Salmon P. Chase: Lincoln’s Vital Rival
by Walter Stahr
832 pages
Simon & Schuster
Published: Feb 2022

Walter Stahr’s long-awaited biography of Salmon Chase was published three weeks ago. Stahr was a lawyer for two decades before embarking on a career as an author. His three other biographies also focus on early American political figures: John Jay, William Seward and Edwin Stanton.

Anyone who has read Doris Kearns Goodwin’s riveting biography of Abraham Lincoln is familiar with Salmon P. Chase (1808-1873). He was a passionate anti-slavery voice, a U.S. Senator, Governor of Ohio, helped establish the Republican Party, served as Lincoln’s Treasury Secretary, was Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and was the inspiration behind…