Lincoln's Autocrat: The Life of Edwin Stanton

摘要

Edwin McMasters Stanton has long enjoyed an honored place in the pantheon of Union war heroes. Taking over the War Department in January 1862, a time when George McClellan's lassitude seemed to have brought the Union war machine to an inescapable stall, Stanton spent three years injecting into the Union war effort the ruthlessness, energy and dedication to duty the Lincoln administration needed to crush the Confederacy and exterminate slavery. But Stanton's efforts after 1865 to ensure the fruits of victory were not squandered brought him into conflict with Lincoln's unfortunate successor, and he became a central player in the great drama that was the impeachment and trial of Andrew Johnson.