San Antonio College Library

In January 1863, in the mountains of North Carolina, Confederate soldiers captured and murdered thirteen prisoners. These suspected Unionist guerrillas were members of a relatively isolated, traditional mountain community; their killers were led by officers more open to the changing currents of the nineteenth century. This book examines that slaughter, known as the Shelton Laurel Massacre, and the events that led up to it.

This biography places particular emphasis on Douglas's struggles with President James Buchanan, his debates with Lincoln, the presidential campaign of 1860, and his complex relationship with the South. -- Dust jacket.

This book offers conclusions that are very different from most of the traditional historical interpretations of the Buchanan presidency. Historians have either condemned Buchanan for weakness and vacillation or portrayed him as a president dedicated to peace who did everything constitutionally possible to avoid war. Under the scrutiny of Elbert B. Smith, Buchanan emerges as a strong figure who made vital contributions not to peace but to the accelerating...

When Buchanan entered the White House in March 1857, he seemed well positioned to accomplish his main objectives. A canny and seasoned politician from Pennsylvania with a reputation for moderation on slavery-related issues, Buchanan had a straightforward agenda: the amelioration of sectional tensions, the promotion of American prosperity, and the extension of the Democrats' control of the federal government. Four years later, Buchanan left Washington...

Worst. President. Ever flips the great presidential biography on its head, offering an enlightening, entertaining, and at times hilarious account of poor James Buchanan's presidency to prove once and for all that, well, few leaders could have done worse. "Worst. President. Ever. flips the great presidential biography on its head, offering an enlightening--and highly entertaining!--account of poor James Buchanan's presidency to prove once and for...