Daniel Webster: Defender of Peace

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Few names in American history are more recognizable than that of Daniel Webster. No one would deny that Websters substantive domestic achievements assured his prominent place in American history and that his virtual embodiment of nation and union guaranteed his rank among the most significant personalities of the Jacksonian era. It can, however, be argued that his domestic resum that garnered him the title Defender of the Constitution is rivaled by an impressive international one that yielded far-reaching results for a nation still struggling to find a respectable position among the Atlantic powers. In fact, his adroit handling of his signature accomplishment with Lord Ashburton earned him the additional title of Defender of Peace. Websters foreign policy achievements are too often given short shrift, falling victim to the textbook authors inclination to hold Webster to the dominant domestic narrative that would ultimately see the nation fractured. Donald A. Rakestraw focuses on Websters critical diplomatic efforts--efforts that produced a legacy that ranges from the delineation of Americas northeastern boundary with Canada to the prevention of a serious rupture with Britain; from the advancement of national commercial expansion in the Pacific and East Asia to the establishment of a long-lived model for U.S. extradition policy; from his successful intervention on behalf of the so-called Santa Fe prisoners in Mexico to his role in promoting a crucial Anglo-American rapprochement.

Reviews

Rakestraw (Winthrop Univ.) foregoes yet another comprehensive biography of this 19th-century American political giant, and instead provides a lean life study focusing on Websters diplomatic statecraft. Rakestraw's centerpiece (discussed in chapter 3) is Websters resolution, in his role as secretary of state in John Tylers cabinet, of a dispute with Great Britain over Maines Canadian boundarya diplomatic maneuver that set Great Britain and the US on a path to an epic partnership. In 1842, through extensive negotiations with Alexander Barring (Lord Ashburton), Webster crafted a compromise that served the interests of both parties. It was his signal achievement as a diplomat. As secretary of state again from 1850 to 1852, Webster pursued commercial relations with China and Japan, discouraged filibustering in Central America, and promoted patriotism during a time of stress in the US over slavery-related issues, notably through his blustery defense of Hungarian freedom fighter Louis Kossuth. Websters diplomatic record included substantive achievements (keeping Hawaii in the American orbit) and unforced errors (making claims about the Lobos Islands in a controversy with Peru that did not stand scrutiny). Overall, Rakestraw argues, Webster demonstrated a pragmatic temper in the office and made his mark. This well-documented book makes for good reading and fills a niche in Webster studies.



Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students, researchers, faculty.

* Choice Reviews *
This persuasive diplomatic biography contends for Daniel Webster's place in the pantheon of great American statesmen--despite his infamously checkered role on slavery. By focusing on Webster's foreign policy record over decades of service in Congress and the State Department, Rakestraw compels us to reconsider the cumulative impact of Webster's profound contributions to peace and national security in fraught times, as well as his creative initiatives to grow US commerce and influence throughout the globe in an age of competing imperialisms. This is a deft reframing of Webster's story. -- Robert E. May
Daniel Webster: Defender of Peace is a welcome addition to the Biographies in American Foreign Policy series. In six chapters and an epilogue, Donald Rakestraw succinctly and authoritatively demonstrates that Websters role as a diplomatist deserves at least as much adulation as that of defender of the constitution. The author covers all of the essential facets of Websters public life while focusing on his role as one of the foremost diplomats of the early national period. Rakestraws combination of thorough research and crisp writing results in a fresh account of Webster that is not only a delight to read but is also impressive in its scholarly tone. This work is ideal for the university classroom, and I highly recommend it for historians as well as the general public. -- Timothy D. Johnson, Lipscomb University; author of "Winfield Scott: The Quest for Military Glory" and "For Duty and Honor: Tennessees Mexican War Experience"
Daniel Webster is a towering figure in the history of American politics, law, and diplomacy. Donald Rakestraws finely crafted account of Webster as an architect of United States foreign relations tells Webster's story with skill and energy. -- Kenneth Stevens, Texas Christian University
A finely crafted, well-researched, and carefully reasoned study of Daniel Webster as diplomatist as well as politician and lawyer. Nowhere else can both academics and general readers find a more succinct yet thorough account of this multifaceted figure who, with Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun, made up the Great Triumvirate that dominated the political stage of mid-nineteenth-century America. -- Howard Jones, University of Alabama
Donald Rakestraws new analysis of the life and politics of Daniel Webster is an important addition to our understanding of the iconic New Englanders career. More often than not, scholars place Websters domestic achievements at heart of their work and in doing so overlook his role in the development of US foreign policy. Daniel Webster: Defender of Peace is a valuable corrective to this tendency. By weaving together biography and political history Rakestraw lucidly portrays Webster as a vital figure in the development of antebellum foreign policy. Furthermore, Daniel Webster explores the interplay between foreign and domestic policy in Websters political career and highlights the extent to which his attempts to hold the American Union together cannot be fully understood without reference to international affairs. -- Peter O'Connor, University of South Australia, Australia
In this brisk and illuminating study, Donald Rakestraw convincingly argues that Daniel Webster should be considered one of the most important statesmen in American history. More than just a great orator, Webster was an architect of Anglo-American peace, a proponent of commercial expansion into the Pacific, and an underappreciated legal theorist who developed a doctrine of pre-emption that would reverberate into the twenty-first century. This is an important work that is required reading for all students of U.S. foreign relations. -- Jay Sexton, University of Missouri
For years, Daniel Websters role as a diplomat has been somewhat obscured by the imposing shadow of contemporary John Quincy Adams. No longer. Donald Rakestraw, one of the leading historians of antebellum diplomacy, is singularly well equipped to bring light to Websters achievements. The result is a relatively brief, highly readable book that provides excellent coverage of the major diplomatic issues of Websters career and in the process brings Webster personage into sharper relief. Historians of the early republic and US diplomacy will find this a very useful work. -- J. Chris Arndt, James Madison University

Author Bio

Donald A. Rakestraw is University College Professor of History at Winthrop University and Professor Emeritusat Georgia Southern University. Among his numerous publications on nineteenth-century American history and U.S. foreign relations are For Honor or Destiny: The Anglo-American Crisis over the Oregon Territory and Prologue to Manifest Destiny: Anglo-American Relations in the 1840s (with Howard Jones). He has delivered countless lectures on Anglo-American relations and the history of U.S. foreign relations in both the United States and the United Kingdom.