Lowenstein details the Confederacy’s missteps as it tried to raise money, as well as the federal blockade’s stranglehold on Southern ports and shipping. Chase and Lincoln’s fractious relationship is on full display here, including Chase’s multiple threats to resign and his pursuit of the presidency before and after Lincoln’s tenure. From renowned journalist and master storyteller Roger Lowenstein, a revelatory financial investigation into how Lincoln and his administration used the funding of the Civil War as the catalyst. Other firsts included the federal government taking on massive amounts of debt from bond issues the establishment of a fiat paper currency issued by national banks and the solidifying of Wall Street as the nation’s financial hub. For instance, during the Civil War, the federal government successfully implemented the first-ever income tax, to pay for the mounting war costs. finances under the tenure of Lincoln and his Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P.

In this enlightening work of economic history, financial journalist Lowenstein ( America’s Bank) explores the massive transformation of U.S.

The country’s finances had been left in shambles by the administration of James Buchanan, who had unsound fiscal and monetary policies and feared that his treasury secretary held Southern sympathies. In Roger Lowenstein's new book Ways and Means, he investigates the financial forces that kept the Union and Confederate fighting forces funded during the Civil War. Lowenstein delivers a fine account of a crucial yet overlooked aspect of the American Civil War.When Abraham Lincoln assumed the presidency in 1861, federal coffers were practically empty. Author Roger Lowenstein talked about how Abraham Lincoln and his Treasury secretary Salmon Chase worked together to manage the financial front during the Civil. this is a must-read for American history buffs. His experience writing about financial matters . . . informs this fresh look at the president’s essential Republican roots as a self-made man, rather than slaveholder, and belief that anyone could be successful in America. Lowenstein makes what occurred at Treasury and on Wall Street during the early 1860s seem as enthralling as what transpired on the battlefield or at the White House. Ways and Means, an account of the Union’s financial policies, examines a subject long overshadowed by military narratives.Ĭaptivating.

Ways and Means by Roger Lowenstein