Passion and Principle: John and Jessie Fremont, the Couple Whose Power, Politics, and Love Shaped Nineteenth-Century Americ (Hardcover)

by Sally Denton (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Denton (American Massacre) produces an intriguing take on the life and times of John C. Frémont (1813–1890), explorer of the West, traveling partner of Kit Carson, California senator, unyielding abolitionist and the Republican Party's first presidential candidate (he lost the 1856 election to James Buchanan). This is not a conventional political biography but a portrait of the five-decade-long marriage between Frémont and Jessie, a daughter of Missouri Democratic senator Thomas Hart Benton, set against the tumultuous background of 19th-century America. It is certainly the first narrative in which Jessie Frémont is accorded equal weight, and is by far the most sympathetic—not just to her, but also to him. John, all too often depicted as a semicompetent and fraudulent megalomaniac, emerges as an immensely talented explorer, overtrusting soul and introverted scientist. Jessie's historical caricature as a hysterical shrew and control freak is sensitively tempered by Denton into a complex amalgam of indomitability and idealism constrained by her times into playing second fiddle. Jessie's accomplishments, writes Denton, "were attained not through John as her surrogate, but with John as her partner." As Denton shows, Bill and Hillary are not the first American power couple. 16 pages of b&w illus. (May)
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From Booklist
Biographies of the Pathfinder (Fremont, by Allan Nevins, 1992) are available, so Denton strikes for originality with this detailed portrait of his marriage. John Fremont's wife, Jessie, by any standards was an extraordinary woman, especially by those of mid-nineteenth-century America. Daughter of Senator Thomas Hart Benton, she thrived on politics and did not hesitate to play her hand. The manner of her marriage was characteristic: an elopement. Jessie's decisiveness in a range of ensuing episodes animates Denton's account, whose point of view on Fremont's army career tends to be Jessie's. As he repeatedly got into political trouble, being court-martialed in 1848 and relieved of command in 1861, it fell to Jessie to plead her husband's case with presidents. He may have been the national celebrity as the western explorer, conqueror of California, and 1856 Republican Party presidential candidate, but the strength of Jessie's personality is equally prominent in this narrative; after the Civil War, for example, she mitigated the couple's dire finances with a successful authorial career. A fine dual biographer, Denton should have appeal in western and women's history. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 480 pages
• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA; 1st edition (May 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1596910194
• ISBN-13: 978-1596910195
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #182,153 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Brings to Life the Conflicts of the mid-19th Century, November 29, 2007

By	James A. Dittes (Portland, TN) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

His career wedged between two American titans, Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln, John C. Fremont leaps into the his rightful place in American history through this remarkable book.

Fremont's idealism both helped and haunted his career. He was the first American to systematically map the Rocky Mountains and the Great Basin, and he played a key role in the Bear Flag Revolt and the conquest of California. But the "Pathfinder" often found himself too far in front of his contemporaries: his failure to adapt to the military change of command led to court martial within a year of his California exploits; his adamant opposition to slavery cost him first his senate seat and later his position as commander of the Union's Western forces in the Civil War (he issued the first Emancipation Proclamation in the state of Missouri in 1861, and Lincoln punished him harshly for this); finally, he invested the huge fortune he had made in the California gold fields in transcontinental railroad stocks, only to fail at every turn and die in poverty.

No better example of both Fremont's strengths and flaws can be found than the San Juan Mountains of southwestern Colorado: a rugged mountain chain he tried twice to traverse, ending in failure each time, the first time in the service of the U.S. Army and the second time in an vain attempt to survey a pass for a railroads through the mountains.

This is the first biography I have read of Fremont, and I felt that Denton's tone was sometimes overly sympathetic. She seemed to play down obvious indications of both Fremonts' extra-marital affairs and the personality flaws that prevented Fremont from succeeding as a politician (despite runs for the presidency both in 1856 and 1864).

All in all, though, Denton does a wonderful job of bringing this power couple to life. From beginning to end, I was fascinated by these two individuals and their contributions during a critical part of American history.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing! Reads like a novel., September 17, 2007

By	A. Frederick "faMiss Women" (Denver, CO) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book was gripping. It is the best historical book I have read. It reads like a novel. Denton's ability to provide a historical account, introduce many characters and events and keep the reader engrossed in the story is remarkable. As a person who loves to read about strong women in history, I loved reading about this strong alliance between husband and wife.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Well Worth the Read, January 30, 2008

By	jeffrey goldstein - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

A very interesting account of a couple whose lives and relations spanned so many important events of America's 19th century. Too often, I felt, Denton quoted from secondary source material within the text when the end notes would've sufficed. When countering long-held opinions of historians about Fremont's role in events or competence as an explorer or soldier, presentation of the views of seemed appropriate. However, at other times, the quotations and references to the works of others was burdensome.

Most irritating was the lack of maps included by the publisher. Two hard-to-read maps are found at the front of the book, but no other maps were available to trace the detailed events and travels of Fremont! So much of the story deals with his exploration. Geographic details are available in the text, but without supporting maps, I was left wanting.

I learned much about Jessie Fremont, and, through her relationship with her father, John, and others, about American attitudes about women in the 19th century. I learned that it was Jessie who was the the true pathfinder of the two.