Edwin Stanton

[Gene C]

What's a good biography on Stanton?

[Rob Wick]

Gene,

There's only two available of any recent vintage.

The best is Benjamin Thomas and Harold Hyman's biography, written in 1962. The other, less useful is by Fletcher Pratt written earlier in 1953.

Best
Rob

[Craig Hipkins]

Gene,

There is also Flower's biography of Stanton. It was published back in the early 1900s I believe. You can download it free on Google Books.

Craig

[Joe Di Cola]

Gene,

There's only two available of any recent vintage.

The best is Benjamin Thomas and Harold Hyman's biography, written in 1962. The other, less useful is by Fletcher Pratt written earlier in 1953.

Best
Rob

Rob,

I agree. With Thomas's untimely death, Hyman took the notes and masterfully finished the biography. I am looking forward to the new Seward biography, and hope it does for Seward what the Thomas-Hyman bio did for Stanton.

Joe

[Laurie Verge]

There is another book in the final stages of publication that I have had the opportunity to peruse. Entitled American Braggadocio, it examines Seward's abilities in foreign affairs - especially in the early years of the Lincoln administration.

[Gene C]

Just ordered the one by Thomas and Hyman. After I read it, I'll let you know what I think about it. Thanks for the reccommendations.

[Gene C]

Thomas Thorne wrote on post 112 in What are you reading now:
"I first read the Vallandigham death story years ago in American Heritage and remembered the story as V testing the gun in front of the jury and shooting himself. In rereading the account in Wiki,I overlooked the part where it clearly said it was done in a hotel room showing other attorneys his defense of a client. Sorry for the error. "

Stanton did something similiar - with better results.
"Defending a prisoner on a charge of first-degree murder, he deliberately swallowed some of the poison which had allegedly killed the victim in order to prove that because it could not be retained, the liquid could not kill. Horribly sick, he vomited it up, and saved his client's neck."
(from Stanton The Life and Times of Lincoln's Secretary of War" by Benjamin Thomas and Harold Wyman p. 57)

[RJNorton]

Pass the Pepto Bismol, please.

[L Verge]

Man, that's devotion to one's client!!

[Mark MacKenzie]

Wow, Gene, amazing story.

[LincolnMan]

That's interesting Gene. I'm reminded that I have had colleagues who are psychiatrists- take antipsychotic medications-not because they need them (perhaps an opinion!)-but because they said they wanted to see what effect they might have on them. On second thought, maybe they actually did need them.

[Thomas Thorne]

There are possibly two reasons why there have been no Stanton bios since Thomas and Hyman published their book in 1962

1-The Thomas-Hyman book was so good
2-A serious shortage of Stanton personal documents held by Stanton descendants and official institutions. I remember Hyman lamenting about this in the book. Stanton's friends begged him to keep a diary but he refused. As a result we see much of the world of Lincoln's cabinet thru the eyes of Gideon Welles' diary and Welles bore Stanton no love.

Imagine if Stanton had been as eager to preserve his version of events as let us say Winston Churchill. We might know substantially more about the Lincoln Assassination but that very knowledge might make the subject less mysterious and interesting.
Tom

[L Verge]

Interesting that y'all should mention the psychiatric end of things when I just finished reading the chapter about Mary Lincoln's problems in the new book, The Mary Lincoln Enigma.

This comment is directed at Mike B. and Donna McCreary, who contributed chapters to the book as well as Mike being an editor. I still have about fifty pages to go (just starting the one by Jason Emerson - love his writings - on Mrs. Lincoln's relationship with Robert); but, in my opinion, no one needs to write another book about that First Lady. This one covers every aspect that you can ask for in a single volume. It approaches Mary from all sides, both positive and negative; and so far, I am coming away with even more sympathy and understanding for the lady.

I highly recommend it - even for the men among us who might view her as an albatross around Mr. Lincoln's neck. It turned out to be much more than I expected

[Jim Page]

I just finished reading the chapter about Mary Lincoln's problems in the new book, The Mary Lincoln Enigma.

Believe it or not, my biggest problem with MTL was her overuse of commas in her writings. It gives me the fantods.

--Jim

[L Verge]

I know I am going to regret asking this, Jim, but what is a fantod?