A Companion to the Antebellum Presidents presents a series of original essays exploring our historical understanding of the role and legacy of the eight U.S. presidents who served in the significant period between 1837 and the start of the Civil War in 1861. * Explores and evaluates the evolving scholarly reception of Presidents Van Buren, Harrison, Tyler, Polk, Taylor, Fillmore, Pierce, and Buchanan, including their roles, behaviors, triumphs, and failures * Represents the first single-volume reference to gather together the historiographic literature on the Antebellum Presidents * Brings together original contributions from a team of eminent historians and experts on the American presidency * Reveals insights into presidential leadership in the quarter century leading up to the American Civil War * Offers fresh perspectives into the largely forgotten men who served during one of the most decisive quarter centuries of United States history