Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
The Worlds of James Buchanan and Thaddeus Stevens examines the political interests, relationships, and practices of two of the era's most prominent politicians as well as the political worlds they inhabited and informed. Building upon previous scholarship on James Buchanan and Thaddeus Stevens, the contributors track their personal connections across lines of gender and geography and underline the importance of elementary facts of political association--such as with whom one ate and conversed on a regular basis, the complex social milieu of Washington, and the role of rumor--in determining relationships and political allegiances. The essays in this volume collectively invite further consideration of how parties, personality, place, and private lives influenced the political interests and actions of an age affected by race, religion, region, and civil war.