Lincoln and Chief Justice Taney: Slavery, Secession, and the President's War Powers (Paperback)
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Description
The clashes between President Abraham Lincoln and Chief Justice Roger B. Taney over slavery, secession, and the president's constitutional war powers went to the heart of Lincoln's presidency. James Simon, author of the acclaimed What Kind of Nation, brings to vivid life the passionate struggle during the worst crisis in the nation's history, the Civil War. The issues that underlaid that crisis -- race, states' rights, and the president's wartime authority -- resonate today in the nation's political debate.
About the Author
James F. Simon is the Martin Professor of Law and Dean Emeritus at New York Law School. He is the author of seven previous books on American history, law, and politics. His books have won the American Bar Association’s Silver Gavel Award and twice been named New York Times Notable Books. He lives with his wife in West Nyack, New York.
Praise for Lincoln and Chief Justice Taney: Slavery, Secession, and the President's War Powers…
"The United States has faced a number of national emergencies, fake or real, but indisputably the greatest national emergency came with the Civil War. James F. Simon has written an exciting and notable book where Abraham Lincoln and Roger B. Taney, the president and the chief justice, two men of the highest intelligence and passionate judgment, argues the future of this democratic republic." -- Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.
"Lincoln's and Taney's struggles over the definition of human freedom and executive power have long called for a definitive study by an informed legal scholar, and James. F. Simon has responded with a riveting, accessible, and ingenious study. This book fills a gaping void in the Lincoln literature." -- Harold Holzer, author of Lincoln at Cooper Union, co-chairman, U.S. Lincoln Bicentennial Commission
"The tug of war between the President and the Chief Justice during the Civil War reverberates to our own days. James Simon tells the tale with insight and verve." -- Gabor Boritt, author of The Gettysburg Gospel: The Lincoln Speech That Nobody Knows, director of the Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College
"The United States suffers an unexpected attack. The president deploys the armed forces and assumes extrordinary powers that go well beyond the Constitution. Hundreds of persons suspected of aiding the enemy are arrested and held without charge. James F. Simon discusses these tensions between the president and the Supreme Court, created not by 9/11, but those between President Abraham Lincoln and Chief Justice Roger B. Taney during the Civil War. This well-written and engaging narrative is a primer for today's challenge of balancing national security and civil liberties." -- Frank J. Williams, chief justice, Supreme Court of Rhode Island, chair of The Lincoln Forum
"In a clear, declarative style, and with balanced, fair analysis, James Simon combines legal history and grand narrative to tell the compelling story of Lincoln's epic battles with Taney. Simon does not blink on Lincoln's overreach on the suspension of habeas corpus, nor does he shy away from Taney's retrograde racial judgments. This is a good, provocative read, and a reminder of why the constitutional separation o powers is so important, in war or peace." -- David W. Blight, Yale University, author of Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory
