Thaddeus Stevens NineteenthCentury Egalitarian Author:Hans L. Trefousse Thaddeus Stevens is best known for his leadership of the radical Republicans in Congress during Reconstruction, and throughout the years historians have either glorified him or vilified him. Trefousse's balanced biography traces Stevens's career from his early days as a Pennsylvania lawyer and state legislator, when he became an outspoken advoca... more »te for black freedom and equality, to his long tenure in the House of Representatives, which culminated in his involvement in the passage of the Fourteenth Amendment and the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson.« less