The Worlds of James Buchanan and Thaddeus Stevens

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Those tempted to dismiss the likes of James Buchanan as a hopelessly outdated and uninteresting subject will find the will to resist that temptation strengthened by this volume. Putting Buchanan and Stevens together allows the authors and editors to incisively explore the interrelationship between personality, partisanship, and place. Conceiving of them as answering to border state constituents as well as operating in the socially distinctive capital of an expanding nation leads to real steps forward in understanding both figures. And in the essays, the scholarly talents of a stellar lineup of historians offer multiple insights on these figures and the tumultuous and complex world they inhabited and helped shape. Putting the themes of gender and relationship front and center allows this volume to productively and repeatedly connect the personal and the political."--Matthew Mason, author of Slavery and Politics in the Early American Republic"Until recently, James Buchanan and Thaddeus Stevens had only two things in common: they both called Lancaster, Pennsylvania, home, and they both had gotten a bum historical rap. As scholars reclaimed and celebrated Reconstruction's more radical goals of racial equality, Stevens' reputation improved accordingly. On the other hand, Buchanan's approval rating today remains about the same as it was in 1861. It should surprise no one that the two were not friends, they seemed to inhabit two distinct worlds. The original and insightful essays in this collection bring these two worlds together, providing new insight on the politics of sectionalism and Civil War, the friendships and political allegiances of Washington, D.C., and how the world we inhabit today is one both men helped to shape."--Judith Giesburg, author of Sex and the Civil War: Soldiers, Pornography, and the Making of American Morality"Buchanan is far from neglected, but this manuscript gives us new and valuable perspectives on the man in terms of politics and foreign policy, but particularly his personal relationships with friends and fellow politicos. The editors have been eclectic in crafting this worthy collection of essays... We have foreign policy and politics, rooted in traditional and non-traditional approaches, combined with chapters dealing with race, class, and gender. Clearly written and often provocative."--John Belohlavek, author of Broken Glass: Caleb Cushing and the Shattering of the Union