Booknotes: The Pathfinder and the President

New Arrival:

• The Pathfinder and the President: John C. Frémont, Abraham Lincoln, and the Battle for Emancipation by John Bicknell (Stackpole Bks, 2025).

As John Bicknell reminded us in his 2017 book Lincoln's Pathfinder: John C. Fremont and the Violent Election of 1856, even though the Republicans ended up losing the presidential contest that year, the party's performance at the polls and shifting political winds together revealed a path for victory in 1860. Of course, it is well known among Civil War readers that relations between the Republican Party's first two presidential candidates were never smooth, and the two were frequently at odds. Their complex and highly strained interactions over wartime policy matters are the focus of Bicknell's new book The Pathfinder and the President: John C. Frémont, Abraham Lincoln, and the Battle for Emancipation. Overstepping his bounds as a military department commander, General Fremont "sparked a national crisis by unilaterally declaring emancipation in Missouri. Drawing from extensive research, this study "chronicles the volatile relationship between these two leaders as they grappled with slavery, military strategy, and the future of the nation."

While Bicknell's primary focus is on the Lincoln-Fremont relationship, wider questions associated with the heavily blurred boundary between military and political matters and responsibilities during the Civil War are addressed. More from the description: The Pathfinder and the President "(r)eveals how Frémont's radical actions in Missouri influenced Lincoln's own path to the Emancipation Proclamation," "(e)xplores the complex political and military dimensions of Civil War leadership," "(i)lluminates the crucial role of border states in shaping Union strategy," and "(p)rovides fresh insights into the personal dynamics that affected wartime decision-making."

In sum, Bicknell's "narrative shows how the clash between Lincoln and Frémont helped determine the course of emancipation and the outcome of the war itself."