Whitman in Washington: Becoming the National Poet in the Federal City

During a decade in Washington, DC, 1863-1873, Walt Whitman wrote the most distinguished journalism of his career; came into his own as a writer of letters; crafted memorable Civil War poetry, Drum-Taps and Sequel to Drum-Taps; and produced his searching critique of American culture, Democratic Vistas. His literary accomplishments are stunning given his other commitments at the time: he cared for thousands of wounded soldiers in Washington hospitals, and he served as a clerk in the attorney general’s office where much was accomplished on the road toward a multi-racial democracy including the suppression of the Ku Klux Klan. The poet and his nation underwent simultaneous and mutually informing transformations.