1 comments about A Political Education: A Washington Memoir.

1. This is an excellent look at how D.C. works from the inside. If you ever wanted to know why passing a bill isn't as simple as what you learned in high school govt., this is the best description of the human element in politics that I have ever read. The author vividly describes how the people and pressures in Washington create the practical (rather than ideal) government which leads the U.S. I would recommend this book to anyone with even the slightest interest in US politics. It is slightly dated (and thus a good history book for the 50's and 60's), but that doesn't hurt its value to the current reader.

No comments about African Game Trails: The Classic Big Game Safari.

5 comments about Hitler's Death: Russia's Last Great Secret from the Files of the KGB.

1. I thought the book was outstanding. Until I got to literally the last page and realized something very, very important was missing. As they say in movie and TV reviews Spoiler Alert!! On that last page she observes that a look at the pieces of Hitler's skull establishes that he could not have shot himself. That is when I realized that missing from the book was even a semi-comprehensive autopsy of Hitler. There is great concentration on the teeth which are used to prove that the bodies are Hitler's and the Mrs. But at no point I could find was there any material to show that the two parts of the skull went together and it is certainly not obvious from the pictures. It is also notable that a cursory autopsy was done on the German Shepard, presumably Blondi. I really can not see the Russians doing a autopsy on an dog and not on Hitler and the rest. I think someone has swept the file a bit before these gentlemen got there. Other than that disappointment, outstanding!



2. I have only two problems with this otherwise excellent book:
   
   First is the sub-title, 'Last Great Secret.' It's really hard to say convincingly that this is the last secret. It seems that all the time more secrets are being found. And I can think of some other things that should be in the KGB files that haven't been reported yet. For instance, what were the Russian code breaking efforts.
   
   The second problem is admitted on page 11 of this book. Much of the information contained in the book comes from the Soviet interrogation of captured Germans who had been close to Hitler in the bunker. It was in their interest to tell their captors what they wanted to hear. And under questioning by the KGB who knows what was done to them. 'The Hitler Book' covers much of this same subject and the diligent reader will want to read both as they present a different slant.
   
   The Russian forces captured Berlin, and immediately began an investigation as to Hitler's last days. They compiled a great deal of forensic evidence, reports of which are included here. In fact, most of the book is in the form of reports of one kind and another. This book appears to be about as close to the original source material as can be found without the ability to read Russian.



3. Recent history is always the most fresh in any person's mind and the events which led to the rise and fall of Nazi Germany remain as fresh today as they ever were for many people - even for those who were born after the war was finally over and simply grew up in it's aftermath. No other person from that time was ever more hated than Adolph Hitler and, for far too long, specific details and facts about his death have always seemed to raise more questions than answers. Not any more.
   
   Now that the former Soviet Union is gone, the new Russia is slowly opening her doors - and her archives!, to reveal what was formerly the country's most guarded secrets. With Russian troops being the first the storm the Reichstag, it was to Stalin that all papers and diaries recovered from that building were delivered and, until recently, the world's historians had been denied access.
   
   Now, those historians and writers have been allowed sight of the most telling documents about the final days of Nazism. In this book, we are treated to a compilation of evidence about Hitler's death unlike anything which has gone before. Evidence such as that from Hitler's own closest inner circle, reports made by the Russians and Germans who took part in that final battle, detailed accounts from those who were sent to arrest the Fuhrer, records of the interrogation of those who survived Hitler's Bunker, Martin Bormann's entire diary of the time and more besides.
   
   Many people dismiss Adolph Hitler as a madman. Perhaps he was - but maybe that answer is just too simple. One thing is for certain, to read this book is to answer almost every single nagging question that was there before it was published.
   
   An excellent job of research.
   
   NM



4. V.K. Vinogradov, et.al.'s HITLER'S DEATH: RUSSIA'S LAST GREAT SECRET FROM THE FILES OF THE KGB is a 'must' for any scholarly collection specializing in World War II history. It solves one of the greatest mysteries of the war, using previously unpublished top secret documents and images from KGB archives to present new evidence from Hitler's inner circle, testimony from Germans and Russians who participated in the final battle, and evidence from those sent to arrest Hitler. Verbatim records of the interrogation of survivors blend with internal reports to Stalin and more to penetrate the cloak of secrecy and recreate Hitler's last days.



5. Very interesting, though dry. This book provides some interesting facts for this period of history. Problem area is
   the read is a bit dull, and drawn out.

5 comments about Fire at Eden's Gate: Tom McCall & the Oregon Story.

1. Over the past 25 years I have read dozens of biographies. Most are not much more than a chronological listings of a person's accomplishments with little depth or analysis. This is one of the few biographies I have read that helps us understand the person which is what a real biography should do. But it is more than a biography. It helps us understand the life and the times of Tom McCall. I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to get to know Tom McCall, Oregon political history of the mid 20th century and the environmental movement.



2. More than two decades after his death, almost three decades after he left the governor's office, Tom McCall remains the defining figure of Oregon politics. It was during his tenure in office (1967-1975) that Oregon gained its reputation as a national leader in innovative public policy.

   The McCall era saw Oregon protect virtually all of its beaches for public use; adopt the first bottle bill in the nation; clean up the Willamette River; adopt the country's first statewide land-use planning system; and much more. Although many of these concepts did not originate with McCall, he was the catylist and provided the leadership to make them a reality.

   This era is brilliantly chronicled by Brent Walth in "Fire At Eden's Gate." Walth, a reporter for the Eugene Register-Guard, and now The Oregonian, knows the state and its leadership well, and this allows him to tell the McCall story with comprehensiveness and clarity. But this is more than a political biography; Walth also chronicles the story of McCall's celebrated family (including grandfather Thomas W. Lawson, "the Copper King"), his path to the governor's office, and his sometimes troubled personal life.

   Anyone interested in understanding Oregon public life in the second half of the 20th century should enjoy and benefit from reading this well-crafted biography.




3. This biography of the modern day father of Oregon, makes this native long for days past. For days when Oregon was a leader on the national politcla/cultural/social scene.

   Walth does an excellent job detailing not only the political successes of one of Oregon's greatest politicians, but also of the man's personal shortcomings.

   I am not certain how much appeal this book will have to non-Oregonian's or people who are unfamiliar with the Pacific Northwest, but I feel that it should be required reading by all students of political science attending Oregon universities.

   Our state legislators who are constantly invoking McCall's name and legacy to advance their own political gains, would do well to read this biography. Our elected officials of today pale in comparison to the individual giants of years past.




4. I am a Native Oregonian living on the east coast and this book helped me understand why I feel like a fish out of water in the midst of uncontrolled suburban sprawl, minimal recycling facilities, and chemical pollution violations are repeatedly ignored by local politicians.
   Mr. Walth's book was exciting to read. I recommend it to anyone seeking to understand Oregonians and why we're so proud of the place we call home. Brent Walth tells the story of how Tom McCall gave us that pride.



5. Deserves a place in every hotel and bed/breakfast gift shop across Oregon -- for visitors to the Pacific Northwest to pick up. Walth tells the McCall story and in doing so coaches the reader about the things Oregonians are the most passionate about. Most of us cannot travel to another state and name their most famous governor -- yet McCall's legacy is often mentioned by domestic and international visitors to Oregon.

5 comments about Like No Other Time: The 107th Congress and the Two Years That Changed America Forever.

1. It's not the most exciting book to read but it makes you understand what it is to be a political leader. A book everybody should read.... It has history, politics, and current events all into one book. Its a good book for anybody interested into politics or history..... Daschle describes a first hand view into 9/11, Anthrax, and most importantly the 2002 elections, Senator Wellstone's Death, and other issues that mattered big in the 2002 elections... Its a pretty easy book to read also...



2. This book is now selling for one cent.
   
   Pretty much sums it up.



3. I agree with the others...I wish Daschle talked more about the politics. He makes important observations. It's sad that he won't be back in the Senate, nontheless, hopefully, he will write another book.
   
   The book is quite touching, and it clarifies a lot of stuff about homeland security, Iraq, and what not. The best parts: His discussions about Democratic philosophy, his observations of others in government (particularly W), right wing memos, and his observations about American politics in general.



4. Tom Daschle's memoir of the 107th Congress should ultimately be recognized as one of the best first person accounts of the critical two years following the 2000 election. Like No Other Time is an exceptionally good senatorial memoir. Daschle is a keen observer of people and of politics. Thus, his memoir is a candid and revealing look at the people and events that shaped America during two transformative years.

   Daschle offers some sharp assessments along the way. His nuanced and careful impressions of President Bush are very persuasive, contradicting both the idealized portrait of the right and the left's ridiculous notion of the President as an idiot. Daschle is no supporter of Bush, but is careful to note his strengths.

   Also of interest are the dynamics between senators as described here. Daschle's sometimes-cooperative, sometimes-conflictual relations with Trent Lott are described amply. One gets a sense of just how much the Senate relies on such relations (I regretted that the book was published too early to record his impressions of Bill Frist and certainly too early to record Frist's tacky visit to South Dakota to support John Thune against Daschle). Also explored in fascinating detail is the successful campaign to bring James Jeffords out of the GOP.

   Daschle writes with frustration about the decline of civility in the Senate and Congress as a whole - an early section details the change in tone wrought by Newt Gingrich. This trend has since been accelerated by the machinations of the White House - one section details just how much Bush committed himself to the Thune-Johnson race in South Dakota. With evident pain, Daschle also discusses how the emotional farewell service to Paul Wellstone inadvertently became a more partisan rally (his balanced account of the event is a nice corrective to polemical accounts from either side)

   Like other reviewers, I wish Daschle had commented about more topics. He declines to discuss the outcome of the Thune-Johnson race, but does imply that Bush's inattention to economic relief for South Dakota was a strong factor. Nor does the later victory of Mary Landrieu in Louisiana receive coverage. But his discussion of the Democratic Party's debate, in the fall of 2002, over going to war in Iraq is priceless. Daschle aptly conveys the slanderous attacks made against the party over Iraq and the Homeland Security bill. Though Daschle is clearly in a position of partisan authority, he makes a notable effort to keep his tone balanced and restrained.

   I was really impressed by this book and by its author. Whatever the outcome of his race this year - and I'd very much like to see Daschle reelected for the sake of South Dakota and this country - I hope that this is not the last book he writes about American politics. This is a book worth buying and reading for the insights it offers about American politics and the current tumultuous era.




5. South Dakota Senator Daschle describes the 107th congress and its events, such as the September 11 attacks, the anthrax contamination of the Senate's Office Building, and other dramatic episodes during his term as majority leader. Daschle talks about the loss of bipartisanship and his disagreement with President Bush and Republican House Speaker Tom De Lay. This audio book is a good, inside account of the workings of the U.S. government.

3 comments about Abraham Lincoln: Man Behind the Myths, The.

1. In this small but valuable volume, Oates explores the reality beyond the two sources of Lincoln myth: the primary myth of a saintly and folkloric Lincoln of Carl Sandburg and a secondary myth of the 'white honky' Lincoln of the 1970's revisionists. Oates emphasizes that Lincoln drew deeply upon the "spirit of his age", which was a profoundly revolutionary time across the world. Oates relates how Lincoln absorbed one of the core lessons of America from the example of Henry Clay: : "in this country one can scarcely be so poor, but that, if he will, he can acquire sufficient education to get through the world respectably".
   
   That slavery was the cause of the Civil War is beyond all doubt. As Oates explains, however, the North did not go to war to free the slaves. In the standard phrasing, the North went to war to 'preserve the union'. Oates explores Lincoln's fears that the spread of slavery in the wake of the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the Dred Scott decision would lead to the destruction of democratic society. The debate then still raged on the world stage whether a republican form of government could last. Lincoln rejected the "ingenious sophism" that states could freely leave the Union. "With rebellion thus sugar coated [southern leaders] have been drugging the public mind of their section for more than thirty years." Secession posed nothing less than a final challenge to popular government. If a minority could destroy the government any time it felt aggrieved, then no government could endure. Thus the war had to be fought to preserve not just the American Republic, but the possibility of republican government.
   
   Lincoln did in fact oppose slavery from early on. His views on racial matters apart from slavery became more fully progressive over time. Lincoln, however, hoped that slavery would slowly melt away in a losing competition with free labor and that liberated slaves would resettle in Africa. It is part of Lincoln's greatness that he later gave up these views. Oates explores this evolution in his thinking. Oates debunks the notion that the Emancipation Proclamation was unimportant in liberating the slaves. Oates also refutes the notion that Lincoln would have favored an easy hand during Reconstruction. On the contrary, the evidence strongly suggests he would have led the so-called Radical Republicans.
   
   Highly recommended for any reader with an interest in Lincoln, the Civil War era, or really pretty much any American.



2. As an amateur genealogist I discovered that I was a sixth cousin, five times removed to President Abraham Lincoln through the Lincoln and Holmes families. On page 21 ( Abraham Lincoln, The man Behind The Myths ) Mr. Oates wrote that there was a mistaken belief that Thomas Lincoln was not Abraham's real father rather it was a Senator John C. Calhoun or a Henry Clay. If this was true it would mean that I was not related to President Abraham Lincoln. How would such a rumour start ? Is there any documented evidence that Nancy Lincoln had an affair with one of these men while being married to Thomas Lincoln. At the time I am trying to locate Stephen B. Oates so I can get this matter cleared up. Sincerely, Mr. Blair E. Bartlett, 87 Shillington Road, Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, E2J 4K7 1-506-696-6175



3. We invented Abraham Lincoln. Not the man, of course, but the myth, that solemn and statuesque giant memorialized eternally overlooking the Capitol mall. The power of that myth and the quiet dignity of its personage dwarfs us all. But the myth is not the man. Myths never are. Stephen Oates in his _Abraham Lincoln, The Man Behind the Myths_, does not seek to diminish the man but rather to clarify him, separating the mythos from the mortal. And it is not an undaunting task, it seems, for overly soon after Lincoln's tragic end the mills began to churn. The public's shredding of the White House interior for mementos while Mary Lincoln lay debilitated in the next room seems symbolic of the wolfpack mentality in Washington even today. And every new memoir published by another family acquaintance of the Lincoln's almost always got it wrong, and tore anew at the heart of the family. We may not have memorialized and glorified our modern-day tragic heroes to such an extent, for we have simultaneously tried to scandalize them. But the tabloid trade it seems has always been a yellow paper. Even Lincoln was vilified in his time and after. He was, Oates, reminds us, one of the most unpopular living presidents of our history. But though the legacy ballooned to heroic proportions after his passing, the man seems to have been lost in it all, remaining only in the hearts of the family leaving quietly and unattended down the steps of the White House never to return.

2 comments about Of Rats and Men: Oscar Goodman's Life from Mob Mouthpiece to Mayor of Las Vegas.

1. Of Rats And Men: Oscar Goodman's Life From Mob Mouthpiece To Mayor Of Las Vegas is the inherently fascinating biography of Oscar Goodman, a man who deliberately became a pre-eminent defense attorney for alleged gangsters for 35 years. Accused but never proven of being more than a mouthpiece and defense attorney for organized crime, Oscar Goodman somehow managed to successfully defend his clients without becoming part of organized crime itself -- at least according to the voters of Las Vegas who eventually elected him as their mayor twice. Of Rats And Men is very highly recommended reading for anyone with an interest in the history of organized crime in America or who wish to avail themselves of a unique insight into the life and philosophy of an accomplished trial lawyer who specialized in defending members of established crime families.



2. The copious notes and eight pages of bibliography supporting John L. Smith's meticulously researched biographical look at Oscar Goodman, former mob attorney - presently the two-term mayor of Las Vegas, impressed me.

   Talk about "insider" information! Smith has long been quoted as a preeminent authority on mob history and "wise guy" relationships. In his book, "Of Rats and Men: Oscar Goodman's Life from Mob Mouthpiece to Mayor of Las Vegas," Smith names a Who's Who of notorious clients, alleged criminal activities, and egregious political innuendoes surrounding the controversial bonds between Goodman and friends. Scared me! While it is obvious the attention-seeking mayor was generous in his interviews with the author, Smith kept me up nights as he interpreted what Goodman would have us believe with his [author's] own extensive background knowledge and investigative prowess. John L. has balls of brass to write as honestly as he does.

   Don't let an easy read fool you. This book is a gem for all who follow gaming history, or the Las Vegas / mob connection - to say nothing of government ineptitude (now, that was a hoot!).

5 comments about Bridging the Divide: My Life.

1. I was honored to be a witness to some of the early discussions between Ed Brooke and his former colleagues and staff as this book was being written. As you read this special book you will also feel like you have been granted a front row seat to the making of history. At a time when political fundamentalism was starting to again flex its ugly muscles in our government, Senator Edward Brooke was a voice of moderation and wisdom for both Democrats and Republicans. This book, by one of the great politicians of our time, reminds us what political leadership can (and should) be like. More Ed Brooks are needed in our government today. I have known Ed and his family as both his priest and friend since 1982, and I can honestly say that Ed Brooke is, at the core of his being, a caring, compassionate, and courageous man of faith with a wonderful sense of humor. He doesn't talk about "family values;" he lives them! I strongly recommend BRIDGING THE DIVIDE to all who appreciate the history of our wonderful nation and who value the dedication and skill of men and women like Senator Brooke. They have truly made our country a better place.
   
   The Rev. Dr. Prentice Kinser III, Author of Limitless Living, A Guide to Unconventional Spiritual Exploration and Growth



2. "Bridging the Divide" is a fantastic read, a portrait of the nation's first African-American Senator and the only black person in that position - thus far - to be re-elected. The book profiles Senator Edward Brooke's life and emphasizes his incredible ability to connect with people despite racial or political barriers. An African-American, Episcopalian, and Republican, he was sent to the Senate and maintained strong support from the people of Massachusetts, a state with a large white, Roman Catholic, and Democrat population.
   
   Senator Brooke's writing is full of great references to how far our country has come in the battle against racism and destructive politics. Whether the Senator is describing his controversial decision to jump into the Senate race, or the day he jumped into the Senate swimming pool with Strom Thurmond, his words are poignant, intellectual, and awe-inspiring. You are sure to laugh, ponder, smile - maybe even cry.
   
   One need not be a history buff or political powerhouse to enjoy this book. It is a fantastic read for those who love their country and enjoy learning about the type of people that make our nation so strong. I enjoyed it thoroughly, and recommend it to all of my friends. If you're looking for a good read this summer (or for any time of year), "Bridging the Divide" is it.



3. I had the good fortune to serve in the Massachusetts state senate as a Republican during Senator Ed Brooke's second term. Though I was more conservative than he, he always unstintingly leant me his support, help and advice. His defeat in 1978, aided by right-wing Republicans, was a great loss to the Commonwealth, the country and, not least to the Republican party. Increasingly the crazies in each party are dragging the process toward the fringes. But elections are won nationally by center-right coalitions or center-left coalitions. The collapse of the center in the Republican party portends renewed Democratic dominance of American politics. A Republican party without room for the talent and convictions of an Ed Brooke will increasingly marginalize itself.
   
   There are some great political stories in Bridging the Divide, not least about Hillary Clinton, and you will get your money's worth from reading them. But this book should be read by everyone who cares about the future of the Republican party--and the nation. The increasing mean-spiritedness of both parties, and the increasing focus on narrow wedge issues, creates a great danger for the Republic. Just as the Democrats need more centrists, the Republican party needs more men and women like Ed Brooke. Where are they to come from?
   
   Robert A. Hall
   Author of "The Good Bits."



4. Leave it to Massachusetts to send the first Black Senator elected by popular vote to Congress. The heavily, 98% white Democrat State overwhelming supported him for the state's highest National Office even though he was the "Republican" candidate. Senator Brooke was elected in a landslide by the voters of his liberal state because he had already proven he was an honest, hardworking, devoted, corruption-fighting Attorney General for the Commonwealth. Once in the U.S. Senate he continued to prove he was a wise man with strong core beliefs including his devotion to the Political Party of Abe Lincoln. He was responsible for many important civil rights laws. One of his bills gave women their own credit. They no longer had to have their husbands okay to borrow money and get their own credit cards. Senator Brooke had gone from being a U.S. Army officer leading the Italian Partisans behind German lines during WW II to become a strong, outspoken Statesman Senator. Congress very much needs more peacemakers like Senator Edward Brooke. This book is a fascinating read. Readers can't help but finish the book and still be utterly amazed that Republican Brooke was ever elected to any office in Massachusetts. Unfortunately, he has proven to be one of a kind so far. But there is always hope for the future.



5. As I was reading a newspaper article about this book recently it occurred to me that I hadn't heard Edward Brooke's name in a long time. After finishing his book, I'm glad I remember him. Though not from Massachusetts myself, I did follow his career when he was in the Senate.
   
   Senator Brooke writes forcefully on a number of issues....the racism he faced growing up in Washington D.C. and which followed him into the U.S. Army in the Second World War, his political losses before he finally won a race and especially about his family. With particular care he tells us of his difficult first marriage and his loving second one, complete with an estrangement for many years from his two daughters.
   
   While getting into "Bridging the Divide" it became clear that Edward Brooke was a man of discipline and high principle. I was just about to ask myself why he never made it onto the U.S. Supreme Court when Brooke says that President Nixon actually considered him for a seat on the high court. Brooke turned it down to stay in the Senate, feeling he was too young to take on a judicial role. It's too bad because I think he would have made an excellent Supreme Court justice.
   
   Edward Brooke is reminiscent of the days when the Senate was a kinder place. There are very few people in his category these days....moderate to liberal Republican. His was part of the Republican party I remember growing up...one that has changed drastically. Senator Brooke's contributions to our country have been many and I'm glad he's still around to write about it. "Bridging the Divide" is a book I highly recommend.

5 comments about Florence Harding: The First Lady, The Jazz Age, And The Death Of America's Most Scandalous President.

1. Carl Anthony has presented an excellent and well-researched book on Florence and Warren Harding. Unlike the books by Robert Ferrell, which are a combination of surmise and invention, that are best left to coffee-table-book readers, Anthony tells it like it really is. Anthony has dug deep into the documents that are now available, (with more coming out as the years pass), to present a balanced and fair assessment of President and Mrs. Harding. Highly recommended for any who want the unvarnished truth.



2. The Washington Times wrote a terrific review of this book, which follows:
   
   A President Of the Peephole
   By Carl Sferrazza Anthony
   Special to The Washington Post
   Sunday, June 7, 1998
   
   Fearing revelations about his illicit affair with a young campaign volunteer - which included sex in an Oval Office hideaway while under the guard of Secret Service agents - the president realized that stonewalling was ultimately futile. He stunned a private party of reporters at the National Press Club by confessing his carnal desires.
   
   "It's a good thing I am not a woman," the president said. "I would always be pregnant. I can't say no."
   
   In this administration, the scandals never seemed to end. There was the strange suicide of an administration official, made even more mysterious by a note that disappeared. Then came an investigation into payoffs and coverups connected to a notorious land deal. The president's friends launched smear campaigns against his perceived foes. Dossiers were compiled; private eyes and snitches deployed. Affidavits were drafted in which various women denied liaisons with the president. Jobs were arranged to keep people quiet.
   
   Through it all, a steel-willed first lady kept the press at bay and did whatever was necessary to defend her husband's reputation - even if it meant destroying evidence.
   
   The scandals erupted at a time when technological advances in communication were feeding a nation hungry for distraction, and the economy was booming. Sex sold - and the ravenous press corps was all too happy to name names and offer seamy details. The president and his wife boosted their public image by bringing Hollywood stars to the White House; they knew the value of glamour and the power of celebrity. It also helped that he was a genial populist and inveterate shaker of hands, fond of golf and cards, a man of the people.
   
   Ladies thought him virile and handsome; he photographed well.
   For some reason, all of this seems familiar. Whatever else may be said of Warren Gamaliel Harding - whose tenure as 29th president ended with his peculiar, premature death in 1923 - he was a truly modern politician. His administration, which reeked of corruption, offers a prototype for Washington scandals. Whitewater, Iran-contra and Watergate are better known today, but the granddaddy of them all was Teapot Dome, a political maelstrom that broke 75 years ago this month and is still hard to top in terms of sheer outrageousness.
   
   Harding, a small-town Ohio newspaper publisher, was uniquely unsuited for the job of president - and he knew it. "I am not fit for this office and never should have been here," he once said. But he "looked like a president," as one major backer put it, and his wife, Florence, was instrumental in shepherding his political career. (The press considered Florence, known as the Duchess, to be the power behind the throne; one cartoon depicted the couple as "The Chief Executive and Mr. Harding.") Harding, a one-term Republican senator, won the job by promising Americans a "return to normalcy" after World War I.
   
   Though his legacy was soiled, his domestic achievements were substantial: the 40-hour work week, improved health care for new mothers, the first balanced-budget bureau, a focus on technology. And we have to give Harding credit for establishing a venerable institution: the Washington gossip mill. Based on new documentation, here's a reprise of the Harding era.
   
   I love your back, I love your breasts
   Darling to feel, where my face rests,
   I love your skin, so soft and white,
   So dear to feel and sweet to bite. . . .
   I love your poise of perfect thighs,
   When they hold me in paradise. . . .
   -- A Harding poem to one of his mistresses, Carrie Phillips
   
   No president had more "women scrapes," as his attorney general put it, than Warren G. His first affair, three years into his marriage to Florence, was with Susie Hodder - his wife's best friend from childhood - resulting in the birth of a daughter. His second affair was with Florence's closest adult friend, Carrie Fulton Phillips. It lasted 15 years. His third enduring mistress was his Senate aide, Grace Cross.
   Number four was the most infamous and the first presidential mistress to write a memoir: In the large Oval Office closet, the president had at least one tryst with Nan Britton, a campaign volunteer who had started having sex with Harding when he was 51 and she was 22. Their assignations, facilitated by Secret Service agents James Sloan and Walter Ferguson ("Harding hated to have them around, for he despised being watched," reported the chief usher), came to an abrupt stop when another agent, Harry Barker, tipped Florence off, and she ran down for a confrontation.
   
   It was in Harding's Senate office, late one night in the winter of 1919, that Britton claimed she conceived their daughter, Elizabeth Ann. They disrobed because Harding wanted to "visualize" her while he worked there during the day. Britton worried that they lacked the "usual paraphernalia which we always took to the hotels . . . and of course, the Senate Offices do not provide preventive facilities for use in such emergencies."
   
   He had assorted other flings, including one with Rosa Hoyle, said to have conceived his only illegitimate son, and one with Augusta Cole, whose pregnancy by Harding was terminated. He bedded a Washington Post employee known as Miss Allicott, and former chorus girls Maize Haywood and Blossom Jones - all procured by Harding's crony, Washington Post publisher and owner Ned McLean. And then there's the string of "New York women" - including one who committed suicide after Harding wouldn't marry her, and another who had a stash of incriminating love letters purchased by Harding loyalists.
   
   The president even publicly ogled Margaret Gorman, the first Miss America, in Atlantic City, days after her crowning.
   
   Follow the Money
   
   Just weeks after his inauguration in 1921, Harding approved Interior Secretary Albert Fall's request to transfer oil reserves from the Navy Department to Fall's control. Fall then secretly leased the reserve at Elks Hills, Calif., to oilman Edward Doheny and the one at Teapot Dome, Wyo., to Harry Sinclair - in exchange for a "loan" of cash and stock worth nearly $400,000, delivered in a small black satchel, and a "gift" of $100,000 from Doheny. Fall became the first Cabinet member to be thrown in prison.
   
   Col. Charles Forbes, the first director of the U.S. Veterans Bureau, created by Harding, was particularly close to the first lady. She saw to his appointment, and entrusted him with $450 million to build hospitals and provide decent medical care for the thousands of disabled veterans of World War I, on whose behalf the Duchess was a national activist.
   
   Instead, he bilked tens of thousands out of building contractors and medical supply companies. He was eventually imprisoned - but not before Harding personally throttled him against the Red Room wall in the White House.
   
   Although Attorney General Harry Daugherty, a Harding crony and campaign manager, eluded conviction on a variety of pardon-selling and influence-peddling charges, his Justice Department was riddled with malfeasance, kickbacks and payoffs. One of the department's central tasks was to intimidate any Harding mistress who threatened the president with blackmail.
   
   High Officials
   
   Evalyn McLean, the Post publisher's wife, was a confidante of Mrs. Harding and an admitted intermittent morphine addict. Despite Prohibition, she also was a heavy drinker and speakeasy regular - but then, so were her husband and other ranking government officials: Albert Fall, Col. Forbes and the president's chief aide, George Christian. In the Veterans Bureau, stories eventually broke about flapper secretaries and young officers having a regular cocktail hour, with shakers and glasses at the ready, overseen by Forbes.
   
   The president served liquor freely in the present-day Yellow Oval Room to his guests. Alice Longworth - a regular at poker - recalled that the first lady mixed the drinks. "No rumor could have exceeded the truth. . . . [T]rays with bottles containing every imaginable brand of whiskey stood about," she remembered. And, according to recently declassified FBI reports, Harding was drunk on whiskey during an Oval Office confrontation with railroad union leaders during their 1922 strike.
   
   At the center of the capital's most elite bootlegging service was Jess Smith - who, even though never an employee or even a volunteer at the Justice Department, used official letterhead, cars and staff, and sat in on private meetings with FBI Director Billy Burns. Smith enjoyed these perks as the bachelor companion of the attorney general. Smith also served as the first lady's favorite escort and arbiter of her jaunty '20s fashions.
   
   Through the Justice Department, Smith had access to whiskey supplies confiscated by Prohibition agents, and some of the booze went directly to the White House, and to the McLeans, while the rest was kept for parties at the "Love Nest," the small house shared by Smith and Daugherty, complete with a pink taffeta bedroom.
   
   Hollywood Values
   
   Working closely with Republican National Committee Chairman Will Hays during the 1920 campaign, Florence Harding conceived of recruiting Hollywood movie stars to support her husband. Al Jolson was drafted to head the Harding-Coolidge Theatrical League, and on Aug. 24, 1920, the marriage of politics and entertainment was forged forever when Jolson brought 40 movie stars to the Harding home for a campaign rally.
   
   The White House became a little Hollywood. On any given day, D.W. Griffith, the Gish sisters or Tom Mix might pose for newsreel cameras with the Hardings. When Hays left his job as postmaster general to become president of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America, he developed a "project to link the White House with the motion picture industry" by providing a movie library. All of this was nothing short of immoral to old society. The religious press took even greater offense to Florence's ringing the stately halls with jazz for the first time. The Biblical Recorder excoriated the Hardings for "setting a bad example by joining in the modern dance with its 'jazz' music."
   
   Squelching the Bimbos
   
   There was a good reason for Jess Smith having a vaguely defined association with the Justice Department. In this way, he was able to act at the implicit direction of the attorney general and FBI director and carry out a systematic intimidation of Harding mistresses who threatened to do as Carrie Phillips did and demand blackmail for their love letters. At one point, in exchange for apparently small amounts of money, affidavits disclaiming rumors of their liaisons were wrestled out of Evelyn Ruby, Augusta Cole and Cecilia Hoyle, and made their way to the first lady.
   
   In April 1921, Ned McLean officially became an agent of the FBI, and did his utterly unethical best to destroy any anti-Harding efforts he heard about as publisher of The Post. Such responsibilities included ripping the blouse of Nan Britton to try to snatch letters she claimed to be carrying - in the privacy of his editorial office.
   
   Even on the eve of his inauguration, Harding was providing more trouble for his troubleshooters. He had arranged a late-night rendezvous with Grace Cross, his Senate aide, in a Willard Hotel room. Some of his friends, recalled Olive Clapper, a reporter's wife, "ordered her to pack and get out of town, threatening to put the FBI on her trail if she didn't go at once. She was so frightened she left immediately."
   
   Psychic Guidance
   
   Mrs. Harding's diary, discovered last year at an Ohio barn auction, revealed her to be a true believer in crystal ball readings, the zodiac and clairvoyance. In February 1920, as a Senate wife, she had her first consultation with capital society's seer, "Madame Marcia." The psychic predicted that if Harding ran for president that year, he would be nominated - but that if he won the election, he would not live through his full term and instead die of "sudden, peculiar, violent . . . death by poison."
   
   Knowing that the blackmail price of $25,000 demanded by Carrie Phillips for the love letters could never be met unless her husband became a presidential nominee, Florence pushed him through the primaries on to the nomination, ignoring the ominous prediction. During the Harding presidency, Madame Marcia was regularly fetched by the first lady's Secret Service agent, brought through the back entrance and escorted to the presidential bedroom for zodiac updates. Madame Marcia also did horoscopes for the president's public appearances; the first lady was trying to protect him from numerous assassination and bomb threats.
   
   When Florence got early inklings of the Teapot Dome, Veteran's Bureau and Justice Department scandals, she asked Marcia to do astrological charts of Cabinet members - and used the results as evidence to remove some of the crooks from the administration.
   
   Blackmailers' Delight
   
   Newly discovered documents now prove that Harding was the only president successfully blackmailed by a mistress. Once he was nominated as the Republican candidate, the national GOP committee paid off Carrie Phillips's lump-sum demand of $25,000 and monthly stipend of $2,000, funneled through a secret bank account kept, apparently, under Jess Smith's name (the records were burned by Attorney General Daugherty).
   Once Harding became president, Phillips returned from an all-expense-paid trip abroad and demanded that her brother and son-in-law be given federal posts. It was done. Harding even circulated the name of Phillips's husband to be ambassador to Japan - before word got out why he thought a dry-goods salesman from Marion, Ohio, deserved the post and the idea was quashed.
   
   One night, when he was a senator, Harding had such a row with aide Grace Cross that she cut his back and the police were called. Thereafter, Cross went around town talking about a "birthmark" on the president's back that she could identify - undoubtedly the wound - which became part of her arsenal in unsuccessful attempts to get blackmail money. However, former Democratic attorney general Mitchell Palmer would later use his knowledge of the Cross affair to force Harding to drop a Justice Department prosecution against him.
   
   Crossing a Friend
   
   After a failed attempt to frame Cross with a phony affidavit claiming she was a liar and blackmailer, Smith approached Bertha Martin - a friend of Cross's - to try to get possession of the aide's love letters from Harding. Martin said she would turn on her friend on the condition that she was given the job of society editor at The Post. Smith went to McLean, who gave his nod. Martin took Cross to lunch, asked to see the letters, snatched them away and bolted out of the restaurant. She was made society editor - and still managed to stay friends with Cross, taking her on a European vacation, courtesy of the secret blackmail fund.
   
   Deadly Sins
   
   During a party at Smith and Daugherty's "Love Nest," some New York chorus girls were brought down to entertain a stag party. In attendance was the president. When glasses and bottles were being flung off the table so the dancing girls could perform, one Washington prostitute, identified only as a Miss Walsh, was knocked unconscious. Harding was hustled out. The woman died and was buried in a potter's field.
   
   In recently discovered transcripts of her taped revelations, Evalyn McLean recalled that the FBI director "railroaded" the woman's brother into St. Elizabeths mental hospital when he suggested a blackmail payment.
   
   Censorship by Book Burning
   
   "The Strange Death of President Harding," written in 1930 by the notorious perjurer and former FBI agent Gaston Means, implied that Florence Harding poisoned her husband in retaliation for his adultery, but the book has long been dismissed as a fabrication. New evidence shows that while Means lied in details, he told general truths. He said that he was part of an FBI effort to seize and destroy a small, privately printed book, "The Illustrated Life of Warren Gamaliel Harding," that revealed Harding's affair with Carrie Phillips, the RNC blackmail payoff and Florence's out-of-wedlock child by a common-law first husband.
   
   This turned out to be the only book suppressed by the government in peacetime. The entire action was illegal, and thus the boxes of books and updated manuscript inserts were taken not to any government property but to the McLean estate, where they were all burned. Well, not all: An original with the author's notes sits with none other than Evalyn
   
   
   Spying
   
   Among Gaston Means's other sensational charges was that he spied for the first lady on Nan Britton. In fact, it was probably Grace Cross - for at least one letter sent to her from the president's office was purloined and found its way into the file on Cross in the McLeans' private papers. Post reporter Vylla Poe Wilson later admitted that both "Mrs. Harding and Mrs. McLean were very jealous women, and they hired Gaston Means to follow Harding and McLean and report on their actions." In congressional hearings on the Justice Department, it was confirmed that Agent Means not only spied on Cross but the president's physician, Charles Sawyer, and his mistress, the first lady's housekeeper.
   
   Suicides
   
   Congress first heard tales of gross corruption at the Veterans Bureau in February 1923. Col. Forbes's colleague in kickbacks, Charles Cramer - the bureau's chief counsel, and the purchaser of the Hardings' Senate home - wrote out a letter to the president in his dining room, then stood before the bathroom mirror and shot himself. The letter mysteriously disappeared.
   
   At the start of the summer, the first big Harding scandal broke with the news that Jess Smith was found in his room with his head in a trash can, and a bullet in his head. The official word went out that it was a suicide due to health and emotional problems. Bertha Martin of The Post recalled that it was "noised about" town that Smith was a known homosexual, and that he was heartbroken over Daugherty's sudden rejection of his friendship when the president learned of Smith's nefarious activities. Others, like Evalyn McLean, simply believed Daugherty, Means or Burns had Smith killed because he knew too much. As for Martin, after a second career bootlegging whiskey to embassies, she was found dressed in her fur coat, pearls and white gloves with her head on the gas range, another alleged suicide.
   
   Negligent Homicide?
   
   Beginning on June 20, 1923, the Hardings sought to escape the heat and scandal of Washington on a 15,000-mile transcontinental train trip and voyage to Alaska. The president was 57 at the time. The recently unsealed diary and notes of naval physician Joel Boone reveal Boone's grave concerns about the president's heart condition. The warnings were ignored by longtime Harding homeopath "Doc" Sawyer, who made no effort to stop Harding from speaking in the blistering heat, driving the golden spike to complete the Alaska Railroad, or doing other arduous tasks. In this Sawyer had the absolute approval of the first lady, who was now enjoying the height of her national popularity and didn't want the trip canceled. She viewed the incompetent Sawyer as her own Rasputin, who'd miraculously kept a chronic kidney ailment from killing her.
   
   When Harding suffered a bout of food poisoning from tainted crab meat at Cordova, Alaska, Doc Sawyer ultimately weakened the president's sick heart by treating him with heavy doses of purgatives to flush out the toxins. On Aug. 2, 1923, when Boone was out of the sickroom in San Francisco's Palace Hotel, Sawyer plied one too many purgatives - in Florence's presence - and Harding died. There was a quick coverup regarding who was in the room and at precisely what time the president died. Mrs. Harding refused to permit an autopsy or a death mask, protecting her beloved Sawyer. "Now that is all over," she told Evalyn McLean after Harding's death, "I think it was all for the best."
   
   Evidence Destruction
   
   At the McLean estate, aptly named Friendship, Evalyn permitted the widowed first lady to bring from the White House wood crates full of government documents (which may have been incriminating to Harding) and helped burn them. Even though Mrs. Harding was being spied on and her phone was tapped during the congressional investigations of the scandals, she was able to keep destroying documents within the privacy of her Willard Hotel suite.
   
   Four months after leaving Washington, Florence died at age 64 in Marion, Ohio. She was staying in a cottage on the grounds of the Sawyer Sanitarium "for the treatment of nervous and mental diseases," amid signs that read: "Please do not stare at the Patients."
   
   This article is adapted from Carl Sferrazza Anthony's just-published biography, "Florence Harding: The First Lady, the Jazz Age and the Death of America's Most Scandalous President" (Morrow).



3. The Harding administration is buried in 20th century obscurity. Aside from the words "Teapot Dome", which few laymen know anything about, and the overriding scandal that dogged Harding's reputation after he left office, there are few people who would even know the name of the first lady.
   
   Florence Harding portrays the image of a plain, dowdy hayseed, but the author brings her to life in the context of an amazing time in our history.
   
   The 1920's were a time of a burgeoning economy, a rich underground economy with speakeasies, amazing jazz, racial awareness, and a recovery from World I. Florence Harding worked behind the scenes to prop her husband up to the challenge of the presidency. Recent revisionist historians have re-examined his presidency to look at his leadership, and his vision beyond the republican side of the aisle.
   
   Florence Harding welcomed in the Jazz Age, consulted "spiritual advisors", and looked at feminist causes long before many of her contemporaries. She also loved and adored her husband, looking past his infidelities, and his out-of-wedlock children.
   
   Warren Harding was in over his head as President. He was an innocent idealist who was thrust into a dark horse candidacy by unscrupulous men who he believed were his friends. He was also a popular and beloved President at he time of his death.
   
   This book, however, is about his wife. She was a tirelessly driven woman, cannily intelligent, with a strength that propelled her to the pinnacle of American leadership.
   
   It is a story few would undertake to tell, and it is riveting. While Florence Harding never comes off as likable, she is portrayed as loyal, admirable, and visionary beyond her time. There is a touching passage, as she sits next to Warren's open coffin, when she tells her husband "nobody can hurt you now, W'urrn".
   
   She clearly understood the power of the office, and the damage it had done to her husband.
   
   An engrossing biography, on an unlikely subject.



4. Writer Carl Anthony has composed an outstanding biography in his work Florence Harding. Harding Florence Harding been one of the more easily understood or admired First Lady's in this nations history, this book would have been written years ago. However, Mrs. Harding's legacy has been in the past told and retold more as a tabloid story than factual account.
   
   When approaching this book, one needs to understand how Mrs. Harding's legacy was tainted by three men, none of which was her husband Warren G. Harding. First, Gaston Means - a grifter and one time low level FBI agent - did a master job at maligning the deceased Mrs. Harding in his book, The Strange Death of President Harding, a ghost written work that was penned by a tabloid jouranlist who sued Means when he failed to honor his obligations to the writer. In this book, Means paints the picture of Mrs. harding that is pervasive in American Pop Culture: that Mrs. Harding was clueless love lorn hag, who spent her time with mystics plotting the Presidents next moves in star charts. This is an image that the public bought, hook, line and sinker.
   
   The other two men who betrayed Mrs. Harding were her doctor, Charles E. Sawyer and his son Dr. Carl Sawyer. The Sawyers held Mrs. Harding in their sway - she believed that they were great medical doctors, however it was the elder Sawyer's mis diagnosis of President Harding's heart condition as food poisoning. When Charles Sawyer discovered that the widowed First Lady's kidney ailment acted up, he travelled to Washington DC and demanded that Florence return to Marion Ohio for treatment at his private Sanatorium rather than seek treatment at at the better suited facilities in Washington. Mrs, Harding was placed in a cottage at the facility, and then kept at the facility by Sawyer's son Carl after the elder Sawyer died. Following Mrs. Harding's death, Dr. Carl Sawyer assummed total control of the Harding Memorial Association and maintained an iron grip on the Harding legacy until his death in the 1960s. As with all great dictators, Carl Sawyer controlled all aspects of the Harding legacy. As a result, the public never had a fair opportunity to study the Harding's, but rather were fed a steady stream of "approved" information about the couple.
   
   Anthony's work goes the distance in seperating the negative myths from the honest truths in her life, which by any standard was not charmed. However, the author does take liberties in communicating his emotions about Mrs. Harding. He believes that she has been mis-portrayed and his passion about correcting that sometimes overstates her case. However, his book is very well documented by copious endnotes and reliable first person accounts and primary documents.
   
   This book will never be a New York Times best seller - the public would rather believe that Harding Myths inseatd of the facts - but for those who care to learn more about the truths of the 29th President and his most remarkable wife, this is a satisfying and accurate book to read.



5. How to make a fairly dull and unpleasant like Florence Harding come alive is a difficult enough feat, however the author does a splendid job of doing it! Expertly researched and pleasantly told, Mrs. Harding comes off far better than she has ever been depicted before - and perhaps even better than she deserves.

1 comments about Cesar Chavez: Autobiography of La Causa.

1. I have read this book over twenty times. One major reason is that each time I get new insights into the life and genius of one of this centuries greatest and most brilliant American leaders.

   The other reason is because I was priviledged to have worked beside Mr. Chavez during the time of this books writing. Every time I read it I can still hear the author, Jaques Levy, reading it in draft form to Cesar by flashlight as we traveled California and Arizona's highways and biways.

   This is truly the closest Mr.Chavez ever came to writing his own book. Jaques Levy had a rare inside look at Cesar, his movement and his family. The combination of trust and journalistic integrity between Mr. Chavez and Jacques Levy made for a great book that covers and captures his actions, thoughts, ideas, trials, ambitions, hopes and dreams. Mr. Levy, together with Cesar Chavez, captures the essence of his formative years, those leading up to his becoming the first Mexican and American hero of this century.

   Unlike any other author on Chavez, Mr. Levy captures several examples of Chavez's self taught brilliance and tenacity. He also clearly shows Chavez' ability to grasp any subject and his views on American and poor people's economics. I have read many of the others and having been on the spot while they were written can add that while most err somewhat to a great deal in covering basic facts, Jacques Levy's book is on the money.

   If it is possible to get this book reprinted, it should be and I bet a Spanish version would sell a million copies.

   Mr. Levy spent nine years researching, writing and editing this work that over time will come to be known as the basic foundation of Mr. Chavez's life