Edwin McMasters Stanton biography

[VeronicaLake12]

What is the best biography of Edwin M. Stanton? Thanks in advance for all your suggestions.

 

[Fairfield]

It isn't a separate biography but Doris Kearns Goodwin's Team of Rivals has a lot to say about Mr. Stanton during the ACW years.

 

[VeronicaLake12]

It isn't a separate biography but Doris Kearns Goodwin's Team of Rivals has a lot to say about Mr. Stanton during the ACW years.

Thanks for sharing. Team of Rivals is on TBR list

 

[Library Lady]

This one came out in 2015 and is said to be the first in 50 years. It might be worth a look.

https://repository.lsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2398&context=cwbr

 

[The Ninth Ohio]

I'd be curious to see what this book says about his relationship with the McCook ("Fighting McCooks") family. My understanding is they were very closely intertwined…I believe one of the clan was Stanton's best man (or vice versa) and another (Edwin Stanton McCook) was named after him.

 

[SSVilla]

There's this one too. I am sharing it because nobody has mentioned it, but I haven't read it. I watched a lecture from the author and in some ways, I am not persuaded to read it to start with. The author absolutely hated Stanton. I realize he has few virtues but Marvel seemed to hate him with a passion. I just prefer to read something more balanced to start. If anyone has read it, feel free to chime in.

Lincoln's Autocrat

Edwin M. Stanton (1814–1869), one of the nineteenth century’s most impressive legal and political minds, wielded enormous influence and power as Lincoln’s secretary of war during most of the Civil War and under Johnson during the early years of Reconstruction. In the first full biography of...

books.google.com

Secretary of War Edwin Stanton

William Marvel talked about Edwin Stanton, Abraham Lincoln's Secretary of War during most of the Civil War. Mr. Marvel argued that Stanton's loyalties to people lasted only as long as they were useful to him. He also gave examples of Secretary Stanton's broad wartime powers, and suggested that...

www.c-span.org

 

[AlexPensFan86]

There's this one too. I am sharing it because nobody has mentioned it, but I haven't read it. I watched a lecture from the author and in some ways, I am not persuaded to read it to start with. The author absolutely hated Stanton. I realize he has few virtues but Marvel seemed to hate him with a passion. I just prefer to read something more balanced to start. If anyone has read it, feel free to chime in.

Lincoln's Autocrat

Edwin M. Stanton (1814–1869), one of the nineteenth century’s most impressive legal and political minds, wielded enormous influence and power as Lincoln’s secretary of war during most of the Civil War and under Johnson during the early years of Reconstruction. In the first full biography of...

books.google.com

Secretary of War Edwin Stanton

William Marvel talked about Edwin Stanton, Abraham Lincoln's Secretary of War during most of the Civil War. Mr. Marvel argued that Stanton's loyalties to people lasted only as long as they were useful to him. He also gave examples of Secretary Stanton's broad wartime powers, and suggested that...

www.c-span.org

I read (listened on audible) to this one and thought it was excellent. While it was clear the author wasn't a fan of Stanton, I feel like he at least tried to be evenhanded.

 

[SSVilla]

I read (listened on audible) to this one and thought it was excellent. While it was clear the author wasn't a fan of Stanton, I feel like he at least tried to be evenhanded.

Thanks for your reply. He might have been more emphatic in his lecture about how much he hated him.

 

[Belfoured]

I read (listened on audible) to this one and thought it was excellent. While it was clear the author wasn't a fan of Stanton, I feel like he at least tried to be evenhanded.

Marvel is very good and this book is solid. That said, I read everything by him with a bit of skepticism. More than a lot of other authors, some of his analysis blends into argument.

 

[VeronicaLake12]

Thank you all for your replies.