Jerks in History

[Linda Anderson]

"In the days before delivering the speech, Sumner had read a draft to Frances Seward. She strongly advised him to remove the personal attacks, including a reference to Butler's slight paralysis that slurred his speech. In this instance, Sumner did not heed her advice...

"News of the brutal assault, which left Sumner with severe injuries to his brain and spinal cord and kept him out of the Senate for three years, galvanized antislavery sentiment in the North...

"The beating reached into the people's hearts and minds, which political events rarely touch, the historian William Gienapp has argued. It 'proved a powerful stimulus in driving moderates and conservatives into the Republican party.'"

Team of Rivals