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Book Reviews From Hayes to McKinley: National Party Politics, 1877-1896. By H. WAYNE
MORGAN. (Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1969. x + 618p.; illustrations, bibliographical es- say, notes, and index. $12.95.) Professor Morgan is widely recognized as a leader in the revisionist interpretation of the Gilded Age which began to appear in the work of younger scholars about a decade ago. Author of several valuable books, par- ticularly William McKinley and His Amer- ica (1963)
and Unity and Culture (1971), and the editor of a series of fine articles, The Gilded Age; A Reappraisal (1963, 1970), Morgan is a very able political historian. His style is lively, his content is abreast of recent scholarship, and his historical anec- dotes give color and human interest to his narrative. From Hayes to McKinley is a solid book handsomely printed, richly illustrated, and well documented. The index, however, is too brief for such a detailed history. Mor- gan's best writing is found in the many bio- graphical vignettes scattered throughout his twelve chapters. Generally speaking he is more sympathetic to Republicans than Dem- ocrats. Hayes and Garfield, and even Ar- thur, gain stature in his treatment, while Grover Cleveland loses some of the aura that progressive historians have traditionally accorded to the only Democratic president of the period. The difficulty faced today by any one scholar bold enough to write a comprehen- sive history covering more than a single dec- ade is illustrated by the small factual errors which inevitably creep in from older sec- ondary works despite an author's dedicated research and careful readings of his manu- script by colleagues and editors. The Ruth- erford B. Hayes Library is correctly identi- fied in Morgan's preface but improperly called by its former name, the Hayes Me- morial Library, in the chapter notes. Hayes was not "just under six feet" tall; he was |
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five feet eight inches in height. Full-length pictures showing the President wearing a Prince Albert coat probably account for this commonly mistaken impression of his ap- pearance. Hayes practiced law primarily in Cincinnati, not Fremont. Also, he did not acquire the Spiegel Grove estate at Fremont until 1874. He was wounded in the arm, not leg and arm as Morgan states, at the battle of South Mountain. Some omis- sions in the Hayes story are conspicuous. Hayes' record in Congress and as governor merit more attention. The role of Mrs. Hayes as first lady is overlooked. Congres- sional leadership in the Hayes era is not dis- cussed. Except for such details, readers will find an excellent reappraisal of Hayes and Garfield in this book. Morgan, for example, handles the question of the abandonment of the Negro by the Republicans very well. Hayes' great personal tragedy was that he became unjustly identified with this sad event when he had, in fact, a long public record of opposition to racial injustice. Morgan portrays the intricate workings of Gilded Age party politics, especially convention and campaign maneuvers, with great skill. Like many other writers, how- ever, he misses a major point in his discus- sion of the 1884 Republican convention which nominated James G. Blaine in lieu of President Arthur. The clue to Arthur's failure to win the nomination as well as the key to his surprisingly successful presidency following the death of Garfield is that he was informed by his physicians shortly after he entered the White House that he was a dying man. This secret was shared with only a few political associates at the time, and it has eluded historians until very recently. The volume is exceptionally well illus- trated with seventy-eight photographs and cartoons of the period. With the almost simultaneous publication of John Garraty's The New Commonwealth, 1877-1890, we now have two outstanding reinterpretations of an often maligned era. What is needed |