Joseph Warren Keifer

author

Joseph Warren Keifer

1836–1932

A Civil War general who later became Speaker of the U.S. House, he led a long public life that stretched from the 1850s into the early 1900s. His story connects the battlefield, Congress, and the political debates that shaped postwar America.

1 Audiobook

Slavery and four years of war : a political history of slavery in the United States, together with a narrative of the campaigns and battles of the Civil War in which the author took part, 1861-1865. Vols. 1-2

Slavery and four years of war : a political history of slavery in the United States, together with a narrative of the campaigns and battles of the Civil War in which the author took part, 1861-1865. Vols. 1-2

by Joseph Warren Keifer

About the author

Born in Clark County, Ohio, in 1836, Joseph Warren Keifer grew up on a farm, studied at Antioch College, and became a lawyer in Springfield, Ohio, in 1858. When the Civil War began, he joined the Union Army and rose through the ranks, eventually serving as a major general by brevet.

After the war, Keifer returned to law and politics. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives as a Republican from Ohio and was elected Speaker of the House in the early 1880s, a sign of his national influence during a turbulent period in American politics.

Keifer remained active in public life for decades and also wrote about slavery, the Civil War, and the country’s political struggles. He died in 1932, leaving behind a career remembered for both military service and high office in Congress.