Oliver p morton biography books

Oliver p morton biography books: Remembered as the “Great War

Morton has always been a controversial figure. His supporters praised him as a statesman who helped Abraham Lincoln save the Union, while his critics blasted him as a ruthless tyrant who abused the power of his office. Many of his contemporaries and some historians saw him as a partisan politician and an opportunist who shifted his positions to maintain power.

Later generations treated Governor Morton as either a hero or a villain and generally forgot about his postwar career as a Radical Republican leader in the U. In this first full biography of Morton to be published in over a century, A. His principles also framed his struggle against the disloyal Copperheads who tried to assassinate him and whose leaders he helped bring to justice in the Indianapolis Treason Trials.

Seeing Reconstruction as a continuation of the Civil War, Morton became a leading Radical Republican who championed racial equality. He continually waved the bloody shirt, reminding voters that the Democrats had caused the rebellion. He enjoyed widespread support for the presidency in , but when his bid for the Republican nomination came up short, he helped decide the disputed election for Rutherford B.

When Morton died in , Reconstruction died with him, symbolically marking the end of an era. In the decades after his death, Hoosiers built monuments to Morton, remembering him in ways that reflected their own times, keeping his controversial legacy alive in historical memory. Author A.