An absorbing political and legal biography of a complicated and
important figure of the 19th century. Niven (American
History/Claremont Graduate School; Martin Van Buren and the
Romantic Age of Politics, 1983, etc.) accomplishes for Salmon P.
Chase previously what he did for Martin Van Buren, rescuing him
from historical obscurity. Chase, a prominent politician and
jurist, is today best remembered as Lincoln's secretary of the
treasury, a post from which he secured funding to wage the Civil
War and oversaw the creation of a new national banking system. Born
in New Hampshire in 1808, he was shuttled off to relatives when
financial crisis struck his family after the death of his father.
Yet he still managed to attend Dartmouth. After studying law in
Washington, D.C., with Attorney General William Wirt, he moved to
Cincinnati, where he quickly became a leader in the antislavery
movement. He defended so many runaway slaves that he earned himself
the epithet "the attorney general of fugitive slaves." Serving in
the Senate and as governor of Ohio, he joined the new Republican
Party and sought its nomination for president in 1860, losing to
Lincoln. Instead, he accepted the treasury post. In 1864, Lincoln
named him chief justice of the Supreme Court, in which capacity he
is best known for presiding at the impeachment trial of President
Andrew Johnson, Lincoln's successor. Though Johnson wanted to
dismantle Reconstruction and was a staunch political opponent of
all Chase stood for, the justice reigned over the proceedings with
stony decorum, ensuring a fair trial that led to Johnson's
acquittal. Niven limms a complex portrait of a man he describes as
a tragic and ultimately unfulfilled figure. Chase spent his life in
public service but was egotistical and intensely ambitious. He was
a man of lofty principles who nonetheless compromised them at
important moments. With its thorough research and fine writing,
this volume surpasses the high standard Niven set for himself in
his biography of Van Buren. (Kirkus Reviews)
Salmon P. Chase was one of the preeminent men of 19th-century
America. A majestic figure, tall and stately, Chase was a leader in
the fight to end slavery, a brilliant administrator who as
Lincoln's Secretary of the Treasury provided crucial funding for a
vastly expensive war, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court during
the turmoil of Reconstruction, and the presiding officer of the
impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson. Yet he was also a
complex figure. As John Niven reveals in this magisterial
biography, Chase was a paradoxical blend of idealism and ambition.
If he stood for the highest moral purposes--the freedom and
equality of all mankind--these lofty ideas failed to mask a thirst
for power so deeply ingrained in his character that it drove away
many who shared his principles, but mistrusted his motives.
Niven provides a vivid description of Chase's early years--his
childhood in New Hampshire (where his father's failed business
venture and early death left the family all but destitute) and in
Ohio (where he was sent to live with his uncle Philander, an
Episcopal bishop), his education at Dartmouth, and his early law
career in Cincinnati. Niven shows how the plight of the slaves
stirred this reticent young lawyer, and how Chase gradually moved
to the forefront of the antislavery movement. At the same time, we
see how he used his growing prominence in the antislavery movement
to forward his political ambitions. Niven illuminates Chase's long
tenure as a public man. Twice elected United States Senator, twice
chosen governor of Ohio (then the third most populous state in the
Union), Chase organized the widespread but diffuse anti-slavery
movement into a workable political organization, the Free Soil
party (whose slogan "Free Soil, Free Labor, Freemen" Chase coined
himself). We read of Chase's work in Lincoln's war cabinet and his
tenure as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and we also follow
his many political maneuvers, his attempts to undercut rivals, and
his poorly run campaigns for presidential nominations. Niven also
provides an intimate portrait of Chase's family life--his loss of
three wives and four of his six children, and the unfortunate
marriage of his beautiful daughter Kate to a rich but dissolute
man--and a vivid picture of life at mid-century.
What emerges is a portrait of a tragic figure, whose high
qualities of heart and mind and whose many achievements were
ultimately tarnished by an often unseemly quest for power. It is a
striking look at an eminent statesman as well as a revealing
glimpse into political life in 19th-century America, all set
against a background of the anti-slavery movement, the Civil War,
and the turmoil of Reconstruction.
General
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