The Limits of Dissent: Clement L. Vallandigham and the Civil War (North's Civil War Series, 8) [Paperback]

Frank L. Klement (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0823218910 | ISBN-13: 978-0823218912 | Publication Date: January 1, 1999

Frank L. Klement reassesses Clement L. Vallandigham, the passionate critic of Lincoln's policies, and history's judgment of him.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Frank L. Klement was Professor of History at Marquette University. His books include The Copperheads in the Midwest and Dark Lanterns. Steven K. Rogstad is Review Editor of The Lincoln Herald.

Product Details

• Paperback: 351 pages
• Publisher: Fordham University Press (January 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0823218910
• ISBN-13: 978-0823218912
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,307,813 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Informative read about an obnoxious character, November 30, 2006

By 

Dennis Brandt (Red Lion, PA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Limits of Dissent: Clement L. Vallandigham and the Civil War (North's Civil War Series, 8) (Paperback)

Frank Klement's bio of the most controversial and yet largely forgotten figure of the Civil War era is one that all scholars should read. It is also interesting enough to tickle a general history reader's fancy. The one flaw is that Klement likes his main character a bit too much. Clement L. Vallandigham was an obnoxious, negrophobic, Republican-hating gadfly (the title of one of the chapters) whose stick-it-in-your-eye attitude both in and out of Congress made him unappealing even within his Democratic party. Klement regularly refers to Vallandigham's severest critics as "bigots" (largely true), but never does he label Vallandigham with that title, even though he deserved it. Klement's explanation as to why Vallandigham lost the Ohio governor's race in 1863 is lopsided, just bad luck after the victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg and the repelling of John Hunt Morgan's raid into Ohio. Klement seems unable to admit that many people passionately hated Vallandigham, not the least of whom were the soldiers fighting in the field for the cause against which he spoke so vehemently. (Sound familiar here in 2006?) Nonetheless, Clement Vallandigham was a force during his time and became an icon to civil rights after Ambrose Burnside ordered his arrest and trial and Lincoln banished him to the South. He never accepted the fact that war might require a different approach to civil liberties. (Speaking of Burnside, there is an extraordinary error on page 122. Klement refers to Burnside's defeat Dec. 13, 1862, at the battle of Chancellorsville and repeats it further down the page. That battle, of course, was Fredericksburg. Chancellorsville occurred the following May. Forgive Klement. That kind of error is easy to make even when you know better, as he surely did. But where was the editor?)

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Definitive biography, February 2, 2008

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O. Pflug - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Limits of Dissent: Clement L. Vallandigham and the Civil War (North's Civil War Series, 8) (Paperback)

Definitive biography
Jennifer Weber's recent popular work on the Copperhead movement has challenged many of Frank Klement's contentions that Peace Democrats were harmless, if racist, dissenters who were primarily concerned with constitutional liberties and Abraham Lincoln's expansion of federal powers. Vallandigham was the foremost northern opponent of Lincoln and the prosecution of the Civil War; serving three terms in congress and running an unsuccessful campaign for governor of Ohio while in political exile during 1863.
Klement clearly admired Valladigham as a proponent of fundament liberties, including the freedom to dissent during wartime. The subject does emerge in a sympathetic light, although he was clearly bigoted and self-righteous. The author does not deny these traits in his subject. Although I do not share Klement's contentions that copperheads were harmless, his biography of Vallandigham does not appear to be in need of revision. Klement's does a fine job of tracing the important moments of Vallidigham's life in spite of a lack of primary material from the subject. It is doubtful that a more critical examination of Vallandigham would surpass Klement's work in value.

12 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well-Researced: Highly Controversial, May 29, 2001

By 

jane k. johnson (JUNCTION CITY, KANSAS USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Limits of Dissent: Clement L. Vallandigham and the Civil War (North's Civil War Series, 8) (Paperback)

Author Frank L. Klement (with tongue firmly in cheek) once told an audience that there were only two imortant central figures in the Civil War: Lincoln and Clement L. Vallandigham; the subject of this disputable biography. One must understand that Frank L. Klement is a revisionist historian with 62% of his 221 published items anti-Lincoln. Attacking Lincoln, the most sacred icon in American history, for blatant illegalities in violation of civil liberties caused a sensation in the histrorical community when it was first introduced. Klement's contention that the Copperhead movement was not a threat to the union has generally been accepted by major Lincoln scholars including James Macpherson. The question remains how far can civil liberties be protected before they endanger national security. In the case of Clement Vallandigham the outer limits were reached in a time when many, including Lincoln, felt that constitutional liberties would lose the nation. Klement's thesis has gained more respectability since the dissent of Viet Nam, but the problem presented by Vallandigham has really never been resolved. Vallandigham won two out of eight elections for congressman from Ohio. Preaching preservation of the union with slavery intact, he believed the South could not be coerced into reentering the union. The Ohio congressman was the spokesman for many in the midwest who favoured agriculture over industry, opposed equality for blacks, and wanted to continue the balance of power the midwest played in the rivalry between North and South. Had this been all to Vallandigham he would have been written off as a hopeless reactionary. But the Dayton congressman was also a liberal, speaking out against arbitrary arrests, executive usurpation, as well as supporting abolishment of capital punishment, Jewish rabbis as army chaplains and free trade. The Ohioan was also-according to James Horan-a child prodigy learning the alphabet at age two and learning to speak both Latin and Greek at age twelve. (see Horan's CONFEDERATE AGENT,PA.18). No physical coward, Vallandigham courted martyrdom by defying federal authorities. He was sentenced to two years imprisonment by General Burnside (upheld by the court in EX PARTE VALLANDIGHAM). Wisely, Lincoln dumped him over the border into Dixie, ignoring the gadfly wdhen he attended the Chicago Democratic Convention of 1864. Klement's Vallandigham comes across as an insufferable self-righteous prig who was neutralized by Lincoln. But Vallandigham-the faithful son of a Calvinist Huguenot minister-always believed he would be vindicated by history. While defending a client in a murder case Vallandigham grabbed the wrong pistol and killed himself. He has largely been forgotten by posterity. The bullet that ended Lincoln's life, on the otherhand, made him immortal. Such is the verdict of history.