Overview

"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."

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Reviews

John Niven adds significantly to our understanding not just of Chase, but of the political and moral context of the mid-nineteenth century...Combining outstanding research with novel-like prose, Niven's work will likely tower for years to come as the definitive biography of Salmon P. Chase. * The Historian * a balanced view of chase...a vivid sketch of one who moved through 'turbulent years as a majestic figure with an air of conscious superiority that many found repellent'...Niven's scholarship is impeccable. His writing is deft....presents a fascinating case study of the relationship between personal ambition and social progress. * Lexington Herald Leader, *

<br> John Niven...presents a meticulous study of Chase--the man and the politician. In the process, he throws a laser beam on the inner-workings of the Lincoln presidency and, more broadly, the politics of the age....Salmon P. Chase is a fine biography of a complex man maneuvering through a complex time. --The Times (Trenton)<br> One of the Salmon P. Chase paradoxes is the fact that, among Lincoln's contemporaries, he has been relatively neglected because of his very importance. He was engaged in such a wide range of public activities as to intimidate biographers. Now, having mastered the sources, John Niven in the first comprehensive biography re-creates the man in all his complexity, personal as well as political. The book is as readable as it is authoritative. --Richard Nelson Current<br> A brilliant account of the public and personal life of one of the most complex and fascinating major figures of the Civil War era. --Kenneth Stampp, author of America in 1857: A Nation on the Brink

John Niven...presents a meticulous study of Chase--the man and the politician. In the process, he throws a laser beam on the inner-workings of the Lincoln presidency and, more broadly, the politics of the age....Salmon P. Chase is a fine biography of a complex man maneuvering through a complex time. --The Times (Trenton) One of the Salmon P. Chase paradoxes is the fact that, among Lincoln's contemporaries, he has been relatively neglected because of his very importance. He was engaged in such a wide range of public activities as to intimidate biographers. Now, having mastered the sources, John Niven in the first comprehensive biography re-creates the man in all his complexity, personal as well as political. The book is as readable as it is authoritative. --Richard Nelson Current A brilliant account of the public and personal life of one of the most complex and fascinating major figures of the Civil War era. --Kenneth Stampp, author of America in 1857: A Nation on the Brink Niven's smooth but thorough biography reminds us of the importance to history of a long-forgotten player. --Booklist In detailing Chase's quest for ever higher office, the author reveals a complex will. --The New Yorker (Recommended Reading) A balanced view....A vivid sketch....Niven's scholarship is impeccable. His writing is deft....Aside from its historical value, Niven's work presents a fascinating case study of the relationships between personal ambition and social progress. --Lexington Herald-Ledger

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)

John Niven...presents a meticulous study of Chase--the man and the politician. In the process, he throws a laser beam on the inner-workings of the Lincoln presidency and, more broadly, the politics of the age....Salmon P. Chase is a fine biography of a complex man maneuvering through a complex time. --The Times (Trenton)<br> One of the Salmon P. Chase paradoxes is the fact that, among Lincoln's contemporaries, he has been relatively neglected because of his very importance. He was engaged in such a wide range of public activities as to intimidate biographers. Now, having mastered the sources, John Niven in the first comprehensive biography re-creates the man in all his complexity, personal as well as political. The book is as readable as it is authoritative. --Richard Nelson Current<br> A brilliant account of the public and personal life of one of the most complex and fascinating major figures of the Civil War era. --Kenneth Stampp, author of America in 1857: A Nation on the Brink<br> Niven's smooth but thorough biography reminds us of the importance to history of a long-forgotten player. --Booklist<br> In detailing Chase's quest for ever higher office, the author reveals a complex will. --The New Yorker (Recommended Reading)<br>

Author Information

John Niven is Professor Emeritus of American History at Claremont Graduate School and is editor of the papers of Salmon P. Chase. His many books include Gideon Welles, Lincoln's Secretary of the Navy, Martin Van Buren and the Romantic Era of American Politics, and John C. Calhoun and the Price of Union: A Biography.

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