Description
Book SynopsisThe absorbing narrative of Frederick Douglass's heated struggle with President Andrew Johnson reveals a new perspective on Reconstruction's demise.
Trade Review"In this engrossing new book, Robert S. Levine has penned a nuanced and detailed study of the ‘hopes and frustrations of Reconstruction’ during Andrew Johnson’s presidency. While focusing on the relationship between Johnson and Frederick Douglass, the author also includes the views of numerous African American writers who witnessed Johnson’s transformation from self-styled ‘Moses to Black People’ to betrayer of Reconstruction.
The Failed Promise is a lesson for our times as we continue to confront our nation’s unfulfilled promise of racial equality." -- Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
"An engrossing account... Levine poignantly captures a moment when the future of the United States was up for grab... In so doing, the author suggests the tragic consequences of failure and the way in which those consequences are still very much with us." -- Randall Fuller - The Wall Street Journal
