Hailed as a champion of liberty, attacked as a supporter of slavery, John C. Calhoun was a controversial figure in a stormy era of American political history. As Representative, Senator, Secretary of State and Vice President, he struggled to reconcile the interests of the South with the needs of the Federal government during the decades before the Civil War.

Born in South Carolina a year after the Revolutionary War, John Calhoun grew up with the young United States. As a Southerner attending Yale University, he early learned the differences separating North and South, and when he was sent to Washington by his fellow South Carolinians, he began his lifelong battle to keep these differences from splitting the fragile Union. His fervent belief in the importance of states' rights often put him in opposition to such towering figures as Daniel Webster, Henry Clay and Andrew Jackson. There were bitter debates and complex compromises as these men of good will and fierce opinions tread a dangerous tightrope in guiding the destinies of the fledgling nation. 

Tragically, Calhoun's great leadership helped draw the South toward the disaster he so desperately dreaded and tried to avoid. 

From the dust jacket