George Graham Vest

The Life and Times of Dog's Best Friend

Retail Price: $26.95

Although the saying “Dog is man’s best friend,” is well known, the man who originally coined the phrase is less celebrated in modern times. However, in the late 1800s, George Graham Vest was a distinguished attorney and politician widely admired for his skills in oration and debate.

George Graham Vest—The Life and Times of Dog’s Best Friend provides a detailed look at Vest, who was born and raised in Frankfort, Kentucky but later practiced law in central Missouri, serving the “Show Me State” in the Missouri House of Representatives, the Confederate Congress, the Confederate Senate, and later the U.S. Senate, with more than 30 years in public office.

Vest was known as a champion for the rights of Native Americans, helped establish Yellowstone National Park, and was called a man of genius by his contemporaries whose skill in debate was never equaled.

Written by Stephen M. Vest, a descendant who is also known for his command of the English language, George Graham Vest—The Life and Times of Dog’s Best Friend is a fitting biography to one of America’s best statesmen, long overdue.


Proceeds from the sale of this book will also help other communities and organizations preserve their history through Our American Heritage Project, a non-profit organization.
About The Author
Stephen M. Vest  Stephen M. Vest is the editor and publisher of Kentucky Monthly, a Governor Award in the Arts (Media) honoree. Founded in 1998, Kentucky Monthly has more than 100,000 readers. He is the author of Unexpected Inheritance (Butler Books, 2014), a memoir about being raised by older parents and a hard-to-please grandmother, two collections of columns, including THAT Kind of Journalist (2008), and the publisher of the 2012 anthology Kentucky’s Twelve Days of Christmas with editor James B. Go Learn More about Stephen M. Vest

“Steve Vest, editor and publisher of Kentucky Monthly Magazine for the past quarter century, has spent three decades researching his cousin, George Graham Vest.  Steve’s honored ancestor was born in Frankfort, Ky., served in Jefferson Davis’ Confederate Congress and was a United States senator from Missouri. At last, we have the full story of the man credited with the phrase “Dog is man’s best friend.”

-Russ Hatter, Frankfort’s long-time city historian

“He [G.G. Vest] is one of the most remarkable and picturesque men this country has produced. His remarkable and original genius, his conspicuously independent intellect, and his absolute fearlessness have placed him peculiarly in a class by himself.”

-Henry M. Rose, Chief Clerk of the U.S. Senate (1905-1932)

“The one absolutely unselfish friend that a man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him and the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous, is his dog … faithful and true even to death.”

-George Graham Vest, “Eulogy of the Dog”, 1870
Book Details
Author: Stephen M. Vest
Illustrator:
Photographer:
Pages: 240 pages
Product Dimensions: 6" x 9"
ISBN: 978-1-956027-79-2
Cover Type: Hardcover
Case Quantity:
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