John Oller is a retired white-shoe Wall Street lawyer who worked for Willkie Farr & Gallagher, one of New York City's most venerable legal firms, for thirty years as an associate and then a partner. His publications include The Swamp Fox: How Francis Marion Saved the American Revolution and American Queen: The Rise and Fall of Kate Chase Sprague--Civil War Beauty of the North and Gilded Age Woman of Scandal. He is a Manhattan resident.