For a little distraction from today’s acerbic politics, I turned to Steve Inskeep’s delightful new book, “Imperfect Union,” a biography of John and Jesse Fremont.

Inskeep is the co-host of NPR’s “Morning Edition,” and the author of two other works.

You may remember John Fremont as the first Republican candidate for president (1856) and the namesake of the Dodge County seat, but may have forgotten that he was an explorer and mapper extraordinaire of the West. Because of his determined and talented wife, he became a “celebrity.” She turned her husband into a person who ranked with the greats of this nation’s history, only to be largely forgotten by Americans born in the 20th century.

He was born out of wedlock in 1813 and left South Carolina, destined for a career as a little-known soldier. He met a very young Jesse, the daughter of Thomas Hart Benton, a senator from Missouri. Benton was not only powerful but also very well connected.

The West had just opened up in the third decade of the 1800s, and America was avid to bring legendary territories – Oregon, Texas, California – into the nation. It was essential that the vast territory be explored and accurate maps made, taking up the adventures of Lewis and Clark just years before.

Fremont got the job through Sen. Benton’s influence, and thus began year after year of his amazing saga. We learned of his exploits largely through the cleverness of his young wife as a tale-weaver.

He was a sort of Forrest Gump, bumping into the famous and powerful of the time: Abraham Lincoln, of course, Kit Carson, James Polk, James Buchanan, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Samuel F.B. Morse and Horace Greeley. The list continues, and the exploits are the stuff of legend.

How Fremont’s fame grew, and how he became the candidate for the highest office in the land of a brand-new abolitionist party, the Republicans, makes this book a spellbinder. It reminds the reader of the greatness of a dynamic America during one of the most fascinating chapters of the nation’s history.