Skirmisher: The Life, Times, and Political Career of James B. Weaver

by Robert B. Mitchell

James B. Weaver's life story encompassed many of the dramatic chapters of the American experience. He fought in the Civil War, trekked to California to prospect for gold, and migrated as a child with... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1889020303
• ISBN13: 9781889020303
• Release Date: November 2015
• Publisher: Edinborough Press
• Length: 256 Pages

Customer Reviews

Weaver, more than a footnote

During the last quarter of the 19th-century James Baird Weaver, a third party politician from Bloomfield, Iowa, railed at the injustices found in government, big business, banking and transportation. He championed the rights of the veteran, farmer and labor. Although cartoonist Thomas Nast depicted Weaver as an ass, his national campaigns for the presidency in 1880 and 1892, finally found acceptance in the progressive administrations of Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson. Robert Mitchell has done a superb job of bringing James B. Weaver to his rightful place in American politics, which is not buried in the footnotes of some other politician's biography.

Brings to Life a Forgotten Reformer of the Gilded Age

An unexpectedly fascinating account of James B. Weaver, a proud son of Iowa who managed to play a critical but largely overlooked role in many political reform movements of the late 19th century. The real delight of this book is not so much in discovering Weaver himself, who, truth be told, seems to have been rather a self-righteous (albeit utterly sincere) prig, but in the vast tawdry panorama of Gilded Age politics. Mitchell clearly loves the period, and his concise and engaging prose displays his mastery of all its sordid details. As we follow Weaver's political evolution from Democrat to Republican to Greenbacker to Populist (and partly back to the Democrats), we encounter themes that still resonate today, such as the malleable ideologies of the major parties, the pervasiveness of corruption, the shifting politics of race relations, and the excesses of financial capitalism. While only a few kooks still care about temperance or free silver, others of Weaver's highly-principled crusades seem sadly familiar, and the reformers' touching faith in the power of the federal government to promote the welfare of the common man is striking. Readers of the investing class may delight in General Weaver's many failures and scorn the simplicity of his beliefs, but there is a new reformer on the scene who got his start in Iowa . . .

Iowa Statesman

This is a highly readable, enjoyable, biography about James Baird Weaver, 1833-1912, a statesman from Iowa who always spoke his mind and had some before-his-time ideas about government. He was a member of Congress in the times when debate would get wild and wooly and he went to the point of fisticuffs when another member began hurling personal insult. An editorial by the Des Moines Register about the incident stated that if there was another such incident, General Weaver need not return to Iowa....unless he soundly thrashes the other Congressman! Mitchell's book is the first researched biography written about Weaver since 1919 and he presents scholarly research in a highly readable way. The gold vs silver controversy makes sense to me after reading this book.

A forgotten hero speaks anew to our times

SKIRMISHER is clearly a labor of love and a display of effortless skill by Robert B. Mitchell. Mitchell is fascinated with the underdog fighting ahead of his time on issues that will come, ultimately, to define the 20th Century and beyond in American politics. He is also keen on reviving our knowledge and the reputation of a great "almost was," James B. Weaver, civil war hero, congressman and third-party presidential candidate in an era of notorious corruption (Grant's presidency; the stealing of the election of 1876). A primogenitor and mentor to William Jennings Bryan, it was Weaver who devoted his career to fighting the gold standard and the cabal of robber baron bankers and their political lackeys who enabled them to starve development among farmers, merchants and the working classes with their dominion over credit. The misbehavior of banks echoes loudly and ironically today; the lesson is clear--greed and corruption will find a way. Mitchell's pure skill as a writer brings the elements of biography and history to vivid life. He shares the fruits of his nonpariel research in lucid, colorful sentences that betray his delight in the now-quaint sensibilities of the Progressive Era, where Temperance was a major issue and the viciousness of personal attacks in the political arena make today's campaigns seem tame. We owe a debt to Mitchell for rekindling our awareness of this seminal figure in such an engaging and pertinent book.