Amiable scoundrel
Subtitle: Simon Cameron, Lincoln's scandalous Secretary of War
By: Paul Kahan
Publisher: Potomac Books
Published: 2016
Language: eng
Number of pages: 367
ISBN-13: 9781612348148
Subjects: Politics and government; Friends and associates; Legislators; Cabinet officers; Biography
Description: From abject poverty to undisputed political boss of Pennsylvania, Lincoln’s secretary of war, senator, chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and a founder of the Republican Party, Simon Cameron (1799–1889) was one of the nineteenth century’s most prominent political figures. In his wake, however, he left a series of questionable political and business dealings and, at the age of eighty, even a sex scandal.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 293-358) and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction: "warm friends and bitter enemies"; title: "A determined will and a right purpose"; title: "The great Winnebago chief," 1838-45; title: "True-hearted Pennsylvanian, able, fearless, and unflinching," 1845-49; title: "Exclude him from the ranks of the Democratic Party," 1849-60; title: "What they worship is the God of success," 1860-61; title: "Then profit shall accrue," 1861-62; title: "Gentlemen, the paragraph stands," 1861-62; title: "A man out of office in Washington," 1862-67; title: "Nothing can beat you," 1867-77; title: "I'll behave myself as long as I'm here," 1877-89; title: Conclusion: "I did the best I could and was never untrue to a friend".