career, and legacy. Marvel 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. Though Lincoln's ability to harness a cabinet with sharp divisions and strong personalities is widely celebrated, Marvel suggests that Stanton's tenure raises important questions about Lincoln's actual control over the executive branch. This insightful biography also reveals why men like Ulysses S. Grant considered Stanton a coward and a bully, who was unashamed to use political power for partisan enforcement and personal preservation.

"Of the crucial men close to President Lincoln, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton (1814-1869) was the most powerful and controversial. Stanton raised, armed, and supervised the army of a million men who won the Civil War. He organized the war effort. He directed military movements from his telegraph office, where Lincoln literally hung out with him ... Now with this worthy complement to the enduring library of biographical accounts of those who helped Lincoln preserve the Union, Stanton honors the indispensable partner of the sixteenth president"--