The John Batchelor Show

S8 Ep472: Guest: Michael Vorenberg. General Grant found himself caught between a hostile President Johnson and Secretary Stanton. Vorenberg describes the disastrous "swing around the circle" tour, where Johnson used Grant's popularity as a shield while making embar

S8 Ep472: Guest: Michael Vorenberg. To undercut radicals, Johnson followed Seward's advice to declare the insurrection ended by executive proclamation in 1866. Vorenberg notes this "official" peace ignored realities like the New Orleans massacre. Simultaneously,

S8 Ep472: Guest: Michael Vorenberg. Vorenberg explains how President Johnson's racism and desire for a hasty peace alienated Congress. Johnson vetoed the Civil Rights and Freedman's Bureau Acts, arguing the war was over. Republicans, however, insisted war powers re

S8 Ep472: Guest: Michael Vorenberg. Vorenberg discusses Richard Henry Dana's "Grasp of War" speech, which argued the war could not end until the victor secured guarantees against future conflict. This philosophy, demanding the enemy be held down, contrasted sharply

S8 Ep472: Guest: Michael Vorenberg. The government utilizes military tribunals to try Lincoln's assassins and Andersonville commandant Henry Wirz, arguing the war is ongoing. Prosecutors hope to pressure Wirz into implicating Jefferson Davis in prisoner atrocities