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Gideon Welles - Lincoln's Secretary of the Navy (Hardcover)
Loot Price: R4,884
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Gideon Welles - Lincoln's Secretary of the Navy (Hardcover)
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First a successful journalist and organizer of pro-Jacksonian
Democrats in his home state of Connecticut and later a founder of
the Republican party and supporter of Lincoln's presidential bid,
Gideon Welles was forced to wait over 30 years for the cabinet post
he aspired to. His moment finally came as the country was sliding
into war, and after some early blunders Welles performed creditably
as Secretary of the Navy. There he revived and expanded the
painfully demoralized service and sponsored the development of
ironclads and ultimately, reluctantly, supported Johnson against
the Radical Republicans. Basically a politico, Welles clung to his
Jeffersonian principles even though he was twice forced out of
parties he had helped found. Niven sees Welles as an insecure man
whose rigid ideas "acted as sanctuaries for him in times of stress"
and, whatever the reasons, Welles' career certainly demonstrates
the political perils of consistency. As Welles was a prolific
diarist and (through his wife) close to the Lincoln family, his
life provides a panoramic view of 19th-century electoral politics.
Niven has made some perfunctory efforts towards literary biography
but the absence of a well-defined characterization and the overall
shapelessness of this large-scale work will limit its appeal for
non-specialists. (Kirkus Reviews)
A full-scale life and times biography of an important Civil War
figure.
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