The General vs. the President by H.W. Brands

Chair in History at the University of Texas at Austin. Then, in 1850, when California moved to join the union as a free state, 'the three great men of America' had one last chance to save the country from the real risk of civil war. They wrestled with these issues for four decades, arguing bitterly and hammering out political compromises that held the union together.

Above all, they sought to remedy the two glaring flaws in the Constitution: its fudge on where authority ultimately rested, with the states or the nation and its unwillingness to address the essential incompatibility of republicanism and slavery. Together this second generation of American founders took the country to war, battled one another for the presidency, and tasked themselves with finishing the work the Founders had left undone.

South Carolina's John Calhoun, with piercing eyes and an even more piercing intellect, defended the South and slavery. Henry Clay of Kentucky, as dashing as he was ambitious, embodied the hopes of the rising West. Daniel Webster of Massachusetts, a champion orator known for his eloquence, spoke for the North and its business class. In the early days of the nineteenth century, three young men strode onto the national stage, elected to Congress at a moment when the Founding Fathers were beginning to retire. Brands comes the riveting story of how America's second generation of political giants battled to complete the unfinished work of the Founding Fathers and decide the shape of our democracy. Books will be available for purchase at the event from Barnes & Noble.įrom bestselling historian H. The program is free and open to the public. Space is limited early arrival is highly recommended. Lindbergh Blvd.) on Tuesday, November 27, at 7:00 p.m. The event will take place at Library Headquarters (1640 S. Brands for a discussion and signing of “Heirs of the Founders: The Epic Rivalry of Henry Clay, John Calhoun and Daniel Webster, the Second Generation of American Giants.” Louis County Library Foundation’s ‘Buzz’ Westfall Favorite Author Series is pleased to present award-winning historian H.W.

The General vs. the President by H.W. Brands