Edwin M. Stanton

A new series dramatizes Edwin Stanton's hunt for John Wilkes Booth and his co-conspirators in the aftermath of the president’s 1865 assassination.

A new television miniseries depicts the pursuit of Lincoln’s killer. But the public appetite for tales about the chase began even as it was happening.

If RFK is confirmed, he is likely to fail for reasons similar to those for past political choices for the cabinet.

The general’s campaign through the South is known for its brutality against civilians. For the enslaved who followed his army, though, it was a shot at freedom.

After the Civil War, Andrew Johnson issued the biggest act of presidential clemency in our history. It angered his party and led to his eventual impeachment.

The real Andrew Johnson compared with the only film made about his life.

Historians haven't only underestimated the sheer number of underage Union soldiers, they've also overlooked the internal battles those youths provoked.

A new book chronicles the life of the 19th century political giant of Salmon Chase.

The inequitable dismissal of US soldiers following the conclusion of the Civil War.

Almon F. Rockwell's newly resurfaced journals, excerpted exclusively here, offer an incisive account of the assassinated presidents' final moments.

While he opposed slavery and southern secession early in his career, as president Andrew Johnson turned out to be an unsightly bigot.

In the 19th century, freedom from government interference mapped onto opposition of women's rights.

The story of John Wolcott Phelps and his push for Lincoln to emancipate all slaves.

Why did the man known as the “father of Black nationalism” defect to the Democratic Party during Reconstruction?

Revisionist biographers have given us countless perspectives, from Honest Abe to Killer Lincoln. Is there a version that’s true to his time and attuned to ours?

The backstory to the backstory of America’s mythic promise.

Since the first Decoration Day, the cemetery morphed from one of many Civil War burial grounds to a unique place of honor.

What the Civil War tells us about who has the power to shape history.

A new history of Andrew Johnson’s trial reminds us the impeachment is a tool to constrain executive abuse of power and publicize dissent on matters of policy.

Betrayal. Paranoia. Cowardice. We've been here before.