U.S. History Historical Book Review: Moretta, John

U.S. History

Historical Book Review: Moretta, John Anthony. William Pitt Ballinger, Texas A&M University Press: 2000.

John Antony Moretta's biography of William Pitt Ballinger attempts to put in an historical perspective the career of a legendary Texas lawyer. Throughout this text, the author stresses the multifaceted nature of his subject. A kind of 19th century Thomas Jefferson in the breadth of his accomplishments, Ballinger's various interests and occupations included not only his career as a lawyer, public servant, and civic leader, but also earlier service to his state of Texas as a solider. Later, Ballinger's literary talents were exhibited in his work as an author, editorialist, naturalist, education reformer, and bibliophile.

Moretta's admiration for his subject seems unfeigned. When recounting an incident from Ballinger's life, regarding his service to the Confederacy for example, Moretta cites evidence that although the subject's actual service record might indicate otherwise, Ballinger was in fact "a staunch Unionist." Other snapshots of the subject's acerbic quality are quite amusing, such as how even robber barons of the Industrial Age blanched at the lawyer's 2,500 "consultation fee," an amount wealthy executives might be surprised at being charged by attorneys even today. However, this does show if nothing else that the lawyer had "ability" and "nerve," something that even his enemies admired him for.

Even if a reader does not share Moretta's affection for his prickly subject, however, the biography does provide ample interest and scope for a student of the late 19th century American legal and political scene. Moretta himself admits this in his introduction, stating, "through Ballinger we can watch the evolution of Texas from a rural and agrarian slave society into one of the fastest growing commercial states in postwar America." (Moretta 1-2) The 'cast of characters' involved in Ballinger's life encompassed individuals as diverse as Jefferson Davis and Daniel Webster. The relationship of Ballinger to the former is perhaps the most interesting because, again reflecting Ballinger's complex relationship to the Confederacy, after the war, Ballinger helped negotiate Texas' surrender and played a key role in the drafting of the state's 1876 constitution.

Ballinger was not simply part of Texas' agrarian and agricultural past, however. Although Moretta stresses the difficulty of Texas leaving behind this part of its history, he also, through Ballinger's legal work during the Gilded Age with Industrial Revolution tycoons, shows that Ballinger was able to be flexible in his attitude and outlook, to change with the shift in economic circumstances. Ultimately, Texas, although once a slave state, emerged as one of the most economically successful parts of the former Confederacy, despite the emotional resonance slavery still carried amongst many of its subjects. Gallinger's personal ability to respond to the times he lived in, to travel North and then return home again during the prewar and postwar periods does him credit as a man and a worthy subject of historical biography. It also enables the reader to "witness firsthand the impact Northern life had on Southerners." Gallinger's life gives a window on how Southerners and Texans viewed the entire country, not just their own state.