DAVID O. STEWART
at Ft. McNair Officers' Club, Washington, DC (see map here)
6 pm: Social Hour (cash bar)
7 pm: Dinner ($30 for dinner and lecture)
8 pm: Lecture ($5 for lecture only)
7 pm: Dinner ($30 for dinner and lecture)
8 pm: Lecture ($5 for lecture only)
Reservations required: Email (preferred) to susankclaffey@cwrtdc.org
or call (202) 306-4988 by 5:00 pm, December 3rd. Or make reservations through our Meetup Page by clicking HERE.
TOPIC:
The Impeachment of President Johnson
About The Topic: In 1868 Congress impeached President Andrew Johnson of Tennessee, the man who had succeeded the murdered Lincoln, bringing the nation to the brink of a second civil war. Enraged to see the freed slaves abandoned to brutal violence at the hands of their former owners, distraught that former rebels threatened to regain control of Southern state governments, and disgusted by Johnson's brawling political style, congressional Republicans seized on a legal technicality as the basis for impeachment - whether Johnson had the legal right to fire his own secretary of war, Edwin Stanton. The fiery but mortally ill Congressman Thaddeus Stevens of Pennsylvania led the impeachment drive, abetted behind the scenes by the military hero and president-in-waiting, General Ulysses S. Grant. The Senate trial featured the most brilliant lawyers of the day, along with some of the least scrupulous, while leading political fixers maneuvered in dark corners to save Johnson's presidency with political deals, promises of patronage jobs, and even cash bribes. Johnson escaped conviction by a single vote.
David
Stewart, the author of the highly acclaimed The Summer of 1787, the bestselling
account of the writing of the Constitution, challenges the traditional version
of this pivotal moment in American history. Rather than seeing Johnson as
Abraham Lincoln's political heir, Stewart explains how the Tennessean
squandered Lincoln's political legacy of equality and fairness and helped force
the freed slaves into a brutal form of agricultural peonage across the
South. When the clash between Congress and president threatened to
tear the nation apart, the impeachment process substituted legal combat
forviolent confrontation. Both sides struggled to inject meaning into the
baffling requirement that a president be removed only for "high crimes and
misdemeanors," while employing devious courtroom gambits, backstairs
spies, and soaring rhetoric. When the dust finally settled, the impeachment
process had allowed passions to cool sufficiently for the nation to survive the
bitter crisis." With the dramatic expansion of the powers of the presidency,
and after two presidential impeachment crises in the last forty years, the
lessons of the first presidential impeachment are more urgent than ever.
About Our Speaker: After practicing law for many years, David O. Stewart began to write history, too. His first book, The Summer of 1787: The Men Who Invented the Constitution, was a Washington Post bestseller and won the Washington Writing Award as Best Book of 2007. Two years later, Impeached: The Trial of President Andrew Johnson and the Fight for Lincoln’s Legacy, was called “by all means the best account of this troubled episode” by Professor David Donald of Harvard. The Society of the Cincinnati awarded David its 2013 History Prize for American Emperor, Aaron Burr’s Challenge to Jefferson’s America, an examination of Burr’s Western expedition, which shook the nation’s early foundations. The Lincoln Deception, an historical mystery about the John Wilkes Booth Conspiracy, was released in late August 2013. Bloomberg View called it the best historical novel of the year, while Publishers Weekly said it was an “impressive debut novel.” Madison’s Gift: Five Partnerships That Built America, was released in February, 2015. The Washington Post called it a portrait “rich in empathy and understanding” by “an acknowledged master of narrative history.” His second novel, The Wilson Deception, set at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, was released in late September, 2015. Publishers Weekly said of it that “Stewart deftly depicts the mood of an era and the colorful figures who shaped it.” In November, David will receive the Prescott Award for excellence in historical writing from the National Society of Colonial Dames of America. He also is president of the Washington Independent Review of Books, an online book review.
For information about the Round Table and to apply for membership, see the Tab above marked "About Us/ Membership Information" or click HERE
or call (202) 306-4988 by 5:00 pm, December 3rd. Or make reservations through our Meetup Page by clicking HERE.
TOPIC:
The Impeachment of President Johnson
About The Topic: In 1868 Congress impeached President Andrew Johnson of Tennessee, the man who had succeeded the murdered Lincoln, bringing the nation to the brink of a second civil war. Enraged to see the freed slaves abandoned to brutal violence at the hands of their former owners, distraught that former rebels threatened to regain control of Southern state governments, and disgusted by Johnson's brawling political style, congressional Republicans seized on a legal technicality as the basis for impeachment - whether Johnson had the legal right to fire his own secretary of war, Edwin Stanton. The fiery but mortally ill Congressman Thaddeus Stevens of Pennsylvania led the impeachment drive, abetted behind the scenes by the military hero and president-in-waiting, General Ulysses S. Grant. The Senate trial featured the most brilliant lawyers of the day, along with some of the least scrupulous, while leading political fixers maneuvered in dark corners to save Johnson's presidency with political deals, promises of patronage jobs, and even cash bribes. Johnson escaped conviction by a single vote.
David
Stewart, the author of the highly acclaimed The Summer of 1787, the bestselling
account of the writing of the Constitution, challenges the traditional version
of this pivotal moment in American history. Rather than seeing Johnson as
Abraham Lincoln's political heir, Stewart explains how the Tennessean
squandered Lincoln's political legacy of equality and fairness and helped force
the freed slaves into a brutal form of agricultural peonage across the
South. When the clash between Congress and president threatened to
tear the nation apart, the impeachment process substituted legal combat
forviolent confrontation. Both sides struggled to inject meaning into the
baffling requirement that a president be removed only for "high crimes and
misdemeanors," while employing devious courtroom gambits, backstairs
spies, and soaring rhetoric. When the dust finally settled, the impeachment
process had allowed passions to cool sufficiently for the nation to survive the
bitter crisis." With the dramatic expansion of the powers of the presidency,
and after two presidential impeachment crises in the last forty years, the
lessons of the first presidential impeachment are more urgent than ever.
Reprinted from Barnes & Noble website, at http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1100366243;jsessionid=4A26B96959D1167C3FD75F6669252E1D.prodny_store02-atgap07#productInfoTabs
About Our Speaker: After practicing law for many years, David O. Stewart began to write history, too. His first book, The Summer of 1787: The Men Who Invented the Constitution, was a Washington Post bestseller and won the Washington Writing Award as Best Book of 2007. Two years later, Impeached: The Trial of President Andrew Johnson and the Fight for Lincoln’s Legacy, was called “by all means the best account of this troubled episode” by Professor David Donald of Harvard. The Society of the Cincinnati awarded David its 2013 History Prize for American Emperor, Aaron Burr’s Challenge to Jefferson’s America, an examination of Burr’s Western expedition, which shook the nation’s early foundations. The Lincoln Deception, an historical mystery about the John Wilkes Booth Conspiracy, was released in late August 2013. Bloomberg View called it the best historical novel of the year, while Publishers Weekly said it was an “impressive debut novel.” Madison’s Gift: Five Partnerships That Built America, was released in February, 2015. The Washington Post called it a portrait “rich in empathy and understanding” by “an acknowledged master of narrative history.” His second novel, The Wilson Deception, set at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, was released in late September, 2015. Publishers Weekly said of it that “Stewart deftly depicts the mood of an era and the colorful figures who shaped it.” In November, David will receive the Prescott Award for excellence in historical writing from the National Society of Colonial Dames of America. He also is president of the Washington Independent Review of Books, an online book review.
For a full bio, visit: http://davidostewart.com/about-david/
______________________________________________For information about the Round Table and to apply for membership, see the Tab above marked "About Us/ Membership Information" or click HERE
