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Lincoln's Autocrat: The Life of Edwin Stanton - Paperback | Diverse Reads

Lincoln's Autocrat: The Life of Edwin Stanton

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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.

ISBN-13: 9781469636153

Media Type: Paperback

Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press

Publication Date: 08-01-2017

Pages: 632

Product Dimensions: 6.10(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.40(d)

Series: Civil War America

William Marvel's many books include A Place Called Appomattox, Andersonville: The Last Depot, Lincoln's Darkest Year, and Tarnished Victory.

What People are Saying About This

Daniel E. Sutherland

This is easily the most comprehensive biography of Edwin M. Stanton ever written. Lincoln's Autocrat will doubtless stir debate over both Stanton’s character and his role in the war, but that is clearly this book's very purpose. Marvel's erudite and probing interpretation will unquestionably stand as the definitive biography of this overlooked key player in Lincoln's cabinet for the current, and likely the next, generation of readers.

From the Publisher

This is easily the most comprehensive biography of Edwin M. Stanton ever written. Lincoln's Autocrat will doubtless stir debate over both Stanton's character and his role in the war, but that is clearly this book's very purpose. Marvel's erudite and probing interpretation will unquestionably stand as the definitive biography of this overlooked key player in Lincoln's cabinet for the current, and likely the next, generation of readers.—Daniel E. Sutherland, author of A Savage Conflict: The Role of Guerrillas in the American Civil War



With Lincoln's Autocrat, William Marvel has delivered another fine book, prodigiously researched and told in his trademark lucid, fast-paced narrative style. A seasoned scholar, Marvel casts his net wide in evaluating Stanton and his contribution to the war and to the political culture of the postwar period, navigating the intersections of the era's legal system and the convoluted political culture like only a writer such as he can.—Stephen D. Engle, author of Don Carlos Buell: Most Promising of All

Stephen D. Engle

With Lincoln's Autocrat, William Marvel has delivered another fine book, prodigiously researched and told in his trademark lucid, fast-paced narrative style. A seasoned scholar, Marvel casts his net wide in evaluating Stanton and his contribution to the war and to the political culture of the postwar period, navigating the intersections of the era's legal system and the convoluted political culture like only a writer such as him can.