John Pendleton Kennedy led a full and active life, making contributions to the young nation in many varied contexts. Chiefly a politician and lawyer, he was also a businessman, speaker in the Maryland state legislature, U.S. congressman, assistant secretary of state, secretary of the navy under Millard Fillmore, and a staunch Unionist during the Civil War. Kennedy's career in public life spanned half a century, beginning with his first campaign for public office in 1820 and ending with his 1868 speech in support of Ulysses S. Grant. He campaigned twelve times to represent Baltimore in both the state house and in the House of Representatives in Washington, winning seven times. He was a railroad president and mill owner who helped found the University of Maryland; he was elected an honorary professor of history there and was a provost for twenty years. In and around this busy life, this contemporary...