Ralph Korngold (1882–1964)

2101 Thaddeus Stevens: A Being Darkly Wise and Rudely Great, by Ralph Korngold (read 5 Oct 1987) Stevens was born at Danville, VT, 4 Apr 1782 and died at Washington, DC, 11 Aug 1868. This biography is very favorable to him--too obviously so. I think a more objective approach would have better served Stevens. But I agree with much of the book, and while the defense of Stevens' effort to impeach Johnson is not convincing, much which is written on the rightness of Stevens' Reconstruction policy is convincing. In general, I wonder whether the Gone With the Wind approach has not influenced my attitude too much as far as Reconstruction policy goes. I believe that and my life-long predilection for the Democratic party have tended to obscure the fact that the regime imposed after the end of military and black and carpetbagger rule was a regime founded on gross injustice, glorying in denying the vote to blacks and wallowing in lynch law. This has been a good book, and it was written (in 1963) when the attitude to Reconstruction was largely hostile to Stevens. Stevens was baptized by a Catholic sister on his deathbed, and Stevens' housekeeper was a devout black Catholic.… (més)