The Diary of James A. Garfield. Volume III, 1875-1877 (review)

BOOK REVIEWS179 tablishment of the bank in San Antonio, his wealth grew rapidly, but because of his philanthropic activities, it is impossible to determine his financial worth at any given time as many of his gifts were anonymous. Much of his wealth went to the University of Texas, and a large sum was left for the creation of the George W. Brackenridge Foundation which is still in operation. This mysterious philanthropist, who today lies in an unkept cemetery in Jackson County, surrounded by a gateless cement fence four feet high and two feet thick, was a difficult subject for his biographer. He was a Unionist during the war, referred to as a "Damn Scalawag" during Reconstruction, and by different people at different times labeled : "a Robber Baron, a Progressive Banker, a Generous Philanthropist , a Black Republican, a Far-Sighted Educator, a Brilliant Intellectual , a Civic-Minded Builder, an Unscrupulous Opportunist, a Prohibitionist, a Woman's Suffragist, a Negro Lover" (p. 6). However, Professor Sibley has risen to the occasion, meeting the challenge of a complicated subject and produced an excellent biography about a man who was many things to many people. Billy D. Ledbetter Cooke County Junior College The Diary of James A. Garfield. Volume III, 1875-1877. Edited by Harry James Brown and Frederick D. Williams (East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 1973. Pp. 599. $22.50. ) Very likely Garfield would not have appreciated this handsome annotated edition of his private diary. When he read John Quincy Adams' diary he was frankly bored. "Much of the Journal," he said, "is dreary reading, being the daily comment upon events then important but long since of no interest to anybody." How wrong he was. Diaries exert a perpetual fascination, perhaps because the unpremeditated artlessness of the form resembles life itself. All the great diarists are hypochondriacs , obsessed with the state of their soul and their bowels. With these volumes, Garfield joins their ranks. It must be admitted, however, that this particular volume lacks some of the drama found in the earlier ones. In the first volume we followed a gifted adolescent on a voyage of self-discovery, while Volume II was well spiced with scandal. Volume III is more prosaic and its high points tend to be political rather than personal. By 1875 Garfield had secured his leadership of the Republican party in the House of Representatives. Through his eyes we see the Grant administration stumble to its conclusion , hobbled by Southern bungles and internal scandals. Garfield is at Blaine's side as his friend makes an unsuccessful bid for the 1876 presidential nomination. We follow Garfield on the campaign trail for Hayes, a campaign juxtaposed with the tragic counterpoint of his son's illness and death. Garfield is then sent to Louisiana to salvage that 180CIVIL WAR HISTORY state's disputed vote and in the tangled negotiations which follow he bears much of the responsibility for Hayes' victory. As 1877 draws to a close Garfield is already growing disenchanted with the policies of the President he helped to seat. From now on no historian can write of any of these topics without first consulting this volume. Garfield himself emerges from these pages more as a misplaced intellectual than a politician. It requires nearly fourteen column inches of the index simply to list all the books he read or discussed in this three year span. Much of this reading matter was weighty stuff and a surprising amount of it was history. Contrary to the usual stereotype of the Gilded Age congressman, Garfield and his colleagues appear to be dedicated , serious-minded and, above all, hard working. When a group of them conclude after a dinner party "that there was a higher tone of public and private morals in public men now, than at any former period ," one is almost inclined to agree. The latest volume in this welcome series continues to display the same meticulous editorial standards as its predecessors. As in the earlier volumes the editors have set a model of professional thoroughness: each fugitive reference, each passing name, no matter how obscure, has been carefully tracked down and described, often in graceful little essays which illuminate not only Garfield...