The Treasure Coast of Florida had been inhabited by indigenous peoples for many centuries when pioneer settlers began arriving from other parts of the United States in the late 1800s. When the town of Vero was incorporated in 1919, it was one of several growing communities in the area. By 1925, when it became known as the city of Vero Beach and was designated the seat of the newly formed Indian River County, this small but prosperous coastal city was poised to become a thriving tropical destination that has managed to maintain a small-town atmosphere. In addition to its captivating natural beauty, Vero Beach has been home to a world-renowned citrus industry, a World War II naval air station, the Dodgers major-league baseball organization, the Piper Aircraft Company, and a vibrant cultural life.

“Captivating . . . [Lowenstein] makes what subsequently occurred at Treasury and on Wall Street during the early 1860s seem as enthralling as what transpired on the battlefield or at the White House.” —Harold Holzer, Wall Street Journal “Ways and Means, an account of the Union’s financial policies, examines a subject long overshadowed by military narratives . . . Lowenstein is a lucid stylist, able to explain financial matters to readers who lack specialized knowledge.” —Eric Foner, New York Times Book Review From renowned journalist and master storyteller Roger Lowenstein, a revelatory financial investigation into how Lincoln and his administration used the funding of the Civil War as the catalyst to centralize the government and accomplish the most far-reaching reform in the country’s history Upon his election to the presidency, Abraham Lincoln inherited a country in crisis. Even before the Confederacy’s secession, the United States Treasury had run out of money. The government had no authority to raise taxes, no federal bank, no currency. But amid unprecedented troubles Lincoln saw opportunity—the chance to legislate in the centralizing spirit of the “more perfect union” that had first drawn him to politics. With Lincoln at the helm, the United States would now govern “for” its people: it would enact laws, establish a currency, raise armies, underwrite transportation and higher education, assist farmers, and impose taxes for them. Lincoln believed this agenda would foster the economic opportunity he had always sought for upwardly striving Americans, and which he would seek in particular for enslaved Black Americans. Salmon Chase, Lincoln’s vanquished rival and his new secretary of the Treasury, waged war on the financial front, levying taxes and marketing bonds while desperately battling to contain wartime inflation. And while the Union and Rebel armies fought increasingly savage battles, the Republican-led Congress enacted a blizzard of legislation that made the government, for the first time, a powerful presence in the lives of ordinary Americans. The impact was revolutionary. The activist 37th Congress legislated for homesteads and a transcontinental railroad and involved the federal government in education, agriculture, and eventually immigration policy. It established a progressive income tax and created the greenback—paper money. While the Union became self-sustaining, the South plunged into financial free fall, having failed to leverage its cotton wealth to finance the war. Founded in a crucible of anticentralism, the Confederacy was trapped in a static (and slave-based) agrarian economy without federal taxing power or other means of government financing, save for its overworked printing presses. This led to an epic collapse. Though Confederate troops continued to hold their own, the North’s financial advantage over the South, where citizens increasingly went hungry, proved decisive; the war was won as much (or more) in the respective treasuries as on the battlefields. Roger Lowenstein reveals the largely untold story of how Lincoln used the urgency of the Civil War to transform a union of states into a nation. Through a financial lens, he explores how this second American revolution, led by Lincoln, his cabinet, and a Congress studded with towering statesmen, changed the direction of the country and established a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.

Nestled along the Atlantic coastline between Daytona Beach and Fort Lauderdale, Vero Beach is a hidden gem. With it's oak-canopied streets, turtle conservation efforts, rich cultural opportunities, frequent festivals, and rich history, Vero Beach and its neighboring communities epitomize the quintessential beach-side town. City leaders have worked hard for decades to prevent high-rises from blocking ocean views, and residents support locally-owned shops and farms to protect this last vestige of old Florida. The result is a charming community that appreciates being different. Whether you are a lover of the sea, history, art, food or spirits, you will no doubt find what you're looking for on Florida's Treasure Coast. We invite you to fall in love with Vero Beach, Sebastian and Fort Pierce, and the best way to start is with our list of the fifty reasons we became smitten.

I used to get extremely burnt out and couldn't even handle booking a hotel or flight when I did have time off. I thought ?Wouldn't it be awesome if someone would write a guide that gave you one perfect escape; the perfect hotel, spa, flight and restaurant.? So that's what I did. This is my guide to Vero Beach in Florida ? a real discovery. Even if I?d just stayed in the hotel I?d have been enjoying the best of Florida ? the room, the hot tub, the spa? massage, dining, view? With an unspoilt beach full of turtle nests, a shipwreck, sharks, and an old fashioned main street, it really is an exceptional place to escape to.