BETTING ON THE WRONG HORSE

While we are still on the subject of the American Civil War, another fleeting detour from America’s heroes to her historical losers may be in order.

As a paragon of these, I am nominating Mr. Judah Benjamin (1811-1884), the prominent American lawyer, who is said to be the most prominent American Jew of the 19^th century. The first professing Jew, elected to the United States Senate in 1852 and reelected in 1858, he was on the cusp of a decidedly promising career, except for his penchant for passionate pro-slavery rhetoric on the Senate floor on behalf of his great state of Louisiana. Alas for him, he happened to be on the wrong side of history. During the Civil War, he held the highest Cabinet posts as Attorney General, Secretary of War, and lastly as Secretary of State in the Confederate Government of his good friend President Jefferson Davis, and was counted among the most pugnacious hawks of the South. It is said that he virtually blackmailed President Jefferson Davis (see the previous entry The Other President) into attacking Fort Sumter, which attack dragged both reluctant presidents into a war both of them had been trying to avoid at almost all costs, but now made unavoidable.

Reaping the consequences of defeat, this very clever man did not surrender to the victors, but promptly fled to England, where he wasted no time to achieve a truly spectacular success, particularly for someone who had just lost a war. After only five months of residence there, Judah Benjamin was admitted to the bar, and in 1872 he became one of the counsels to Queen Victoria.

In 1866 he published the Treatise on the Law of Sale of Personal Property, which was to become for many years to come the definitive textbook on this subject throughout the English-speaking world, including the United States!!! Apparently, he was, indeed, an extremely accomplished and talented individual not just in the art of surviving and readjusting, but also within the boundaries of his professional line of business.

Had he shunned politics, he might have saved himself from his political disgrace. Had he been anti-slavery, instead of pro-slavery, had he been a friend of President Abraham Lincoln, instead of President Jefferson Davis, all American school textbooks would have been full of him… But this consideration takes into account a broader historical perspective. In so far as his practical fortunes were concerned, he managed pretty well.