Amiable Scoundrel

June 15, 2016

Simon Cameron (1799-1889), a member of Abraham Lincoln's cabinet at the beginning of the Civil War, served as U.S. secretary of war from 1861 to 1862. Generally portrayed as a corrupt and opportunistic manipulator, here he is exemplified as a man of principle by biographer Kahan (history, Ohlone Coll.; The Bank War). Cameron rose from humble beginnings and mastered the art of deal-making to become a wealthy Pennsylvania businessman. Achievements in banking and railroads ultimately led him into state politics, where he employed patronage, personality, and connections in order to navigate an era of increasing party fragmentation and realignment. Cameron kept his political focus on serving the interests of commerce in Pennsylvania, migrating from party to party and finally emerging as a Republican and awarded a position in Lincoln's cabinet. After his brief stint there, Cameron was dispatched as minister to Russia, returning after the war to again take up the role as an influential senator. While recognizing Cameron's skill at political maneuvering, Kahan nonetheless identifies a value system underlying his subject's actions. VERDICT This first biography of Cameron in 50 years successfully infuses humanity into its portrait of the statesman. However, it likely will find limited interest among devotees of Pennsylvania and mid-19th-century history.--Charles K. Piehl, Minnesota State Univ., Mankato

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May 15, 2016
Biography of a politician whose name "has become synonymous with corruption and graft during the Civil War."Historians agree that Abraham Lincoln chose his Cabinet well, and they also agree on the single exception: Simon Cameron (1799-1889), the Pennsylvania political boss appointed secretary of war but dismissed after a year for incompetence and corruption. Not so fast, writes Kahan (History/Ohlone Coll.; The Bank War: Andrew Jackson, Nicholas Biddle, and the Fight for American Finance, 2015, etc.) in this lively re-evaluation of a skillful politician who rose from poverty to prominence in his 20s and remained for 50 years. A candidate for the 1860 Republican nomination, Cameron threw support to Lincoln when offered a Cabinet position. However, writes the author, "as a backslapping, glad-handing politician, he was used to charming legislators...but...was totally unable to switch gears into being an administrator." Although Cameron worked hard, if inefficiently, Kahan admits that he favored his home state. He hired cronies, punished enemies, and directed lucrative contracts to supporters--though the author notes that other Cabinet members and the president did the same. Never on friendly terms, Lincoln disliked Cameron's pressure to free slaves and recruit blacks into the army, a position the president later adopted. Almost everyone except his coterie cheered when the president shunted him off as ambassador to Russia; he returned after a few months to continue for another 15 years as a powerful player in Pennsylvania and national politics. Kahan's Cameron is a likable career political boss devoted to supporting Pennsylvania business interests and winning elections. This required attracting and enriching loyal followers and, inevitably, enriching himself using tactics that 19th-century politicians took for granted. His plentiful enemies did not occupy a higher moral ground, but their attacks were not always misplaced. A fine political biography that does not entirely rehabilitate its subject.

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