Boulard, Garry's Books

Huey Long Invades New Orleans

The Siege of a City, 1934-36

By: Boulard, Garry

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Huey Long Invades New Orleans

The Siege of a City, 1934-36

By: Boulard, Garry

If you think historians are dull . . . you need to read Boulard. . . . A brilliant history written with the verve and style most authors can only envy, Huey Long Invades New Orleans is a treat."-Dr. Michael Thomason, managing editorGulf Coast Historical Review By 1934, the senator from Louisiana stood on the precipice of national power. His Share the Wealth club had made him a national figure, and he set his sights on the presidency. One thing stood in his way-New Orleans. If Huey P. Long wanted to be considered a legitimate candidate for the presidency, he needed the support of the entire state. Or did he? The emotional, volatile Long despised the prim and proper politicians in New Orleans. They, in turn, regarded him as a thug. Their mutual animosity was palpable, and the powder keg finally exploded when Long ordered 3,000 militiamen into New Orleans. Was his decision a sound political strategy or a reckless personal vendetta? In his meticulous search for the answer, Garry Boulard interviewed more than two dozen people involved with Long and the conflict. He also unearthed never-before-published photos that complement his dramatic narrative. The result is an in-depth examination of the Kingfish and his attack on the city that dared oppose him.

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282

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Pelican Publishing

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ISBN 10

145560609X

ISBN 13

9781455606092

Andrew Johnson

The Renaissance of an American Politician

By: Garry Boulard

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Andrew Johnson

The Renaissance of an American Politician

By: Garry Boulard

Few presidents have been as eviscerated in history as Andrew Johnson, who suddenly on a rainy morning in April of 1865 became the nation’s new chief executive upon the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. A man who rose from dire poverty through a sheer primal force of will, Johnson was elected to every level of government—always taking his case to the people—in a remarkable, if often chaotic career that included service as a state legislator, member of Congress, Governor of Tennessee, U.S. Senator, vice-president, and finally the presidency itself. During the Civil War, Johnson bravely stood up to Confederates, his life repeatedly threatened serving at Lincoln’s pleasure as the Military Governor of Tennessee and pushing for an end to slavery. Yet he is the same man who, upon succeeding Lincoln, could not see his way clear to securing the full Constitutional rights for ex-slaves. Because of his endless fights and many confrontations, Johnson’s presidency has since been roundly condemned as one of the most disastrous in U.S. history. Johnson, notes Page Smith in his seminal People’s History series, put on full display “a reckless and demonic spirit that drove him to excess, to violence, harsh words and actions.” “He was thrust into a role that required tact, flexibility, and sensitivity to the nuance of public opinion—qualities that Lincoln possessed in abundance, but that Johnson lacked,” asserts historian Eric Foner, “He was an angry man,” notes David Stewart, a chronicler of Johnson’s impeachment trial, “and he was rigid, and these were qualities that served him terribly as president.” Yet, for all of the scholarly indictments of the 17th President, indictments supported by a recent Siena College Research Institute historians’survey placing him at the bottom in overall performance, Andrew Johnson challenges us as a singularly American story of triumph, defeat, and renewal, a man who overcame the challenges of poverty, class, and alienation to reach the highest peaks of power in the country. That drive was ironically most tellingly on display after Johnson left the White House, denied even the opportunity of a party nomination for another term in office. From the ashes of that loss, Johnson methodically rose again, winning election to the U.S. Senate and improbably returning to national prominence. Andrew Johnson’s renaissance, coming 6 years after an unprecedented effort to impeach and remove him from the presidency, represents one of the greatest comebacks in American political history and serves as a testament to a man who could never be totally defeated.

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279

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iUniverse

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ISBN 10

1663220301

ISBN 13

9781663220301

Louis Prima

By: Garry Boulard

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Louis Prima

By: Garry Boulard

This is the first paperback edition of the only biography of Louis Prima, one of the most underrated jazz musicians and entertainers of the twentieth century. In a career that spanned four decades, Prima infused the grit and grace of Dixieland jazz with swing and big band sounds, the first whiffs of rock 'n' roll, and a vaudevillian-like stage presence. A native of New Orleans, the Guy Lombardo protg known as ""The Italian Satchmo"" was the country's smashing new jazz sensation at New York's Famous Door in the 1930s. He went on to be a successful big band leader and a Vegas nightclub staple, and he virtually created the concept of the lounge act. Despite his longstanding success, Prima's over-the-top on-stage antics induced critics to not take him seriously and he was relegated to the status of mere ""entertainer.""Married five times and involved with numerous women in between, Prima has more often been remembered for his colorful relationships and quirky personality than for his abilities as a trumpeter and singer. After his death in 1978, his music gradually disappeared and jazz scholars rarely mentioned his name.Nudging Prima's legacy into the limelight the musician deserved, Garry Boulard nimbly explores Prima's ability to maintain a lifelong career, his knack for self-promotion, and how the cities in which he lived and performed--New York, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas--uniquely and indelibly informed his style. In a new preface, the author considers how the resurgence of big band and swing music in the late 1990s catapulted Prima and his music back into the public eye.

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228

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University of Illinois Press

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ISBN 10

0252070909

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9780252070907

Abraham Lincoln Ascendent

The Story of the Election of 1860

By: Garry Boulard

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Abraham Lincoln Ascendent

The Story of the Election of 1860

By: Garry Boulard

ABRAHAM LINCOLN ASCENDANTTHE STORY OF THE ELECTION OF 1860 Rightly regarded by scholars as perhaps the most important political contest in American history, the election of 1860 is remembered today for making Abraham Lincoln president and by so doing sparking the drive for secession that led to the Civil War. In this compelling and fast-paced account, author Garry Boulard explores the events of a transformative year in America: the vibrancy of the young Republicans, the improbable rise of Lincoln, the multi-layered complexities of the Democratic party, the ongoing Southern diaspora and the alarming specter of a nation on the verge of dissolution. Interwoven into this narrative are the stories of the leaders of 1860: the aging James Buchanan, the man who would someday be regarded as the worst president in U.S. history; William Seward, the savvy New Yorker bested by Lincoln for the Republican nomination; Franklin Pierce, the thoughtful former president still an influence in the Democratic party; Jefferson Davis, soon to be called from his Mississippi plantation to lead the new Confederate nation; and the pugnacious Stephen Douglas, Lincolns long-time and loyal foe, in his finest hour forsaking politics for country. Drawing on the papers of Lincoln, Buchanan, Pierce and Seward, as well as former Presidents John Tyler and Martin Van Buren, Tennessee Democrat Andrew Johnson and the Republican powerhouses Thaddeus Stevens, Schuyler Colfax and Zachariah Chandler, Boulard provides a riveting day-to-day narrative of the dramatic campaign that made Abraham Lincoln president. Undo

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204

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iUniverse

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ISBN 10

1462015417

ISBN 13

9781462015412

Huey Long

His Life in Photos, Drawings, and Cartoons

By: Garry Boulard

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Huey Long

His Life in Photos, Drawings, and Cartoons

By: Garry Boulard

Few politicians, other than presidents, have enjoyed as much extensive public attention as did Huey Pierce Long. So great was his persona that even now, generations after his death, he is well remembered, not only for his work, but also for the personality that reshaped ouisiana's political history. Images from Huey Long's early life show a serious, well-groomed young man setting off to earn a living from among the state�s poorer constituents. His political fortunes continued to grow, beginning with completing a three-year law-school program at Tulane in only two years, eventually culminating in his embrace of the entire state with his policies that gave him the public support to win a seat in the United States Senate. Long became a national celebrity before he was a national political figure. Images from the time of his rise to power show him engaged in all kinds of activities, including, of course, stump speeches, but also singing, demonstrating the best way to consume potlikker, and smiling in the company of politicians and constituents. Editorial cartoonists from the beginning of Long's career to the end, had a field day with Long�s flamboyance and his "every man a king" policies. Huey Long: His Life in Photos, Drawings, and Cartoons is the scrapbook of an all-American man from rags to riches and of his sudden, sad end.

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132

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Pelican Publishing

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ISBN 10

1455606103

ISBN 13

9781455606108

The Worst President--The Story of James Buchanan

By: Garry Boulard

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The Worst President--The Story of James Buchanan

By: Garry Boulard

Just 24 hours after former President James Buchanan died on June 1, 1868, the Chicago Tribune rejoiced: “This desolate old man has gone to his grave. No son or daughter is doomed to acknowledge an ancestry from him.” Nearly a century and a half later, in 2004, writer Christopher Buckley observed “It is probably just as well that James Buchanan was our only bachelor president. There are no descendants bracing every morning on opening the paper to find another heading announcing: ‘Buchanan Once Again Rated Worst President in History.’” How to explain such remarkably consistent historical views of the man who turned over a divided and demoralized country to Abraham Lincoln, the same man regarded through the decades by presidential scholars as the worst president in U.S. history? In this exploration of the presidency of James Buchanan, 1857-61, Garry Boulard revisits the 15th President and comes away with a stunning conclusion: Buchanan’s performance as the nation’s chief executive was even more deplorable and sordid than scholars generally know, making his status as the country’s worst president richly deserved. Boulard documents Buchanan’s failure to stand up to the slaveholding interests of the South, his indecisiveness in dealing with the secession movement, and his inability to provide leadership during the nation’s gravest constitutional crisis. Using the letters of Buchanan, as well as those of more than two dozen political leaders and thinkers of the time, Boulard presents a narrative of a timid and vacillating president whose drift and isolation opened the door to the Civil War. The author of The Expatriation of Franklin Pierce: The Story of a President and the Civil War (iUniverse, 2006), Boulard has reported for the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times and is a business writer for the Albuquerque-based Construction Reporter.

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196

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iUniverse

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ISBN 10

1491759623

ISBN 13

9781491759622

Andrew Johnson and Ulysses S. Grant

Their Epic Battle

By: Garry Boulard

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Andrew Johnson and Ulysses S. Grant

Their Epic Battle

By: Garry Boulard

In the spring of 1865, after the end of the Civil War and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, two men bestrode the national government as giants: Andrew Johnson and Ulysses S. Grant. How these two men viewed what a post-war America should look like would determine policy and politics for generations to come, impacting the lives of millions of people, North and South, black and white. While both Johnson and Grant initially shared similar views regarding the necessity of bringing the South back into the Union fold as expeditiously as possible, their differences, particularly regarding the fate of millions of recently-freed African Americans, would soon reveal an unbridgeable chasm. Add to the mix that Johnson, having served at every level of government in a career spanning four decades, very much liked being President and wanted to be elected in his own right in 1868, at the same time that a massive move was underway to make Grant the next president during that same election, and conflict and resentment between the two men became inevitable. In fact, competition between Johnson and Grant would soon evolved into a battle of personal destruction, one lasting well beyond their White House years and representing one of the most all-consuming and obsessive struggles between two presidents in U.S. history.

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224

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iUniverse

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ISBN 10

1663244626

ISBN 13

9781663244628

The Swing Around the Circle

Andrew Johnson and the Train Ride that Destroyed a Presidency

By: Garry Boulard

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The Swing Around the Circle

Andrew Johnson and the Train Ride that Destroyed a Presidency

By: Garry Boulard

In 1866, President Andrew Johnson was trying to find solutions to a bewildering array of immediate post-Civil War challenges: what to do about the recently liberated slaves, how to bring the South back into the Union, whether or not former members of the Confederacy should be pardoned and forgiven for their war time acts and building a thriving national economy that would provide jobs for millions of new veterans. Confronted with an increasingly assertive Congress that had been frustrated by its lack of influence during the presidency of Abraham Lincoln, Johnson decided to take his case directly to the American people for the fall mid-term elections of 1866, becoming the first president in history to actively engage in a political campaign. In a trade ride in which he was joined by the hero Ulysses S. Grant, the very young George Armstrong Custer, and the legendary William Seward, the secretary of state who was viciously attacked on the same night that Lincoln was murdered, Johnson spoke to hundreds of thousands of voters from New York to Chicago and St. Louis. But because of his confrontational, intemperate rhetorical style and habit of engaging hecklers in direct verbal battle, Johnson alienated more people than he won over, resulting not only in a thumping defeat for his cause at the polls, but a move to impeach and remove him from office by opponents who were convinced that Johnson's behavior on the Swing Around the Circle showed that he was mentally unbalanced. Repeatedly referred to by historians and reporters in the decades since, the Swing Around the Circle has never been explored in one single book until now.

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258

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iUniverse

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ISBN 10

1440102392

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9781440102394

The Expatriation of Franklin Pierce

The Story of a President and the Civil War

By: Garry Boulard

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The Expatriation of Franklin Pierce

The Story of a President and the Civil War

By: Garry Boulard

Considered a failure upon leaving the White House in 1857 and thought to be on his way to a well-deserved obscurity, Franklin Pierce during the Civil War emerged as a major spokesman for that era's Peace Democrats, opposed to President Lincoln's suspension of the writ of habeas corpus and in defense of civil liberties. A Northerner with many close Southern friends, including Jefferson Davis the president of the Confederacy and his wife, Varina Davis, Pierce was also thought to be a traitor because of such ties and was at one point nearly arrested for suspected seditious behavior.

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193

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ISBN 10

0595403670

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9780595403677

Daniel Sickles: A Life

By: Garry Boulard

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Daniel Sickles: A Life

By: Garry Boulard

The name Daniel Sickles and the word controversy are synonymous. Any student of 19th century American political history is familiar with Sickles’ 1859 murder of Philip Barton Key, the son of Francis Scott Key, who had seduced Sickles’ young wife. That murder, because Sickles was at the time a New York Congressman and Key a district attorney for Washington, captured the country’s imagination, a front-page event that inevitably ensnarled President James Buchanan, a close Sickles friend, inviting in the process explorations of what was seen as a sordid Washington society of the late 1850s. Civil War historians know Sickles as the General who led the men of the Union’s III Corps out onto the exposed expanse of the Peach Orchard at Gettysburg, a decision many scholars have regarded as disastrous, and one that nearly led to an overall Union defeat at the famous battlefield, while losing for Sickles his right leg from Confederate shelling. But these two singular, if spectacular events, in a very real sense represent only two days out of an extraordinary lifetime of 94 years. The rest of Sickles’ career was made up of his rise as a young stalwart of New York’s notorious Tammany Hall; his two terms in Congress leading up to the Civil War; his contentious service as a military governor of the Carolinas after the War; his newsworthy tenure as U.S. Minister to Spain in the late 1860s and early 70s; and even his stint, at the age of 70, as the sheriff of the county encompassing New York City. Beyond the headlines were Sickles’ relationships with presidents ranging from Franklin Pierce to Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant, not to mention an improbable friendship with Theodore Roosevelt at the turn of the century. Daniel Sickles: A Life is the first full-length published treatment looking in depth at the entirely of one man’s almost unbelievably colorful and contentious career. Garry Boulard is the author of The Expatriation of Franklin Pierce—The Story of a President and the Civil War (iUniverse, 2006), and The Worst President—The Story of James Buchanan (iUniverse, 2015). Boulard’s essays and reviews have appeared in the Journal of Southern History, Journal of Ethnic Studies, Louisiana History, Journal of Mississippi History, and Florida Historical Quarterly, among many other publications.

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918

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iUniverse

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ISBN 10

1532088442

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9781532088445

Louis Prima

By: Garry Boulard

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Louis Prima

By: Garry Boulard

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228

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University of Illinois Press

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0252070909

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9780252070907

Daniel Sickles: A Life

By: Garry Boulard

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Daniel Sickles: A Life

By: Garry Boulard

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918

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iUniverse

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1532088442

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9781532088445

The Worst President--The Story of James Buchanan

By: Garry Boulard

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The Worst President--The Story of James Buchanan

By: Garry Boulard

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196

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iUniverse

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1491759623

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9781491759622

Ulysses S. Grant

The Story of a Hero

By: Garry Boulard

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Ulysses S. Grant

The Story of a Hero

By: Garry Boulard

“Tolling, slowly tolling, the alarm bells of all America sent to every heart this morning the news, long expected and long dreaded, that Ulysses S. Grant was dead,” announced the Boston Globe on July 23, 1885, just hours after the one-time Commanding General of the U.S. Army and former President of the United States had passed on. Taking note of the extraordinary tributes and declarations of love expressed by people in all regions of the country, black and white, as Grant endured a months-long struggle with throat cancer, the paper asserted that such praise had “sweetened the draught from Death’s chalice, till all the bitterness of the deadly poison had passed away, and it was but as drinking from the Holy Grail.” In this work, Ulysses S. Grant--The Story of a Hero, Garry Boulard chronicles the career of one of the most consequential figures in American history. Rightly regarded as a great military commander whose skills and strategic vision combined to bring about the end of the Civil War, thus also forever obliterating a slavery that had entrapped nearly 4 million people, Grant would serve two controversial terms as president, working assiduously to foster a regional and racial reconciliation of the country. At the time of his death, he had just completed his monumental two-volume Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant, since praised by generations of historians and regarded as one of the most important works in all of American non-fiction literature.

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