About
Journalism was my career. History is my passion. I majored in history and political science at Grinnell College but spent my professional career in newspapers after graduating in 1980. In 1987, I joined the Washington bureau of Thomson Newspapers and covered Congress, the 1988 Democratic convention and Operation Desert Shield in Saudi Arabia before joining the Los Angeles Times-Washington Post News Service in 1997. During my years at the Post I was a frequent contributor to the Retropolis history blog and wrote for the Civil War 150 section. My first book -- a biography of Iowa Populist James B. Weaver -- was published in 2008. My second book, an account of the Credit Mobilier scandal, came out almost a decade later. Now I am about to launch "The Partisans: James G. Blaine, Roscoe Conkling and the Politics of Rivalry and Revenge in the Gilded Age," an account of the rivalry that dominated American politics in the years after the Civil War. "The Partisans" will be published by Edinborough Press of Roseville, MN.
Featured Work
The Partisans: James G. Blaine, Roscoe Conkling, and the Politics of Rivalry and Revenge in the Gilded Age
Coming soon from Edinborough Press: "The Partisans: James G. Blaine, Roscoe Conkling, and the Politics of Rivalry and Revenge in the Gilded Age." From the shadow of Lincoln's assassination to the emergence of Theodore Roosevelt, the bitter feud between Blaine and Conkling dominated American politics.
Conkling and Blaine fought each other at political conventions, on Capitol Hill, and in the behind-the-scenes struggle for power that consumed the presidency of James A. Garfield and stoked the madness that led to his assassination. Along the way they earned the ire of reformers and figured in some of the biggest political scandals of the day.
The book "humanizes a House Speaker and senator whose career became intertwined for decades and whose enmity for one another probably kept both out of the White House," according to Washington Post columnist James Hohmann.
Other Works
Awards and Recognition
- 2009 Benjamin F. Shambaugh Award. Given by the State Historical Society of Iowa for the most significant book about Iowa history published the previous year. Awarded for "Skirmisher: The Life, Times, and Political Career of James B. Weaver."
