Henry Clay Dean - Later Life

Later Life

With the conclusion of the war, Dean became a spokesman for Democrats in opposition to Radical Republicanism. In 1867 he began to advocate "soft money" inflation and payment of the national debt through the continued printing of paper money. In doing so, he became a founder of the United States Greenback Party among western Democrats. Dean vociferously promoted Greenbackism, decried the National Bank system, and denounced bondholders. He also again offered stinging criticism of Lincoln's wartime actions. He brought his views together in Crimes of the Civil War and Curse of the Funding System (1869). Dean also practiced law after the war and became known for accepting the cases of poor clients. In 1871 Dean moved to a farm in Putnam County, Missouri, which he named ‘Rebel Cove'. He gathered a great library which was later destroyed by fire.