Review by Choice Review
Levine (English, Univ. of Maryland, College Park) examines the first years of Reconstruction through the lens of an unlikely duo: Andrew Johnson and Frederick Douglass. Abraham Lincoln selected Johnson, a former Tennessee slaveowner, as his vice presidential running mate in 1864 because of Johnson's zealous opposition to the slaveholder's rebellion and his professed determination to make the rebels pay for their apostacy. Douglass rose from slavery in Maryland to become the nation's leading Black abolitionist and fiercest critic of Lincoln's deliberate steps toward emancipating and arming Black men as soldiers. In the months following Lincoln's assassination and Johnson's unheralded ascendancy to the presidency, Douglass and other Republicans assumed that he would punish former Confederates and promote federal programs to assist freed people in gaining education, land, and full citizenship rights. Quickly, however, Douglass became disillusioned with Johnson, who pardoned most former rebels, returned confiscated land to ex-slaveholders, and welcomed the former Confederate states back into the Union and their former leaders into office. Levine presents African Americans' case against Johnson by charting how Douglass, through lectures and publications, closely "shadowed" him until his impeachment in March 1868. White Republicans who voted to convict Johnson, and so too the nation, lacked Douglass's commitment to the dignity and equality of Black persons. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty. --John David Smith, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
There is no shortage of books about Andrew Johnson's presidency. However, a gap in the scholarship is Johnson's relationship with African American community leaders during the Reconstruction Era, particularly Frederick Douglass. As Levine asserts, Black voices are "almost entirely absent" from most works about Johnson's impeachment, and Douglass' perspective has largely been ignored. Levine argues it's not necessarily prudent to judge Johnson with today's standards. Nonetheless, he made several promises to Black leaders that he would help to build a more egalitarian society. Douglass initially believed that the Reconstruction Era would be a time of renewed prosperity, that Johnson would help African Americans obtain equal rights, and that the multiracial democracy he promised would come to fruition. But when Johnson instead focused on the reintegration of the ex-Confederate states and pardoned Confederate generals, it didn't take long for Douglass to realize he had given Johnson too much trust and credit. To make matters more complicated, not all Black community leaders shared Douglass' beliefs, creating more tension. This richly researched, comprehensive work is a crucial addition to American history sections that also traces the roots of government failure to quell anti-Black violence.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
University of Maryland English professor Levine (The Lives of Frederick Douglass) foregrounds in this enlightening and timely history the efforts of Frederick Douglass to persuade President Andrew Johnson and congressional Republicans to deliver "dignity and equality for Black people" in the years after the Civil War. Sworn into office hours after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, Johnson, a Southern Democrat who had freed Tennessee's enslaved people in 1864, was initially seen as "more radical and progressive" than Lincoln. But he soon declared amnesty for rebel leaders and approved state governments led by ex-Confederate officers. Radical Republicans in Congress, alarmed by the passage of Black Codes restricting the rights of freedpeople, battled Johnson for control of Reconstruction, while Douglass and other Black leaders raised alarms about racist violence and urged the federal government to extend voting and citizenship rights to African Americans. Douglass also believed that Republicans should have explicitly raised "the harm did to Black people" in their 1868 articles of impeachment, and believed Johnson's acquittal "further encouraged racist outrages." Brilliantly spotlighting Douglass's rhetorical strategies and mounting despair over the failure of Reconstruction, this trenchant study speaks clearly to today's battles over voting rights and racial justice. (Aug.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
The impeachment of Reconstruction-era president Andrew Johnson (1808--75) is usually described as a conflict between the president and the Radical Republicans faction in Congress, over the firing of Secretary of War Edwin Stanton. In this engaging study, Levine (English, Univ. of Maryland; The Many Lives of Frederick Douglass) places the renowned abolitionist and speaker Frederick Douglass (1817--95) at the center of Johnson's presidency and impeachment. What emerges is a more complicated picture of Reconstruction, told from the viewpoint of Black Americans including Douglass, Frances E. W. Harper, and staff of the Christian Recorder (the newspaper of the African Methodist Episcopal Church). Douglass believed that in order for Reconstruction to succeed, it needed to include full citizenship and voting rights for Black Americans; he consistently pushed Johnson and Radical Republicans to address the issue. Levine writes that in the eyes of Douglass and many others, Johnson's trial was a referendum on his racism, and the failure to convict Johnson demonstrated white Americans' complicity in disenfranchising Black Americans and the country's inability to confront its history. VERDICT Recommended for readers who enjoy 19th-century history or presidential studies, and those seeking to understand the failures of Reconstruction. This thorough account adds a much-needed perspective on Reconstruction and Johnson's presidency; it speaks to the ongoing battles over voting rights and racism.--Chad E. Statler, Westlake Porter P.L., Westlake, OH
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
An excellent, opinionated, and discouraging dual biography of a dreadful president and a determined fighter for human rights. Levine writes that Andrew Johnson (1808-1875), a fiercely ambitious populist who became "the absolutely wrong president for his times," despised the South's aristocracy but was otherwise a garden-variety Southern Democrat with no objection to slavery. It was only after Lincoln's election that he achieved fame as the only Southern senator opposing secession. Lincoln appointed him military governor of Tennessee, where his anti-slavery rhetoric made him popular among Tennessee Blacks as well as abolitionists, who preferred him to Lincoln. Making "War Democrat" Johnson vice-presidential candidate was a gesture to win votes in the 1864 elections, which observers considered a toss-up. Although horrified at Lincoln's murder, the new president was an improvement according to Radical Republicans. Sharing their delusion was Frederick Douglass (1817-1895), the charismatic Black speaker and writer who had been fighting slavery for two decades. Historians dutifully explain why Johnson discarded his hatred of slave owners in favor of White supremacy. Levine contributes an unobjectionable, intriguing theory, but mostly he recounts the dismal events that followed. Soon after assuming office, Johnson began pardoning Rebels in exchange for a mild loyalty oath and recognizing all-White Southern state governments. He vetoed legislation securing rights for ex-slaves, made violently racist speeches and statements, and blamed horrific White atrocities on Northern agitators. Talk of impeachment began, but Congress was reluctant to indict him for racist behavior, aware that most White voters had little objection. Taking advantage of his effort to fire the secretary of war in February 1868, the House charged him with violating the Tenure of Office Act, which forbade dismissing anyone approved by the Senate. The two-month impeachment trial bored the sellout audience, but readers will appreciate Levine's many significant insights. Douglass, who did not attend, put aside his disappointment at the acquittal, continuing to speak and write as Reconstruction failed and conditions for Blacks steadily deteriorated. Outstanding as both a biography and a work of Reconstruction-era history. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
