First as a spokesman for the Whig and then the Democratic parties, Caleb Cushing served in Congress, as the minister to China, as a general in the Mexican War, as U.S. attorney general, and as a legal adviser and diplomatic operative for Presidents Lincoln, Johnson, and Grant. With an unharnessed mind and probing intellect, Cushing inspired and infuriated contemporaries with his strident views on race relations and gender roles, national expansion, and the legitimacy of secession. His abilities and talents sustained him in public service and made him one of the most fascinating figures of the era.

John M. Belohlavek is a professor of history at the University of South Florida in Tampa. His previous publications include Divided We Fall: Essays on the Problems of Confederate Nationalism of Confederate Nationalism (1991) and Let the Eagle Soar: The Foreign Policy of Andrew Jackson Jackson (1985).