Potus Geeks Book Review: Star Spangled Scandal by Chris DeRose
In 1859, as the United States was inching itself towards civil war, Washington's business as usual was interrupted by a sensational diversion. One Sunday morning, in broad daylight, just a stone's throw away from the White House, Congressman Dan Sickles shot and killed Washington's District Attorney Barton Scott Key (son of Star Spangled Banner composer Francis Scott Key). The motive: Key had been carrying on a not-so-discreet affair with Sickles's pretty young wife Teresa. Key was unarmed at the time, his only defense being a pair of binoculars (or "opera glasses") that he uselessly threw at his aggressor. It seemed an open-and-shut case of premeditated murder. But that wouldn't make for much of a story, would it?
Author Chris DeRose hits another home run with his latest book Star Spangled Scandal: Sex, Murder, and the Trial that Changed America, in which he tells the story if the Sickles trial, in which the defense of temporary insanity was used to defend Sickles' actions before a Washington DC jury, giving rise to over a century of legal precedent that would change the way that US law dealt with violence against adulterers.
In 1859 President James Buchanan attempted in vain to keep a nation together that was ripping apart over the issue of slavery and whether it would be abolished or allowed to expand into new territories acquired by the growing nation. Washington DC society tried to put on an air of gaiety amidst this struggle. When Congressman Dan Sickles was made aware of an affair that his beautiful young wife was having with the city's handsome district attorney, he confronted her and obtained a written confession from his abashed young bride. When Key tried to signal his paramour by waiving a white handkerchief in front of the Sickles home, he soon found himself confronted by the man who would end his life, leading to the most sensational trial of its time.
DeRose describes the main characters in the story, as well as the supporting cast of lawyers, judge and jurors, journalists, witnesses and other persons of interest in he trial that followed. It was a trial that captivated the nation, in spite of the ongoing tensions of the pending national breakdown. DeRose provides a fascinating play-by-play of the trial, its reporting, as well as the national mood. He also builds up to the trial's outcome and the manner in which it created what became as the "unwritten law" that defied legal precedent for over a century. He does all of this brilliantly, writing in a manner that is informative, entertaining and a pleasure to read.
What is especially outstanding is how the author captures and shares the contemporary public sentiment and how much of that sentiment is timeless, applicable even today. For example, at page 261 he quotes the Vermont Chronicle's editorial in which the writer of that piece wonders when reform will come to government, before laying the blame where it squarely belongs:
"Never, till men of moral worth wake up and unite in the name of the people, of humanity and justice, sternly demand that no immoral man shall have public promotion. [Until then] Brooks may assault who he pleases in the Senate chamber, Key seduces his neighbor's wife, and Sickles murders the fellow under the wing of the United States Capitol. [Wicked men do not arrive in office by some foreign power.] We, the people have done it."
This book will be a delight to the history junkie, to the lover of true crime or courtroom tales, and to any reader who loves a fascinating true story, told by a brilliant author and wordsmith.
Author Chris DeRose hits another home run with his latest book Star Spangled Scandal: Sex, Murder, and the Trial that Changed America, in which he tells the story if the Sickles trial, in which the defense of temporary insanity was used to defend Sickles' actions before a Washington DC jury, giving rise to over a century of legal precedent that would change the way that US law dealt with violence against adulterers.
In 1859 President James Buchanan attempted in vain to keep a nation together that was ripping apart over the issue of slavery and whether it would be abolished or allowed to expand into new territories acquired by the growing nation. Washington DC society tried to put on an air of gaiety amidst this struggle. When Congressman Dan Sickles was made aware of an affair that his beautiful young wife was having with the city's handsome district attorney, he confronted her and obtained a written confession from his abashed young bride. When Key tried to signal his paramour by waiving a white handkerchief in front of the Sickles home, he soon found himself confronted by the man who would end his life, leading to the most sensational trial of its time.
DeRose describes the main characters in the story, as well as the supporting cast of lawyers, judge and jurors, journalists, witnesses and other persons of interest in he trial that followed. It was a trial that captivated the nation, in spite of the ongoing tensions of the pending national breakdown. DeRose provides a fascinating play-by-play of the trial, its reporting, as well as the national mood. He also builds up to the trial's outcome and the manner in which it created what became as the "unwritten law" that defied legal precedent for over a century. He does all of this brilliantly, writing in a manner that is informative, entertaining and a pleasure to read.
What is especially outstanding is how the author captures and shares the contemporary public sentiment and how much of that sentiment is timeless, applicable even today. For example, at page 261 he quotes the Vermont Chronicle's editorial in which the writer of that piece wonders when reform will come to government, before laying the blame where it squarely belongs:
"Never, till men of moral worth wake up and unite in the name of the people, of humanity and justice, sternly demand that no immoral man shall have public promotion. [Until then] Brooks may assault who he pleases in the Senate chamber, Key seduces his neighbor's wife, and Sickles murders the fellow under the wing of the United States Capitol. [Wicked men do not arrive in office by some foreign power.] We, the people have done it."
This book will be a delight to the history junkie, to the lover of true crime or courtroom tales, and to any reader who loves a fascinating true story, told by a brilliant author and wordsmith.