{"product_id":"heirs-of-the-founders-the-epic-rivalry-of-henry-clay-john-calhoun-and-daniel-webster-the-second-generation-of-american-giants","title":"Heirs of the Founders: The Epic Rivalry of Henry Clay, John Calhoun and Daniel Webster, the Second Generation of American Giants","description":"From New York Times bestselling historian H. W. Brands comes the riveting story of how, in nineteenth-century America, a new set of political giants battled to complete the unfinished work of the Founding Fathers and decide the future of our democracy\n\nIn the early 1800s, three young men strode onto the national stage, elected to Congress at a moment when the Founding Fathers were beginning to retire to their farms. Daniel Webster of Massachusetts, a champion orator known for his eloquence, spoke for the North and its business class. Henry Clay of Kentucky, as dashing as he was ambitious, embodied the hopes of the rising West. South Carolina's John Calhoun, with piercing eyes and an even more piercing intellect, defended the South and slavery.\nTogether these heirs of Washington, Jefferson and Adams took the country to war, battled one another for the presidency and set themselves the task of finishing the work the Founders had left undone. Their rise was marked by dramatic duels, fierce debates, scandal and political betrayal. Yet each in his own way sought to remedy the two glaring flaws in the Constitution: its refusal to specify where authority ultimately rested, with the states or the nation, and its unwillingness to address the essential incompatibility of republicanism and slavery.\nThey wrestled with these issues for four decades, arguing bitterly and hammering out political compromises that held the Union together, but only just. Then, in 1850, when California moved to join the Union as a free state, \"the immortal trio\" had one last chance to save the country from the real risk of civil war. But, by that point, they had never been further apart.\nThrillingly and authoritatively, H. W. Brands narrates an epic American rivalry and the little-known drama of the dangerous early years of our democracy.\u003cbr\u003eASIN: 0385542534\u003cbr\u003eVSKU: RDV.0385542534.VG\u003cbr\u003eCondition: Very Good\u003cbr\u003eAuthor\/Artist:Brands, H. W.\u003cbr\u003eBinding: Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eNote:\u003c\/b\u003e Any images shown are stock photographs and product may differ from what is shown.  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCondition Notes\u003c\/b\u003e: This book is in excellent condition. There may be minimal writing on the inside cover or cover page. Cover image on the book may vary from photo. Ships out quickly in a secure plastic mailer.  \u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Reliant Bookstore","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47989754626225,"sku":"RDV.0385542534.VG","price":6.98,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/www.reliantbookstore.com\/products\/heirs-of-the-founders-the-epic-rivalry-of-henry-clay-john-calhoun-and-daniel-webster-the-second-generation-of-american-giants","provider":"Reliant Bookstore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}