Salmon P. Chase - Lincoln’s Vital Rival
Walter Stahr, an acclaimed, New York Times bestselling biographer, will tell us the fascinating story of Abraham Lincoln’s indispensable Secretary of the Treasury: a leading proponent for black rights both before and during his years in cabinet and later as Chief Justice of the United States. You should know that Salmon P. Chase was a rival of Lincoln’s for the Republican nomination in 1860—but did you know that there would not have been a national Republican Party, and Lincoln could not have won the presidency, were it not for the vital groundwork Chase laid over the previous two decades? Drawing on previously overlooked sources, Walter will shed new light on this complex and fascinating political figure, who was forming and leading antislavery parties in the 1840’s, representing fugitive slaves, and building his reputation as a U.S. Senator and progressive governor of Ohio. Learn how Chase proved vital to the Civil War effort, raising the billions of dollars that allowed the Union to win the war, and why Lincoln appointed him Chief Justice in 1864. Walter hopes that his talk will encourage you to read his new book, and learn even more of the forgotten story of a man at the center of the fight for racial justice in 19th century America.

Mr. Walter Stahr
Walter Stahr, is a graduate of Stanford University and Harvard Law School, and a well known historian, as well as the author of three biographies to date: of John Jay, William Henry Seward, and Edwin Stanton. Several of his books have won prizes, and Seward was a New York Times bestseller. He is now at work on a biography of Salmon P. Chase.