Stephen Douglas

Few nineteenth-century American politicians have been judged as sharply as Stephen Douglas, whose admirers and detractors tend to repeat opposing verdicts rather than examine the record. Damon Wells offers a more measured account, weighing the evidence on a man who was known as the Little Giant.

The book concentrates on several key stages of Douglas's career. It follows his conflict with President James Buchanan, his debates with Abraham Lincoln, and the presidential campaign of 1860. It also explores his uneasy relationship with the South and gives close attention to popular sovereignty, a doctrine that proves slippery and often frustrating to pin down.