Tag: History

Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America…

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If You Want to Understand the Roots of Our Current Political Situation – Read this Book!

Over the last few weeks I am finding it more and more difficult to post. Again I haven’t stopped reading, listening or exercising just that when I sit down to write a post, I get distracted and pick up a book or good do something else. Anyway I just finished book 9 of 2017. The following read though is for book 7. Hopefully, if I can get myself focused and motivated reviews for book  8 Parting Shot by Linwood Barclay and book 9 Descent by Tim Johnston, will follow shortly.

Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America by Nancy MacLean. 

This is the story of the Radical Rights campaign  to steal our democracy. The blueprint for the campaign was laid out but conservative economist James Buchanan.  Buchanan merged states rights thinking with free-market principles and laid the groundwork for the “makers”and “takers” philosophy of today’s Republican party. The campaign  has been funded by Charles Koch and is bearing fruit beyond his wildest dreams. The Radical Right has goals like establishing and assuring minority rule, the elimination of both the government safety nets i.e. Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid and programs and agencies that protect our health and safety. They seem like current GOP goals to me. And I am scared for my country! 
Throughout the last year we have seen time after time the majority of Americans opposing what the GOP was trying to do. We watched them try to destroy The Affordable Care act. Then we watched them pass a Tax Bill designed to make the richer richer. Anyway if you want to read about how we got to where we are today read this book. 
From author Greg Grandin author of Fordlandia a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize

“How did we get to where we are today? How did corporations come to possess rights? How did democracy come to be defined as selfish individualism? Or money as free speech? Nancy Maclean’s Democracy in Chains provides the answers. It is essential reading in order to understand the ideas billionaires use to justify their control over our political institutions. I can’t imagine a more timely or urgent book.” 

Bottom Line

I found this book scary and very enlightening. The book is well written, easy to read and well documented. So once again if you want to read how we got to the point where our country has become an oligarchy with the 1 percent running the country.So check it out. The author of Democracy in Chains, Nancy MacLean is The William H Chafe Professor of History and Public Policy at Duke University.

Links for Further Explorations

Democracy in Chains – Duke University
Goodreads
Penquin Random House

 

The Unexpected President Paints a New Picture of Chester A Arthur!

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The Unexpected President: The Life and Times of Chester A. Arthur

Ok quickly tell me everything you learned in history class about President Chester A Arthur. I’ll wait! I bet your done aren’t you? So I imagine that you said ” He became President after James A Garfield was assassinated” or maybe even “he was responsible for Civil Service reform.” I imagine that because that’s just about all I knew about him until I read The Unexpected President: The Life and Times of Chester A. Arthur by Scott S. Greenberger earlier this month.An additional tag line on the front of the book reads “A Gilded Age tale of corruption and courage” and that well sums up the book and the story of “Chet” Arthur. It is actually a pretty fascinating tale and Mr. Greenberger tells it well!

The Corruption and Courage of Chester Arthur

The corruption came from the years that Arthur spent as the crooked crony of New York machine boss Roscoe Conkling. During that time Arthur was head of the U S Customs House in New York City. The Customs House was rife with corruption and cronyism. You either voted Republican and contributed to the GOP or you didn’t get a job in the Customs House.

Because of his reputation as a puppet of Conkling many people initially thought he was unqualified to be Vice-President. Then when Garfield was assassinated and Arthur was set to ascend to the Presidency Arthur cried, Not only for Garfield who had died but for himself because he knew that he could not live up to the high standards a President must uphold.

Julia Sand and Arthur’s Transformation 

However, when Arthur did become president he also became a changed man. He boldly took on corruption, civil rights for blacks and issue of land for Native Americans. Much of the credit for Arthur’s transformation came from a bedridden young New York woman Julia Sand. Ms Sand wrote Arthur over two dozen letters urging him to put country over party and to find “the spark of true nobility” that lay within him. In her first letter she wrote:

“Faith in your better nature forces me to write you – but not to beg you to resign. Do what is more difficult & more brave. Reform! It is not the proof of highest goodness never to have done wrong – but it is proof of it, sometime in one’s career, to pause & ponder, to recognize the evil, to turn resolutely against it & devote the remainder of one’s life to that only which is pure & exalted. Some resolutions of the soul are not common….

As I read the book and especially the about paragraph I though, “Boy I wish someone had written a letter like that to Mr. Trump!”

Bottom Line:

For me, The Unexpected President is a five-star biography. It was well researched and presented by Mr Greenberger. It is a wonderful book that painted a far different picture of Chester Arthur than the one that I have developed over the years. He has become for me a man who turned his life and reputation around. Arthur went from someone who the general populace thought was not qualified to be president, someone  who people thought would only by Roscoe Conkling’s puppet to a man and president they respected and loved. He grew into the presidency and by the end of his term people were begging him to run for another term!! Oh, if  Mister Trump could only grow into the job but alas some leopards can never change their spots!

Anyway, check out The Unexpected President…..

Links for Further Explorations

The Washington Post:The biographer of Chester Arthur discusses the forgotten president,

Twitter

CSpan  Video

 

 

The Winter Fortress – How Nine Norwegians Saved the World!!

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The Winter Fortress: The Epic Mission to Sabotage Hitler’s Atomic Bomb – Neal Bascomb

The Winter Fortress recounts the tale of the 1942 sabotage of the Vemork hydroelectric plant in Norway. The plant was one of the few places in the world that produced heavy water. Nazi Germany wanted all the heavy water that Norway could produce.. Heavy water was a key element for the production of an atomic bomb. I never had really heard of the mission before reading the book, but now I feel that I lived through it! Bascomb did a great job researching and writing The Winter Fortress, The book reads more like an action novel than a work of non-fiction.

The Story

By 1942 Norway was and the Vemork hydroelectric plant were under the control of Nazi Germany. The Vemork hydroelectric plant was producing heavy water that was headed to German researchers. Researchers who were researching nuclear fission, which ultimately could be used in the creation of an atomic bomb  Aware of this research, the Allies knew that something had to be done. The Norwegians felt that an air attack would actually miss the parts of the plant that need to be destroyed. What would be required was a commando attack on the facility.

vemork_hydroelectric_plant_1935

The Winter Fortress in 1935. The heavy water was produced in the front building (the Hydrogen Production Plant).

The Winter Fortress tells the story of the brave Norwegian resistance fighters. Several of these fighters escaped to England. They were trained in England, and reinserted back into Norway. Where they fought bravely for their homeland.

During the months leading up to the attack the fighters faced countless hardships. While waiting for British forces and supplies, they fought the cold and near starvation. As well as, living  in fear of being captured, interrogated and/or killed by the Nazis. Finally, after a failed attempt to insert British commandos, a decision was made, that they were to be the commandos! It’s the ultimate tale of bravery and giving all for your country!

The Movie Version The Heroes of Telemark

As I read the book, I thought this would make a great action movie. the other day I was telling one of my co-workers at Target, who is actually older than me about the book. He said :”heavy water, I saw a movie about that”. While he couldn’t remember the name of the movie at the time, he did text me later. He said the movie was The Heroes of Telemark.  Kirk Douglas and Richard Harris.were the stars of the movie. The movie was released in 1966, when I was a young lad 15 years old! Fifty years ago, wow! I think it’s time for a remake! From Turner Classic Movies……

Based on a true story, The Heroes of Telemark stars Kirk Douglas as Dr. Rolf Pedersen, a scientist who’s forced to team up with a Norwegian underground leader (Richard Harris), to destroy a factory where Nazis are producing “heavy water,” a key element in the making of atomic weapons. The two men are forever at each other’s throats (just as Douglas and Harris reportedly were during filming), but they still manage to make several attempts at sabotaging the Nazi’s A-Bomb program. Read More

Bottom Line:

The Winter Fortress is very very  engrossing and well-written.The amount of research that went it writing this book was exceptional. The book provides a vivid picture of the service of these brave Norwegian resistance fighters. Here’s what some others say about the book….

“In The Winter Fortress Neal Bascomb brilliantly tells the extraordinary true story of arguably the most important and daring commando raid of World War II; how an amazing band of men on skis made sure that Hitler never got to drop the ultimate bomb”- Alex Kershaw Author of The Longest Winter

“A riveting, high-action World War II thriller with nothing less than the fate of planet Earth on the line. Just imagine the horror if Hitler had gotten the atomic bomb. Written with great verve and historical acumen, The Winter Fortress hits the mark of excellence. Highly Recommended!!” – Douglas Brinkley, author of The Great Deluge and Cronkite

I totally agree with both quotes, so check it out!! As for me, I am going to check out The Heroes of Telemark!

Book 34 of 2016 

Links for the Further Exploration of The Winter Fortress

Author’s Website
Amazon
Goodreads
Wikipedia

 

The Hunt for the First Terrorist Cell in the US in 1915!

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Dark Invasion:1915: Germany’s Secret War & the Hunt for the First Terrorist Cell in America – Howard Blum
The Beginning of World War I

The hunt for the first terrorist cell in the United States had its beginnings on June 28, 1914 when…..

Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian throne, and his wife, visit Sarajevo in Bosnia. A bomb is thrown at their auto but misses. Undaunted, they continue their visit only to be shot and killed a short time later by a lone assassin. Believing the assassin to be a Serbian nationalist, the Austrians target their anger toward Serbia

That began the march towards World War I. In the subsequent month Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia,on July 28th. That was followed by Germany declaring war on Russia on August 1st. On August 3rd Germany declared war on France and invaded neutral Belgium. After Germany ignored Great Britain’s ultimatum to withdraw from Belgium. Great Britain declared war on Germany on August 4th and the United States declared its neutrality.

Dark Invasion:1915: Germany’s Secret War & the Hunt for the First Terrorist Cell in America

As the war progressed the United States maintained its neutrality, but was selling supplies and ammunition to the Allies. In 1915 the German ambassador to the US is instructed to find and finance a team of undercover saboteurs who can disrupt this flow of supplies to the Allies and potentially keep America out of the war. The results of those orders were terrorist attacks on Allied ships and various sites around New York.

The job to catch the German saboteurs fell on the shoulders of New York police Captain Tom Tunney. The story of that hunt is vividly told in Howard Blum’s book Dark Invasion:1915: Germany’s Secret War & the Hunt for the First Terrorist Cell in America

From Goodreads:

As Germany teeters on the brink of war, its ambassador to the United States is given instructions to find and finance a team of undercover saboteurs who can bring America to its knees before it has a chance to enter the conflict on the side of the Allies.

At the page-turning pace of a spy thriller, Dark Invasion tells the remarkable true story of Tunney and his pivotal role in discovering, and delivering to justice, a ruthless ring of German terrorists determined to annihilate the United States. Overwhelmed and undermatched, Tunney’s small squad of cops was the David to Germany’s Goliath, the operatives of which included military officers, a germ warfare expert, a gifted Harvard professor, a bomb technician, and a document forger. As explosions leveled munitions plants and destroyed cargo ships, particularly in and around New York City, pan- icked officials talked about rogue activists and anarchists—but it was Tunney who suspected that these incidents were part of something bigger and became determined to bring down the culprits. Read More

Dark Invasion was a great read. The book was the result of years of research by Blum. Blum used many first had accounts of the events to tell the tale. I must say that prior to reading this book I knew nothing about these terrorist attacks. The attacks included: explosions of many ships at sea, the bombing of the US Capital building, an attempt to launch a germ warfare campaign against horses being sold to the Allies and an attempt on the life of J.P Morgan!!

Bottom-Line:

Dark invasion is a 4.5 fo 5 star book for me. It gave me what I love about history a story about the people who make history. That’s what history is all about for me – the people who make it. The story in Dark invasion was eye-opening from the design of the cigar-bombs that were smuggled on ships bound for Europe to a  germ-warfare attack on horses similarly headed to the Allies.I had never heard about he bombing of the Capital Building, In the book, there is even a picture of the building post explosion!!

If you are a lover of history check this one out!! It doesn’t need to be said that the subject of Dark Invasion the hunt to stop potential terrorist attacks, is as relevant today, as it was more than a 100 years ago!!

 Personal Side Notes….

. My father’s maternal grandparents came to the US in 1912 from Dresden, Germany. His grandfather Herman Meyer was at one time a member of the King of Saxony’s royal guard. Herman lived on Walter Avenue in Delanco until 1954. He and his second wife sold the house to Ray and Joy Vanamin Ray’s wife was Joy Lippincott my old boss’s sister.

Many years ago Ray gave me many of my great-grandfather’s old German Military Yearbooks that he found in his attic and kept. The dates on the yearbooks ranged  from the 1910s through the 1930s.

As I was reading Dark Invasion, I constantly wondered, since I know he kept these yearbooks what were his thoughts during this time period. I know that his wife’s brother Moritz Wendel lost his life fighting on the Russia front

My wife has no doubts that Herman’s sentiment would have been with his homeland. But if presented with  the opportunity, would he have participated in any of these attacks on his new homeland. I don’t think he would have done it. The fact he became a citizen during this times is an indication to me, that he wouldn’t have done it.  Of course today, some would say that was just a cover……

another side note

In the book Blum writes about Captain Frederick Hinsch, a German operative and commander of the ship the Neckar. I father’s paternal grandfather Henry Karn traveled from Hesse, Germany to the US alone in 1882 at the age of 17 on the Neckar

The Presidents’ War – Chris DeRose

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The Presidents’ War: Six American Presidents and the Civil War That Divided Them       Chris DeRose (Book 18 of 2015)

 

Through the years,I have read many books about the Civil War. Most of those books center around the battles and the Generals. Until I saw the book The Presidents’ War I never thought or knew about the former Presidents who were alive during the conflict. As a matter of fact, the book’s author Chris DeRose writes in the Acknowledgments of the book

….I had never known of the former presidents who lived to see the Civil War until a visit to Seattle in 2012 and a conversation with my friend.

It was that friend Rob Peck, who inspired the book! Anyway, the point is if Mr DeRose author of two previous Congressman Lincoln: The Making of America’s Greatest President(2013) and Founding Rivals: Madison vs. Monroe, the Bill of Rights, and the Election That Saved a Nation ( 2011) and  a visiting Assistant Professor of Law at Arizona Summit Law School, where he teaching Constitutional Law, International Law, and Election Law/Voting Rights hadn’t heard about the presidents alive during the Civil War until 2012, I don’t feel so bad about not thinking about them until after reading his book!!

The five living ex-President’s alive at the start of the Civil War were John Tyler, Martin Van Buren, Millard Filllmore, Franklin Pierce and James Buchanan.  Each of those Presidents faced the underlying causes of the War and did little to avoid the coming conflict. Here’s a little about each of those Presidents from DeRose’s website….

* John Tyler engaged in shuttle diplomacy between President Buchanan and the new Confederate Government. He chaired the Peace Convention of 1861, the last great hope for a political resolution to the crisis. When it failed, Tyler joined the Virginia Secession Convention, voted to leave the Union, and won election to the Confederate Congress.
* Van Buren, who had schemed to deny Lincoln the presidency, supported him in his efforts after Fort Sumter, and thwarted Franklin Pierce’s attempt at a meeting of the ex-Presidents to undermine Lincoln.
* Millard Fillmore hosted Lincoln and Mary Todd on their way to Washington, initially supported the war effort, offered critical advice to keep Britain at bay, but turned on Lincoln over emancipation.
* Franklin Pierce, talked about as a Democratic candidate in 1860 and ’64, was openly hostile to Lincoln and supportive of the South, an outspoken critic of Lincoln especially on civil liberties. After Vicksburg, when Jefferson Davis’s home was raided, a secret correspondence between Pierce and the Confederate President was revealed.
* James Buchanan, who had left office as seven states had broken away from the Union, engaged in a frantic attempt to vindicate his administration, in part by tying himself to Lincoln and supporting the war, arguing that his successor had simply followed his policies. Read More

I think that  The Presidents’ War would provide information for  two or three great  lesson plans in any high school history class! I certainly think that exposing to the conflicting views that these Ex-President’s held and the fact that at last one President not to be named (Franklin Pierce) were openly hostile to Lincoln! One of the interesting tidbits from the book leads to the trivia question – who was the only ex-President who died as an enemy to his country??? John Tyler.

As I read this book a thought crossed my mind – George McClellan during the Peninsula Campaign and at other times certainly misjudged the strength of the Confederate Army. What if the person providing those estimates was a Confederate sympathizer???  Sounds like making of a book to me!

Bottom Line: The Presidents’ War is a great read for every American! DeRose it shows that sometimes the President had to go it alone! And in doing so Lincoln saved the Union and recreated a country based on our country’s original tenet that “All Men are Created Equal!!

Check it out!! As for me I think the next book by Chris DeRose that I want to read is Founding Rivals: Madison vs. Monroe, the Bill of Rights, and the Election That Saved a Nation!

Links for Further Explorations of Chris DeRose

Chris DeRose Website
Amazon: Chris DeRose
Goodreads: Chris DeRose
Twitter
Facebook

Harold Schechter Masterfully Tells the Tale of “The Mad Sculptor” – The Maniac, The Model, and the Murder the Shook the Nation

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So if you like true crime stories, especially ones that rocked the nation, then Harold Schecther‘s The Mad Sculptor – The Maniac, The Model and the Murder that Shook the Nation is the book for you, it was for me! The Mad Sculptor is one Robert Irwin, he is also The Maniac. The Model is VerThe Mad Sculptoronica Gedeon  and the Murder was the grisly slaying of Veronica, her mother and their English boarder on Easter Sunday morning in 1937 in a New York City apartment at  Beekman Place.

Author Schecther does not only a fine job of telling the tale of madman/artist Robert Irwin, but in also detailing the way that his crime fits into the history of Beekman Tower and Beeckman Place, where prior murders, that captured the attention had occurred.  These murders included, the shooting of Fritz Gebhardt by his long-time mistress Vera Stretz, and the murder of Nancy Titterton. Schechter  opens the book describing  these murders, their investigations and trials, setting the stage for the Gedeon murders.

Schechter moves on to tell  the tale of the “Mad Sculptor” Robert Irwin, son of a philandering, evangelical preacher and an equally religiously zealot mother, who hailed from a dysfunctional family! Irwin, born Fenelon, along with his older brother Vidalin and Pember, were delinquents right from the start! Both Vidalin and Pember ended up in the Oregon State Penitentiary. Robert though went in and out of madness, when he was sane, he was well read, articulate and a very good sculptor, who studied with some of the masters of the day, but sooner or later wherever, he went, whatever job he held, a violent outburst and subsequent fight would cause him to move on!  Irwin finally ended up, a border with the Gedeon’s, where he became infatuated with the Gedeon daughter’s first Ronnie then Ethel. But when he attempted to control his sexual urges by self-emulation Irwin set himself on the road to Bellevue and other mental institutes, along,  the way he met  prominent psyschiatrist Fredric Wertham who would treat and befriend him.

After his final descent into madness, and the murders, the author leads the reader through the manhunt to find Irwin. Accompanying the search was the coverage of the murder and manhunt by the New York tabloids. i.e the forreunners of Fox News, The National Enquirer and World News.  Finally, the selection of Samuel Leibowiz as his defense attorney completes the cycle, because Leibowitz, the attorney for the Scottsboro Boys and Al Capone was also the defense attorney for Vera Stretz, whose murder of Fritz Gebhardt was written about in the opening chapters of the book.

All in all ,it was a terrific read and Schechter does a great job of presenting Robert Irwin, in all his madness, as well as capturing the atmosphere of New York in the 193os. Samual Baatz, author of For the Thrill of It: Leopold Loch, and the Murder that Shocked Jazz Age Chicago writes…..(note to self – check that book out)

“Harold Schechter has unveiled another sensational murder with a cast of characters that might have stepped from a novel by Dostoyevsky. Schechter’s absorbing narrative will fascinate everyone with an interest in New York City in the twentieth century”

So check out the tale of The Mad Sculptor as told by Harold Schechter……

P.S. The mention of Fredric Wertham and his attacks on the comic book industry served as the basis of a post at Socialstudious.….. and the mention of Irwin’s fascination with the hypnotism of Franz Mesmer led me to Wikipedia to find out more about the man who is the origin of the world mesmerized!!

(Book 17 0f 2014)

 

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Book 5 of 2014 – Theodore Roosevelt and the Assassin – Gerard Helferich

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John_F_SchrankCharles_J_Guiteau220px-Czol_photo_1900_-_found_in_effects

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

John Wilkes Booth

Ok so which of these men do you recognize?? I know that I would probably have a hard time identifying any of them. Each of these four men disrupted American politics between the years 1865 to 1912. Three were successful in their assassination attempts and assassinated an US President, while the fourth made an unsuccessful attempt to kill a candidate for President. They are clockwise from 3 o’clock – Charles_J_Guiteau assassin of President James Garfield, John Wilkes Booth – President Lincoln, Leon 

Theodore Roosevelt and the AssassinCzolgosz assassin of President William McKinley and finally the subject of Book 5 for 2014 -Gerard Helferich’s Theodore Roosevelt and the Assassin: Madness, Vengeance, and the Campaign of 1912, – John F. Schrank. I really don’t remember learning much about this assassination attempt. I guess it was because Teddy was a candidate at the time and not the President, but the book was an account of eastern half of the US as he tries to find a location to do the deed. After missing Roosevelt during his trip across the southern part of the US – Schrank meets up with him in Milwaukee. Much of the book is based on the notes that Schrank left behind and eyewitness accounts of the people he ran into on his quest.

What was interesting to me throughout the book was the similarity of the economic conditions between then and now – overall it’s still a fight between the haves and the have nots! Back then the haves lost – today I think the haves are winning and the political clout that the haves possess now because of the Citizens United ruling may just allow them to keep on winning until there are only Princes and Paupers left in our county!!

Anyway I thought that the book was a good glimpse into the mind of John Schrank and the 1912 election. Roosevelt’s action after the shooting was particularly interesting! I think my next historical reads my be Doris Kearns Goodwin’s The Bully Pulpit or one of the newer Woodrow Wilson biographies!!

 

Book 17 of 2013 – The Imperial Cruise – James Bradley

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The Imperial CruiseIn 1905 Theodore Roosevelt sent the largest diplomatic mission in US across the Pacific to Asia. The mission was led by his Secretary of War William Howard Taft and the group included his daughter Alice.  James Bradley’s book about this mission The Imperial Cruise is Book 17 of 2013. During the trip Taft on Roosevelt’s behalf negotiated a series of secret agreements – which were unconstitutional – that laid the groundwork for future Japanese actions over the next 30-40 years. The details of these agreements remained secret until after Roosevelt’s death and really have been absent from history books.

The book details many stops along the way and American actions throughout the trip. Included are discussion of the US annexation of Hawaii as well as US actions in the Philippines. The more I read, the less I liked the actions of my country. I don’t ever think we were taught as much about the perceived belief held by Roosevelt and the politicians of his day, that only white Anglo-Saxons were capable of understanding democracy and self-government and it was our duty to spread that democracy westward across our continent and then on across the Pacific to Asia. Since Americans knew nothing about Hawaii or the Philippines, they were portrayed as Pacific Negroes and several pictures in the book provide illustrations showing Filipinos dressed in Jungle-like garb..

Filipinos and HawaiiansIn a review of the book that appeared in the New York Times The Queasy Side of Theodore Roosevelt’s Diplomatic Voyage written by Janet Maslin in November of 2009,. In the article Maslin writes:

If racism is nothing new, Mr. Bradley’s readers may still be surprised at the xenophobic ugliness of the photos, letters, cartoons, lyrics and political speeches cited here. And if, for instance, American use of waterboarding against turn-of-the-century Filipino prisoners is not unknown (it was the subject of a New Yorker article last year), neither is it common knowledge. Nor, perhaps, are the lyrics to “The Water Cure,” a vintage United States Army marching song: “Shove in the nozzle deep and let him taste of liberty/Shouting the battle cry of freedom.” The toughest parts of this book re-reveal things we should already know.

On of the main themes of the book was that Roosevelt’s belief that only the Japanese understood dg government like Anglo-Saxon whites and that his belief that the Japanese should have a Monroe Doctrine like control over Asia led to World War II. Maslin writes:

“Here was the match that lit the fuse, and yet for decades we paid attention only to the dynamite,” Mr. Bradley writes. The flame to which he refers is Roosevelt’s secret diplomacy with Japan and his encouragement of Japanese imperialism. (“I should like to see Japan have Korea,” he once declared.) In a far-reaching book that also addresses Roosevelt’s misconceptions about Korea, Hawaii, China and the Philippines, Mr. Bradley places critical emphasis on the dangerous American-Japanese relationship that, he says, Roosevelt helped create.

While Bradley might have gone too far in his dislike for Theodore Roosevelt  and his policies that may have set the stage for Japanese expansion and the war, he did tell me a lot about the US actions in Asia that we were never taught about in school. In addition, similarities between American actions in the Philippines were eerily similar to Iraq. What reading this book has done is piqued  my interest in both Theodore Roosevelt and this time period, in fact I have started another book about the time period The War Lovers: Roosevelt, Lodge, Hearst, and the Rush to Empire, 1898 by Even Thomas

Here’s a review from USA Today that points out some of the negatives of the book:‘Imperial Cruise’ hits rough waters in attack of Roosevelt

So check out The Imperial Cruise and see what you think!

Book Number 9 of 2013 – The President and the Assassin….

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Leon Czolgosz

Emma Goldman

Albert_Parsons_portrait

Ok so which of the four people pictured above can you identify? Before I read Book Number 9 for 2013, I could have maybe identified two! The first two are the key players in the book, while persons three and four helped nudge number two along! The first two are William McKinley and Leon Czolgosz, who are The President and the Assassin, respectively, from Scott Miller’s  terrific book titled – The President and the Assassin:McKinley, Terror, and the Empire at the Dawn of the American Century. Persons three and four are anarchist Emma Goldman and Albert Parsons.  both of whom provided a push to Leon to do the deed!

The Destiny of the Republic, about James Garfield’s assassination and this book have brought alive for me both of the assassinations. these assassinations typically get passed over quickly in history classes. McKinley’s gets a little more attention than Garfield’s because there’s the Spanish-American War happening within the same time span. In The President and the Assassin, Miller does a great job of  not only addressing the assassination, but of putting the assassination in context of the events surrounding it. These events included: the Spanish-American War and  the US’s subsequent policies toward policies toward Cuba and the Philippines, the Open Door Policy with China, and of course the economic conditions, which are pretty damn close to conditions today!  These conditions gave rise to the anarchist and lead to events like the Haymarket Riots in Chicago, which cost Parsons his life.

Reading these two books, along with reading, This Day in History daily, has renewed my interest in American history. As an example, on February 24, 1868 The House voted 11 articles of impeachment against Andrew Johnson, I started reading about the event and saw that David O. Stewart, whose book about Aaron Burr, I read and liked, has written a book about the impeachment, so tonight I went to the library and picked up the book!

But back to The President and the Assassin, here’s what Freed Zakaria says about the book and it pretty much sums up how I feel…

“William McKinley’s presidency and the era it spanned, tend to be forgotten, yet it was in those years that the modern American nation, economy, and the presidency were forged. Scott Miller describes these years through a joint portrait of the world of McKinley and the man who assassinated him. The result is a marvelous work of history, wonderfully written, told from the top down and the bottom up.” 

So check out the book! As for me it’s on to the Impeachment of Andrew Jonson, bit wait
I’m still reading Treacherous Beauty: Peggy Shippen, the Woman behind Benedict Arnold’s Plot to Betray America!! Which is pretty interesting! Too many books to little time!!

Book 3 of 2013 – Destiny of the Republic – Candice Millard

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Borrowing the closing line from King Kong and morphing it a little “Oh no, it wasn’t Giteau that killed Garfield, it was the doctors!”, makes it fit Book Number 3 of 2013 Destiny of the Repbulic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard. The subject of the book is the assassination of the 20th President of the United States, James A. Garfield. Considering the mass of information that most history classes cover about all you ever hear is that Garfield was shot by a disgruntled person who wanted a civil service appointment. What we weren’t told was the appointment Charles Giteau wanted was Ambassador to France, or what an amazing man and beloved President, Garfield was,if only for a short period. The tale of the assassination involves obviously Garfield, and Charles Giteau his assailant, but also includes the theories of Joseph Lister and the inventions of Alexander Graham Bell! Millard has taken these pieces and woven a fine and easy reading and enjoyable book!

A little about the characters. First James A Garfield. Garfield was born into extreme poverty his father was killed when he was to and his family was left with nothing, but through hard work and education Garfield rose to become a graduate of Williams College, a Union General and eventuallly the Republican nominee for President, When on the 34th ballot at the Republican Convention, Garfield’s name was placed in nomination Garfield’s reply was ” I challenge the correctness of the announcement. The announcement contains votes for me. No man has a right, without the consent of the person voted for, to announce that persons name and vote for him, in this convention,. Such consent I have not given….”. The chair refused his objection and eventually Garfield became the nominee. Garfield was a staunch abolitionist and his election was the first time blacks and whites voted along side each other to elect a President. In many ways his election reminded me of Obama’s because of what it meant to African-Americans!

Charles Giteau was insane no question about it his mission in life was to remove the President and save the nation and in the process, he would be loved by the new President Chester Arhtur and Sherman would march to the jail to free him! Giteau was known around the White House and visited often and at one point he even met the President! He stalked him for days before finally deciding on the train station for the execution. He never believed that he was doing anything wrong just removing the President much as if he died of natural causes!!

But the real kicker is that if it wasn’t for the treatment he received after the shooting lead by Dr Willard Bliss, he probably would have survived. Millard comments that if he were a derelict shoot in the Bowery of New York he would have survived. One of the main reasons for this is that the American Doctors did not believe in the antiseptic theories of Joseph Lister! Even  though death related to infections were dropping rapidly throughout Europe where Lister’s methods were employed!! The US doctors still wouldn’t believe, so they probe the wounds with fingers and unsterilized instruments and eventually Garfield rotted from within!

National Museum of Health and Medicine, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Washington, DC.
For 11 weeks Garfield endured unsterilized probings, large doses of quinine and a vermin-infested sickroom.

Finally, Alexander Graham Bell was thrust into the story as he rushed feverishly to create an induction machine that would find the bullet! He may have succeeded but Bliss was convinced that the bullet lay on the right side of Garfield’s body and would only allow Bell to search that side of Garfield’s body!

In this book that I think is the key to loving history she focused on the people that made the history and made the time period come alive with her descriptions of the cast of characters that surrounded the assassination!

NY Times Review: The Doctors Who Killed a President