Amiable Scoundrel: Simon Cameron, Lincoln's Scandalous Secretary of War

by Paul Kahan

Overview

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.

Far more than a biography of Cameron, Amiable Scoundrel is also a portrait of an era that allowed—indeed, encouraged—a man such as Cameron to seize political control. The political changes of the early nineteenth century enabled him not only to improve his status but also to exert real political authority. The changes caused by the Civil War, in turn, allowed Cameron to consolidate his political authority into a successful, well-oiled political machine. A key figure in designing and implementing the Union’s military strategy during the Civil War’s crucial first year, Cameron played an essential role in pushing Abraham Lincoln to permit the enlistment of African Americans into the U.S. Army, a stance that eventually led to his forced resignation. Yet his legacy has languished, nearly forgotten save for the fact that his name has become shorthand for corruption, even though no evidence has ever been presented to prove that Cameron was corrupt.

Amiable Scoundrel puts Cameron’s actions into a larger historical context by demonstrating that many politicians of the time, including Abraham Lincoln, used similar tactics to win elections and advance their careers. This study is the fascinating story of Cameron’s life and an illuminating portrait of his times.

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Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781612348148
Publisher:	Potomac Books
Publication date:	07/01/2016
Pages:	384
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Paul Kahan is a lecturer at Ohlone College in Fremont, California. He is the author of The Bank War: Andrew Jackson, Nicholas Biddle, and the Fight for American Finance and The Homestead Strike: Labor, Violence, and American Industry. 

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations

Acknowledgments

Introduction: "Warm Friends and Bitter Enemies"

1. "A Determined Will and a Right Purpose"

2. "The Great Winnebago Chief," 1838–45

3. "True-Hearted Pennsylvanian, Able, Fearless, and Unflinching," 1845–49

4. "Exclude Him from the Ranks of the Democratic Party," 1849–60

5. "What They Worship Is the God of Success," 1860–61

6. "Then Profit Shall Accrue," 1861–62

7. "Gentlemen, the Paragraph Stands," 1861–62

8. "A Man Out of Office in Washington," 1862–67

9. "Nothing Can Beat You," 1867–77

10. "I’ll Behave Myself as Long as I’m Here," 1877–89

Conclusion: "I Did the Best I Could and Was Never Untrue to a Friend"

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Editorial Reviews

"Amiable Scoundrel is a political biography that every Civil War student should read."—Andrew Wagenhoffer, Civil War Books and Authors

Civil War Books and Authors - Andrew Wagenhoffer

"A thought-provoking biography."—Richard A. Sauers, BlueGray Magazine

BlueGray Magazine - Richard A. Sauers

"This book is essential for any civil war historian's library."—Philip Zozzaro, San Francisco Book Review (Five Stars)

San Francisco Book Review - Philip Zozzaro

"Amiable Scoundrel lifts Cameron out of the historical footnotes and gives him the worthy biography we might never have known he deserved."—Chris Mackowski, Journal of Southern History

Journal of Southern History - Chris Mackowski

“This book goes behind Cameron’s reputation for shady dealing and demonstrates that as a senator, ambassador, secretary of war, and political boss he advanced important policy achievements, including the abolition of slavery and equal constitutional rights for freed slaves.”—James M. McPherson, author of the Pulitzer Prize–winning Battle Cry of Freedom and The War That Forged a Nation 

James M. McPherson

“Paul Kahan has given us a solid, readable, balanced biography of Simon Cameron, Lincoln’s first secretary of war and one of the great, if controversial, politicians of his generation.”—Walter Stahr, author of Seward: Lincoln’s Indispensable Man and John Jay: Founding Father

Walter Stahr

“This is a much-needed cradle-to-grave biography of one of Lincoln’s most important, and most maligned, early cabinet officers. Kahan peels away the stereotypes and myths to paint the kind of complex portrait this undyingly loyal Lincoln man deserves.”—Harold Holzer, director of the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College and author of Lincoln and the Power of the Press, winner of the Gilder-Lehrman Lincoln Prize

Harold Holzer

"[Kahan] has done an admirable job of resuscitating, clothing and restoring to Cameron his true and accurate historical legacy. Amiable Scoundrel is perfect reading for those interested in the Civil War and those interested in United States politics of the latter half of the 19th century."—Jim Miller, Civil War Notebook

Civil War Notebook - Jim Miller

"Amiable Scoundrel will prove rewarding reading for those interested in the Civil War, American military mobilization, or the politics of the mid-nineteenth century."—A. A. Nofi, Strategy Page

Strategy Page - A. A. Nofi

06/15/2016
Simon Cameron (1799–1889), a member of Abraham Lincoln's cabinet at the beginning of the Civil War, served as U.S. secretary of war from 1861 to 1862. Generally portrayed as a corrupt and opportunistic manipulator, here he is exemplified as a man of principle by biographer Kahan (history, Ohlone Coll.; The Bank War). Cameron rose from humble beginnings and mastered the art of deal-making to become a wealthy Pennsylvania businessman. Achievements in banking and railroads ultimately led him into state politics, where he employed patronage, personality, and connections in order to navigate an era of increasing party fragmentation and realignment. Cameron kept his political focus on serving the interests of commerce in Pennsylvania, migrating from party to party and finally emerging as a Republican and awarded a position in Lincoln's cabinet. After his brief stint there, Cameron was dispatched as minister to Russia, returning after the war to again take up the role as an influential senator. While recognizing Cameron's skill at political maneuvering, Kahan nonetheless identifies a value system underlying his subject's actions. VERDICT This first biography of Cameron in 50 years successfully infuses humanity into its portrait of the statesman. However, it likely will find limited interest among devotees of Pennsylvania and mid-19th-century history.—Charles K. Piehl, Minnesota State Univ., Mankato

Library Journal

2016-05-05
Biography of a politician whose name "has become synonymous with corruption and graft during the Civil War."Historians agree that Abraham Lincoln chose his Cabinet well, and they also agree on the single exception: Simon Cameron (1799-1889), the Pennsylvania political boss appointed secretary of war but dismissed after a year for incompetence and corruption. Not so fast, writes Kahan (History/Ohlone Coll.; The Bank War: Andrew Jackson, Nicholas Biddle, and the Fight for American Finance, 2015, etc.) in this lively re-evaluation of a skillful politician who rose from poverty to prominence in his 20s and remained for 50 years. A candidate for the 1860 Republican nomination, Cameron threw support to Lincoln when offered a Cabinet position. However, writes the author, "as a backslapping, glad-handing politician, he was used to charming legislators…but…was totally unable to switch gears into being an administrator." Although Cameron worked hard, if inefficiently, Kahan admits that he favored his home state. He hired cronies, punished enemies, and directed lucrative contracts to supporters—though the author notes that other Cabinet members and the president did the same. Never on friendly terms, Lincoln disliked Cameron's pressure to free slaves and recruit blacks into the army, a position the president later adopted. Almost everyone except his coterie cheered when the president shunted him off as ambassador to Russia; he returned after a few months to continue for another 15 years as a powerful player in Pennsylvania and national politics. Kahan's Cameron is a likable career political boss devoted to supporting Pennsylvania business interests and winning elections. This required attracting and enriching loyal followers and, inevitably, enriching himself using tactics that 19th-century politicians took for granted. His plentiful enemies did not occupy a higher moral ground, but their attacks were not always misplaced. A fine political biography that does not entirely rehabilitate its subject.

Kirkus Reviews