Opposing Lincoln: Clement L. Vallandigham, Presidential Power, and the Legal Battle Over Dissent in Wartime

"In this insightful study, Thomas Mackey analyzes the constitutional collision between Clement Vallandigham's public opposition to national policy during the Civil War and President Lincoln's decision to limit political speech whenever needed to promote national goals. Vallandigham became the target because of his prominence. A complex story that includes legal and political calculations on both sides."--Louis Fisher, author of Reconsidering Judicial Finality: Why the Supreme Court Is Not the Last Word on the Constitution and Military Tribunals and Presidential Power: American Revolution to the War on Terrorism

"In addition to being a highly readable, fast-moving, compelling account of Clement Vallandigham's opposition to President Lincoln and the Civil War, Thomas Mackey's Opposing Lincoln implicitly raises important present-day issues such as the power of a president to suppress dissent and the capacity of loyal but incompetent subordinate officials to create trouble for a president."--William E. Nelson, Judge Edward Weinfeld Professor of Law and professor of history, New York University, and author of Marbury v. Madison: The Origins and Legacy of Judicial Review, Second Edition, Revised and Expanded