Uncle Jerry: Life of General Jeremiah M. Rusk, Stage Driver, Farmer, Soldier, Legislator, Governor, Cabinet Office

From stage driver to United States Cabinet, "Uncle Jerry" Jeremiah Rusk lived one of the great upward journeys of nineteenth-century America. His life journey defies expectation. In this vivid 19th century political biography, Henry Casson follows Rusk from rough frontier beginnings through Civil War military service, national politics and the responsibilities of high office. Written by a contemporary deeply embedded in 19th century Wisconsin politics, Casson's narrative offers a rare inside view of character as much as career. Rusk appears as farmer, American Civil War biography subject, legislator, governor of Wisconsin biography figure and, finally, US cabinet secretary biography in the Department of Agriculture, closely tied to Wisconsin agricultural history and the wider transformation of rural life. The result is a complete political biography edition that illuminates the daily workings of Gilded Age American government as well as the personal resilience behind public decisions. For Wisconsin history readers and a wider audience interested in how ordinary work, battlefield experience and pragmatic politics could carry one man from local obscurity to national influence, this is an invaluable research resource for historians, students and general readers alike. Out of print for decades and now republished by Alpha Editions. Restored for today's and future generations. More than a reprint - a collector's item and a cultural treasure.