Letter to the Editor

Letter to the Editor To the editor: I appreciated The Michigan Historical Review (vol. 37, no. 2, fall 2011) publishing a review of my book Wounded Warrior: The Rise and Fall of Michigan Governor John Swainson. The reviewer, John R. Greene, does not mention (and may have been unaware) that the book was awarded the 2011 Independent Publisher gold medal for biography, and was named a 2011 Michigan Notable Book by the Library of Michigan. Unfortunately, Mr. Greene’s review contains a number of factual errors. Mr. Greene asserts that “The discussion of [Swainson’s] time on the Michigan Supreme Court is limited to a brief summary of three cases in which he participated.” In fact, most of chapter 11 (pp. 117-30) is devoted to Swainson’s time on the Michigan Supreme Court. The chapter includes detailed descriptions of five (not three) legally significant cases in which Swainson authored the court’s majority opinion. Mr. Greene states that Swainson “was disbarred temporarily, which obliged him to resign from the Supreme Court.” Swainson’s resignation had nothing to do with his disbarment (which in fact occurred long after he resigned). As pointed out on p. 213, Swainson had to resign because “he had been convicted of three felony counts, and Michigan Compiled Laws, section 938, provided that a person convicted of a felony could not hold public office.” And Swainson’s disbarment was not “temporary.” It was open ended. As the book narrates, after five years he was allowed to apply for reinstatement, the granting of which was far from certain (in his case it was granted). Referring to the bribery case, the reviewer complains that the book provides “no insight as to why Swainson might have taken the gifts.” What gifts? There was no evidence that the alleged briber, Harvey Wish, gave Swainson any gifts. The testimony at trial (laid out in chapter 16) demonstrated beyond any doubt that on the only occasion Wish was observed unambiguously delivering Swainson anything, he was merely transporting the item for a mutual friend, who had nothing to do with the alleged bribery. The Michigan Historical Review 172 Finally, Mr. Greene observes that Swainson was elected to the state senate in 1955 and lieutenant governor in 1959. The actual years were 1954 and 1958 respectively. Again, these facts are presented in the book. Yours truly, Lawrence M. Glazer Editorial note: Dr. Greene has no comment to Mr. Glazer’s response. ...