Negotiating the Louisiana Purchase: Robert Livingston's Mission to France, 1801-1804 (review)

There have been more than a dozen books published since 2000 relating to the Louisiana Purchase, many since the 2003 bicentennial of the cession of the territory. Most scholars tend to denigrate Robert Livingston's role in the negotiations, pointing to his hope to profit and the fact that he changed the dates in his correspondence in order to give himself credit for obtaining Louisiana. Revising this portrait is "former career senior officer of the U.S. Foreign Service" (back cover) Frank Brecher.

Drawing heavily on the Robert Livingston Papers at the New York Historical Society, apparently the only manuscript primary source he consulted, the author portrays Minister Plenipotentiary Livingston vigorously lobbying the French government to sell the territory long before he received instructions to do so. The French became more responsive towards Livingston because of looming war with Britain and news that James Monroe was being dispatched by the Jefferson administration with a possible ultimatum to sell "New Orleans and the Floridas or face the prospect of a U.S.-British military alliance against them" (p. 55). Meanwhile, Livingston worked through unofficial channels, namely Joseph Bonaparte, to reach the First Consul. Monroe's designation as "Minister Plenipotentiary and Envoy Extraordinary" caused Livingston to bristle; his own title merely being Minister Plenipotentiary. The two jockeyed for credit; Monroe "belittled Livingston's role" (p. 92), while Livingston "stooped to a petty, and easily disproved, set of claims that he was on the cusp of success" (p. 93) prior to Monroe's arrival.

Although remarkably balanced in his treatment, Brecher comes down on Livingston's side. He is credited with producing memoranda and communications that had "an impact on the thinking of Napoleon and his senior officials" (p. 107). Livingston, "using the time-honored way of diplomats . . . set forth in the contemporary record the best case possible," even though that case was "marred by a clear distortion of the record" (p. 108). On the negative side of the ledger was an "unattractive pattern of dissembling by Livingston in his effort to create a paper trail designed to prove that he and not Monroe was the one who merited the distinction of having brought the French to offer all of Louisiana to the U.S." (p. 82) and a threatening tone in his "written presentations to the French government" (p. 109). Livingston was also guilty of having an "unduly close association" with Americans who had "a direct financial interest in settling the debt issue with France" (the debt had been rolled into the purchase price of the territory) (p. 110). Admitting to hyperbole, Brecher grants Livingston the title "the man who bought Louisiana," pointing to Livingston's agreement to the sale without instructions and before Monroe had made "substantive contact" (p. 121) with the French.

While Livingston's Mission is a useful corrective to the work of other historians, who give the majority of the credit to Monroe, Brecher's work is not without its own significant problems, some quite puzzling. He can read French, yet does not examine the contemporary French diplomatic records. A couple of the chapters end with long block quotes; there is no attempt to tie them together with a conclusion. Extremely long block quotes litter the text, some as long as a page. The book reads more like a brief than a history. Brecher uses numbered or lettered lists, one of which has eight numbered documents. This approach, combined with the numerous block quotes, makes the work clumsy and inelegant. The reader gets the impression that the author is trying to fit in every letter he found in the Livingston Papers. For specialists interested in a pro-Livingston account of the Louisiana Purchase, this book fills a niche. For those seeking a general view of the purchase, there are other more relevant volumes.