The Partisans: James G. Blaine, Roscoe Conkling, and the Politics of Rivalry and Revenge in the Gilded Age

The Partisans tells the story of the feud that dominated American politics in the decades that followed the Civil War. It is the first detailed account of the battle between Republicans James G. Blaine and Roscoe Conkling. Blaine and Conkling fought for dominance on Capitol Hill and smoke-filled political convention halls. Their feud stoked the madness that led to the assassination of President James A. Garfield. When Blaine finally won the party’s presidential nomination in 1884, hostility from New York Republicans still loyal to Conkling helped make Blaine the first Republican to lose a presidential election since 1856. As they fought for power and responded to the changing conditions of post-Civil War America, Blaine and Conkling helped shape the direction of their party and change the course of history.