With Alexander Robey Shepherd; John P. Richardson gives us the first full-length biography of his subject; who as Washington; D.C.rsquo;s; public works czar (1871ndash;74) built the infrastructure of the nationrsquo;s capital in a few frenetic years after the Civil War. The story of Shepherd is also the story of his hometown after that cataclysm; which left the city with churned-up streets; stripped of its trees; and exhausted.An intrepid businessman; Shepherd became president of Washingtonrsquo;s lower house of delegates at twenty-seven. Garrulous and politically astute; he used every lever to persuade Congress to realize Peter Lrsquo;Enfantrsquo;s vision for the capital. His tenure produced paved and graded streets; sewer systems; trees; and gaslights; and transformed the fetid Washington Canal into one of the cityrsquo;s most stately avenues. After bankrupting the city; a chastened Shepherd left in 1880 to develop silver mines in western Mexico; where he lived out his remaining twenty-two years.In Washington; Shepherd worked at the confluence of race; party; region; and urban development; in a microcosm of the United States. Determined to succeed at all costs; he helped force Congress to accept its responsibility for maintenance of its stepchild; the nationrsquo;s capital city.
#3608200 in eBooks 2016-08-30 2016-08-30File Name: B01L9AG1E8
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