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Had People magazine been around during the Civil War and after, Kate Chase would have made its "Most Beautiful" and "Most Intriguing" lists every year. The charismatic daughter of Salmon P. Chase, Lincoln's treasury secretary, Kate Chase enjoyed unprecedented political power for a woman. As her widowed father's hostess, she set up a rival "court" against Mary Lincoln in hopes of making her father president and herself his First Lady. To facilitate that goal, she married one of the richest men in the country, the handsome "boy governor" of Rhode Island, in the social event of the Civil War. She moved easily between the worlds of high fashion, adorning herself in the most regal Parisian gowns, and politics, managing her father's presidential campaigns. "No Queen has ever reigned under the Stars and Stripes," one newspaper would write, "but this remarkable woman came closer to being a Queen than any American woman has."

But when William Sprague turned out to be less of a prince as a husband, Kate found comfort in the arms of a powerful married senator. The ensuing sex scandal ended her virtual royalty; after the marriage crumbled and the money disappeared, she was left only with her children and her ever-proud bearing. She became a social outcast and died in poverty, yet in her final years she would find both greater authenticity and the inner peace that had always eluded her.

Kate Chase's dramatic story is one of ambition and tragedy, set against the seductive allure of the Civil War and Gilded Age, involving some of the most famous personalities in American history. In this beautifully written and meticulously researched biography, drawing on much unpublished material, John Oller captures the extraordinary life of a woman who was a century ahead of her time.

Author Notes

John Oller , a lawyer and journalist, is the author of the critically acclaimed biographies of actress Jean Arthur and Kate Chase Sprague, Mary Todd Lincoln's great rival. He lives in New York City.

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

"Behind every great man, there's a great woman," goes the saying, and Kate Chase Sprague, the "American Queen" of the Gilded Age, was just such a woman. Daughter of Salmon P. Chase, Lincoln's secretary of the treasury, Sprague was a politically savvy and fiercely ambitious woman at a time women were expected to remain in the background. Despite never actually being first lady, Sprague was almost a de facto one: she was host of some of the best parties and salons in D.C., a frequent subject of the news, and was at the edge of most of the scandals of the time (she was suspected of having an affair with Sen. Roscoe Conkling). After her marriage to textile tycoon and politician William Sprague collapsed, she went bankrupt, ending her life peddling eggs and milk. Oller (Jean Arthur: The Actress Nobody Knew) details Sprague's fascinating life, introducing readers to an inspiring woman in spite of her faults: haughtiness; personal, rather than ideological, politics; financial profligacy. The book's analysis may not be well enough grounded in fact, verging on the speculative at times, but otherwise, Oller offers an accessible, attention-grabbing work. (Nov.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Kirkus Review

Biography of the 19th-century socialite who made her way to or near "the center of more major eventsthan any woman and most men of her time." Born at a time in American history when females could neither vote nor hold office, Kate Chase Sprague (1840-1899) came to wield more political influence than any American woman ever had before. Her father and first political teacher was Salmon Chase. After he won the governorship of Ohio in 1855, Chase made his beautiful and accomplished daughter into his hostess and political confidante. When he accepted Lincoln's appointment as treasury secretary on the eve of the Civil War in March 1861, Kate immediately established a social "court" in Washington that outshone that of Lincoln's far-less-glamorous wife, Mary. Both father and daughter became known for the brilliance of their gatherings as well as the ruthlessness of their communal desire to eventually occupy the White House. In an effort to secure the money they needed to fund their political dream, Kate married the wealthy but erratic Rhode Island businessman-turned-politician William Sprague. While her staunchly anti-slavery father eventually broke with the Republican Party he helped found and made an unsuccessful run for the presidency as a Democrat, Kate's marriage to Sprague foundered. She became the mistress of the charismatic, and married, New York state senator and Republican Party boss Roscoe Conkling. Their scandalous affair shared the headlines with other major events of the day, including the assassination of President James Garfield in 1881. Divorce the following year "dethroned" Kate from her unofficial status as American political "Queen" and made her a social outcast who would die in poverty at the age of 58. Oller's work is less the story of a woman's political rise and fall and more one that reveals how the social limitations of the past created tragic outcomes for talented females. A well-researched, thoughtful biography of a woman who "became entirely her own person, a rare feat for women of her day." Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Library Journal Review

Starred Review. In the wake of the recent resurgence of interest in the Civil War era comes a biography of a once-formidable figure in the world of Washington whose fame is finally being rekindled. Oller (lawyer and journalist; Jean Arthur) writes sympathetically of Kate Chase Sprague (1840-99), the daughter of Treasury Secretary and Chief Justice Salmon Chase. The author takes us through his subject's life as she moves from a high-class social butterfly who rubs elbows with political elite, has designs on becoming first lady via her father's ascent to the presidency, and butts heads with Mary Todd Lincoln, to a poverty-stricken divorcee whose scandalous affair with a senator helped end her unhappy marriage to a volatile governor. Though some may view this as a sad tale, Oller depicts Chase as a headstrong, resilient, and ultimately content woman. VERDICT Well written, fast paced, and with a compelling attention to detail, this work should be a fascinating read for Civil War buffs, fans of Doris Kearns Goodwin's Team of Rivals (in which Salmon Chase is a main character), and Jennifer Chiaverini's Mrs. Lincoln's Rival.-Laura Marcus, Odenton, MD (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Prologue: A Woman in the Arena	p. ix
Part 1 Miss Chase
1 "Qualified to Ornament Any Society"	p. 3
2 "I Shall Strive to Be First Wherever I May Be"	p. 12
3 "How Short Then Is This Life!"	p. 20
4 The Belle of Columbus	p. 28
5 The Belle of Washington	p. 39
6 The Boy Governor	p. 45
7 Mrs. Lincoln's Rival	p. 60
8 Wedding of the Decade	p. 74
Part 2 Mrs. Sprague
9 "Imagine My Disappointment"	p. 87
10 "Our Accomplished Countrywoman"	p. 96
11 "More Unfitness Day by Day"	p. 101
12 "I Am Told That She Actually Controls the Entire Affair"	p. 108
13 "You Have Been Most Cruelly Deceived"	p. 120
14 "I Almost Hate This Man"	p. 128
15 "She's Capable of Hitting Him"	p. 134
16 Some Dared Call It Treason	p. 142
17 End of an Era	p. 148
18 End of an Empire	p. 156
19 "Intended by Their Creator for Each Other"	p. 163
20 "Mrs. Conkling Is Not Here This Winter"	p. 172
21 "The Now Notorious Outbreak"	p. 182
22 "The Bird Has Flown"	p. 201
Part 3 Kate Chase Again
23 "A Dinner with the Queen"	p. 211
24 "As Much Alone as Cleopatra"	p. 216
25 Gilded Age Woman	p. 228
26 Stalwart Woman	p. 235
27 An Unmarried Woman	p. 239
28 An Independent Woman	p. 243
29 "What We Have Is Good"	p. 252
30 "None Outshone Her"	p. 260
Epilogue	p. 267
Acknowledgments	p. 271
Notes	p. 275
Selected Bibliography	p. 355
Index	p. 365
Photographs following page	p. 184

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