NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Jennifer Szalai, The New
York Times - The New York Times Book Review - NPR - Publishers
Weekly
"This absorbing and important book recounts the titanic struggle over
the implications of the Civil War amid the impeachment of a defiant and
temperamentally erratic American president."--Jon Meacham, Pulitzer
Prize-winning author of The Soul of America
When Abraham Lincoln was assassinated and Vice-President Andrew Johnson
became "the Accidental President," it was a dangerous time in America.
Congress was divided over how the Union should be reunited: when and how
the secessionist South should regain full status, whether former
Confederates should be punished, and when and whether black men should
be given the vote. Devastated by war and resorting to violence, many
white Southerners hoped to restore a pre-Civil War society, if without
slavery, and the pugnacious Andrew Johnson seemed to share their goals.
With the unchecked power of executive orders, Johnson ignored Congress,
pardoned rebel leaders, promoted white supremacy, opposed civil rights,
and called Reconstruction unnecessary. It fell to Congress to stop the
American president who acted like a king.
With profound insights and making use of extensive research, Brenda
Wineapple dramatically evokes this pivotal period in American history,
when the country was rocked by the first-ever impeachment of a sitting
American president. And she brings to vivid life the extraordinary
characters who brought that impeachment forward: the willful Johnson and
his retinue of advocates--including complicated men like Secretary of
State William Seward--as well as the equally complicated visionaries
committed to justice and equality for all, like Thaddeus Stevens,
Charles Sumner, Frederick Douglass, and Ulysses S. Grant. Theirs was a
last-ditch, patriotic, and Constitutional effort to render the goals of
the Civil War into reality and to make the Union free, fair, and whole.
Praise for The Impeachers
"In this superbly lyrical work, Brenda Wineapple has plugged a glaring
hole in our historical memory through her vivid and sweeping portrayal
of President Andrew Johnson's 1868 impeachment. She serves up not simply
food for thought but a veritable feast of observations on that most
trying decision for a democracy: whether to oust a sitting president.
Teeming with fiery passions and unforgettable characters, The
Impeachers will be devoured by contemporary readers seeking
enlightenment on this issue. . . . A landmark study."--Ron Chernow,
Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Grant
