Customer Reviews

Timothy Pickering and the American Republic

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By Gerard Clarfield's account, he first took an interest in Timothy Pickering because he thought that his subject may have been unfairly maligned by history. A close examination of Pickering's life convinced him that his predecessors were right to scorn Pickering.

Clarfield has written a thorough and well-researched biography of Pickering as an archetypal "man on the make" in colonial and Revolutionary America. His book is very well researched and well written. It is an invaluable resource for those of us interested in Pickering.

However, Clarfield may have gone too far in his repudiation of Pickering. As Garry Wills wrote in "Negro President" it is doubtful that one would find Pickering personally likeable. Still, there is more to an individual than his personality. Clarfield's indictment of Pickering rests largely on his personal traits: a tendency toward paranoia, unflinching self-righteousness, and a great capacity for anger. However, in light of this portrayal, it's hard to see how Pickering ever got anywhere or accomplished anything.

Garry Wills has found that Pickering was a dedicated family man. From Pickering's own record, it is clear that he was a respected member of the Federalist Party, with genuine and lasting friendships. His career in public service was quite long. He was hardly the failure that Clarfield seems to think he was. Clarfield seems loathe to give Pickering any credit at all.

Other aspects of Pickering's career - those that make him more interesting to us - receive short shrift. Clarfield does detail Pickering's efforts to protect the rights of Native Americans, but does not explore his anti-slavery sentiment or his support of the freed slaves of St. Domingue (Haiti). These topics are delved into more thorougly by Wills.

I would recommend reading this book and Clarfield's other book on Pickering. Also, I would recommend reading "Negro President" by Wills, which gives Pickering a more sympathetic treatment.

It was fascinating (actually refreshing) to read a book by an author who is not an "advocate" but an expert on his subject. Pickering held many important positions in his life; ADC to Washington (in fact, his account of the attack on the Chew House during the battle of Germantown is what attracted me to this book in the first place); Quartermaster General to the Continental Army; Postmaster General; Secretary of War (under Washington); Secretary of State (under Washington and Adams); followed by a term in the Senate and terms in the House of Representatives. He was instrumental in settling the Pennamite War between Connecticut and Pennsylvania (which incredibly enough, outlived the American Revolution), pioneered acculturalization of the native Americans in Pa. and Ohio, was probably the biggest advocate of the Jay Treaty, and had possibly the most violent reaction of anyone to the XYZ Affaire. He disliked Washington and Jefferson alike (and was thus an equal opportunity abuser among Federalists and Republicans, though he seems to have favored abusing people from Virginia unless their name was Adams). Like some bundle-of-sticks Ichabod Crane, Pickering awkwardly struts through the halls of government "Picking" battle after battle. But for all of this little of the man actually shows through. I would have liked to have read something of his reaction to the death of Washington, for instance. Clarfield's Pickering seems to have lacked any humanizing characteristics (but for one brief moment of concern for his dimwitted son). Maybe that's how he was, a life consisting of facts, opportunities and reactions. His death thus lacked pathos, like a semi-comical stick figure that simply fell apart in the end. This book is well written and scholarly.