“With meticulous research, Walter Stahr breathes new life into Salmon Chase... Above all, this is a book about racial justice: about Chase’s long quest to end slavery and secure Black rights in America.”

—Brad Meltzer, New York Times bestselling author of The Lincoln Conspiracy

About Walter

After more than two decades as a lawyer, Walter Stahr started writing books about American leaders. His biographies of John Jay, William Henry Seward and Edwin Stanton have earned praise and awards, and he is now at work on Salmon Chase, antislavery activist, treasury secretary and chief justice.

Full Bio

Also by Walter Stahr

Praise for Walter

“This magnificent biography finally provides what William Henry Seward so justly deserves – a full, terrific and complex portrait of his endlessly fascinating life.”

—Doris Kearns Goodwin, Pulitzer prize winning author of Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln

(Seward)

“…fair-minded, rigorous, and scrupulously honest... Stanton is thus a welcome and significant addition to the ample literature on the Civil War and Reconstruction.”

—Ron Chernow, author of The New York Times Bestseller Alexander Hamilton

(Stanton)

“Walter Stahr writes with great insight, and this wonderful book should restore Jay’s place in the pantheon of our great Founding Fathers.”

—Walter Isaacson, author of Benjamin Franklin: An American Life

(John Jay)

Featured Interview

Interview by Brian Lamb on C-SPAN’s Q&A Show
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Latest Blog Post

Chase and Memorial Day

Last year I posted about Salmon Chase’s Memorial Day letter, from 1869, worth reading again this weekend. Chief Justice Chase was in South Carolina for circuit court duties, and he had been invited to attend an event at a cemetery just outside Charleston, South Carolina. Chase had to decline but explained his hopes as follows:…

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