Brian McGinty is an attorney and writer specializing in American history and law.
"Lincoln and the Court" addresses a subject that has been
neglected, if not ignored, by historians: the story of our
sixteenth president and the Supreme Court during the Civil
War...Brian McGinty has written an important book for military
historians...This is a well-written, tightly organized, and
thoughtful book that will appeal to anyone interested in a new
perspective on Lincoln's actions as Commander-in-Chief, and the
legality of measures he took to achieve a Union victory.--Fred L.
Borch"Journal of Military History" (04/01/2009)
[A] fascinating book...The issue of presidential power in wartime
is as fresh as today's headlines.--Charles Lane"Washington Post"
(02/17/2008)
It's not easy to find Lincoln territory where good, open grazing
land remains, but McGinty has found it. Combining expertise as an
attorney and historian with a style that welcomes readers, he gives
us Lincoln the lawyer-president who worked with a Supreme Court to
which he ultimately appointed five members. The Civil War brought
forth numerous legal conflicts, and McGinty shows that the
personalities and issues involved were as vital and fascinating as
those we are more familiar with on the military side.--Margaret
Heilbrun"Library Journal" (12/15/2007)
McGinty offers a lucid review of the major Civil War Supreme Court
cases. The Civil War, as McGinty explains, was a struggle over
constitutional interpretation: did Lincoln have the constitutional
authority to do whatever he thought necessary to compel seceding
states back to the Union? He thought so, but Chief Justice Roger
Brooke Taney sometimes stood in his way. The first major clash was
over Lincoln's suspension of habeas corpus, which Taney declared
unconstitutional in the 1861 Merryman case. In 1862 came another
battle, the Prize cases, regarding the constitutionality of
Lincoln's declaring a blockade of Confederate ports. The Court also
heard cases about whether a Union citizen could criticize a
president during wartime and whether the Treasury Department could
regulate trade between a Union state and the Confederacy. McGinty
says that the Court "could have struck down the president's major
war measures" but "chose not to do so.,." McGinty's engaging
account, which treats a topic with obvious parallels to the
present, will delight history buffs.
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