The Also-Rans

Episode 6: The Railsplitter's Shadow

November 17, 2021 Mark A. Lempke Season 1 Episode 6
The Also-Rans
Episode 6: The Railsplitter's Shadow
Show Notes

Just about everything we know about Stephen Douglas can be tied back to the man who defeated him for the presidency, Abraham Lincoln. No other also-ran is defined, in popular memory, by his opponent quite so much as he. With help from special guest Tim Connors, we will look at Douglas as a frontier stump-speaker, an advocate of American expansion, and finally, a staunch defender of the Union at the onset of civil war.