Andrew Johnson: A Biography

by Hans L. Trefousse

Overview

A definitive life of the flawed man who succeeded to the American presidency after Lincoln's assassination.

Politically shrewd but fatally unable to adapt to new political realities, Andrew Johnson presided, disastrously, over the tumultuous first years of Reconstruction. In this provocative account, Hans Trefousse gives us "a brilliant, compassionate portrait of a dynamic era of social change and national healing, and of the tragic failure of an American leader" (Library Journal).

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393317428
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	12/17/1997
Edition description:	Reissue
Pages:	464
Sales rank:	272,136
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Hans L. Trefousse is professor of history at Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. His other books include The Radical Republicans, a pathbreaking history of Reconstruction.

Editorial Reviews

"A readable new biography of the 17th president that fills in many of the hidden corners of his life story. . . . The story of the man and the times that led to his impeachment is told with great authority."

New York Times - Herbert Mitgang

A readable new biography of the 17th president that fills in many of the hidden corners of his life story. . . . The story of the man and the times that led to his impeachment is told with great authority.--Herbert Mitgang "New York Times"

From the Publisher

Known for his Carl Schurz: A Biography (LJ 2/15/82), Trefousse delivers the first Johnson study in years, a definitive assessment of his career and presidency. Johnson's papers and other sources reveal his fatal idealization of the agrarian utopia, his fierce advocacy of strict Constitutional constructionism, and his imprudent insistence upon the Republican party's adoption of his views on race. Trefousse demonstrates that Johnson, because of his upbringing, was out of step with the great changes emerging at the end of the Civil War. His stubborn attachment to his increasingly archaic views was responsible for his political and military success, but also for his impeachment. A brilliant, compassionate portrait of a dynamic era of social change and national healing, and of the tragic failure of an American leader. Not to be missed.-- Susan E. Parker, Harvard Law Sch. Lib.

Library Journal

A fine biography, the first in twenty years. Trefousse (history, CUNY and Brooklyn College) uses new material to study the enigmatic tailor- president. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews