5 comments about Old Hickory's War: Andrew Jackson and the Quest for Empire.

1. This is a well-researched book on AJ and his Indian Wars leading up to and including the Battle of New Orleans. Not much detail as far as military operations. It should be noted that the author's are coming at this subject from a strongly anti-Jackson bias, which some times is overstated.



2. This easily readable, complete account of the origins of the Southeast United States pulls no punches. It is fascinating. I am an unabashed Andrew Jackson admirer. But how he ever got away with what he did confuses me. Aaron Burr was charged with treason and tried four times for only thinking about what Jackson executed with impunity. Timing, as they say, is everything.

   Frontier justice, combined with an officially unsanctioned invasion of indisputably Spanish sovereign territory, is accomplished without so much as a truly serious international whimper. Jackson simply ignored and crushed ALL domestic opposition. This event has all the improbable content of the most outrageous novel: land based buccaneering, genocide, invasion, forced removal, betrayal and, most of all, proof that in the early stages of this part of what was going to become a major cornerstone of the future United States, that certain political sections of early America's hierarchy believed that might made right. Absolutely no democratic ideals here. I have never read anywhere what this book made me feel but I truly believe this was Jackson's first formal execution of his and other's concept of Manifest Destiny.

   The authors are excellent. The subject matter is riveting. The local history is fascinating. Jackson is an American original. With all the good he did for his country he had to know that to execute this plan he needed safe harbor in the highest levels of the US government. Thank God he was on our side.




3. The historiographical fortunes of Andrew Jackson have varied over the years from the controversy of his own time to virtual adoration during the New Deal years to today's increasingly jaundiced opinion of the general/politician/Indian fighter.

   The Heiders, professional historians, definitely fall into the disapproving faction that lately has been gaining the upper hand. In part, their work is a logical outgrowth of the current political climate. In the 1930s, when Reform was in vogue, Jackson's role as "reformer" (or, destroyer) of such "elitist" institutions as the Second Bank of the United States and his rough nationalism as expressed towards South Carolina during the nullification crisis played well with the generally liberal guild of historians.

   But, times have changed and with "multi-culturalism" the current fashion, Andrew Jackson is less a frontier hero in the eyes of many than a frontier sociopath with a brutal contempt for both Indians (now called "Native Americans") and blacks. That, at least, is, in part, how the Heider's seem to regard him.

   And, with good reason. Jackson's contempt for the Indians is, despite the apologetics of biographer Robert Remini, too patent to be ignored. His general bloodlust -- he was an extraordinarily violent man in both private and personal life -- don't endear him to modern sensibilities either.

   The Heiders, in this well-researched and well-written book, see Jackson as the Loose Cannon of antebellum America: headstrong, insubordinate, genocidal -- and an out and out liar. His prevarications about his unauthorized seizure of Spanish Pensicola in 1818, which included an after-the-fact falsified map, his summary killing of two British nationals on flimsy pretext and his ruthless persecution of anyone who dared to differ with him leave the Old Hero's moral and ethical standing in tatters.

   To be sure, the Heiders, when presented with two interpretations of Jackson's actions -- his own and that of his enemies -- generally side with the more hostile account. But, their thorough research builds a persuasive case that Jackson was, indeed, out-of-control, arrogant, and a blood-stained imperialist with abiding racial hatreds.

   The Monroe administration found Jackson's actions reprehensible and insubordinate -- but very useful. Thus, the president and his cabinet, led by John Quincy Adams, winked at Old Hickory's depredations. The political popularity of the "Napoeleon of the Woods" made him, as well, too dangerous a potential adversary.

   The book goes into considerable detail and some of it may be lost on those not familiar with its period. Still, it is a valuable antidote to two generations of Jackson-worship on the part of historians. One wonders what, a few generations hence, the view of Jackson will be once the cultural wheel has turned over a few more times from now.




4. This easily readable, complete account of the origins of the Southeast United States pulls no punches. It is fascinating.

   I am an unabashed Andrew Jackson admirer. But how he ever got away with what he did confuses me. Aaron Burr was charged with treason and tried four times for only thinking about what Jackson executed with impunity. Timing, as they say, is everything.

   Frontier justice, combined with an officially unsanctioned invasion of undisputably Spainish soverign territory, is accomplished without so much as a truely serious international whimper. Jackson simply ignored and crushed ALL domestic opposition. This event has all the improbable content of the most outrageous novel: land based buccaneering, genocide, invasion, forced removal, betrayal and, most of all, proof that in the early stages of this part of what was going to become a major cornorstone of the future United States, that certain political sections of early America's hierarchy believed that might made right. Absolutly no democratic ideals here.

   I have never read anywhere what this book made me feel but I truely believe this was Jackson's first formal execution of his and other's concept of Manefest Destiny.

   The authors are excellent. The subject matter is riviting. The local history is fascinating. Jackson is an American original. With all the good he did for his country he had to know that to execute this plan he needed safe harbor in the highest levels of the US government. Thank God he was on our side.




5. An often forgotten episode in American history was the United State's pursuit to gain Florida. Troubles on the border allowed Andrew Jackson to come in at remove the Creek and Seminole people. He invaded a foreign territory and executed citizens of a third county while there. His actions were unauthorized (but with the blessings of the President), but he still got away with it.

   This is one of the few books that covers the First Seminole War. The authors have done their research and used sources that have been ignored in the past. Many factors went into this conflict, and they are all examined. All the political aspects in Washington City, as well as ramifications from the Fort Jackson Treaty of 1815 that disinherited the Creeks.

   The overall impression is that Jackson knew what he wanted and would not let anything get in his way. He pulled off an obviously illegal operation, and got away with it all.

5 comments about Chiang Kai Shek: China's Generalissimo and the Nation He Lost.

1. While the author seems dispassionate and measured enough, there is the hard reality that the documentary base on which to make a judgement about Chiang's character and career is sparse. This means that there are times when the record seems so lurid that one has to wonder what was really happening. That said, this will give the general reader a feel for Chinese state that the Generalissimo tried to build, why he was undone by his personal limitations, and the perspective time has given us regarding his historic achievements.



2. For a nice rendition of all that was done in the United States inside and outside the State Department to undermine the Nationalist effort, try The China Story by Freda Utley.



3. Fenby is excellent in the early life of Chiang and the war years in Chungking--lots of anecdotes and tidbits. However a lot happened after 1950 when he installed himself in Taiwan and proceeded with a land reform that ultimately helped save his regime. He also steadfastly defended the island against communist threat-with US help- which under an alternative regime might not have survived. This post-war period is totally missing from Fenby's account, which does not mention that when he died there was a massive outpouring of sentiment from the people. The irony is that he is more revered today in the China he lost than in the Taiwan he helped save!



4. I started this book with minimal knowledge of China in the first half of the 20th century, beyond a knowledge of the key events. After reading Jonathan Fenby's magnus opus at 500 pages that gap in my knowledge has been very well filled. Using the life of Chiang Kai-Shek (CSK) up to his establishing of the National government in exile in Formosa (now Taiwanbthis book is an excellent coverage of the history of China to 1950, very well wrtitten and great command of many sources and consistent probing analysis of the issues and problems CSK and China faced.
   
   The sub title of the book "And the China he lost" is the key - Fenby uses the life of CSK from humble beginnings to show that while he may have had a major impact in uniting post Manchu China, he consistently by personal failings and lack of realism to see himself as other than the divine national leader of China whose word was law and to delegate power, left it open to the eventual communist takeover under Mao, a man who operated a similar autocratic approach but was pragmatic enough to create the rural revolution needed.
   
   The first half of Fenby's book is about CSK's success at overcoming the various regional warlords whose feudal approach to local power and unwillingness to accept central government reads like England in the Middle Ages. However while this may count as CSK's great success it
   also showed many of the issues to come. CSK's military prowess was based on a mix of foreign military advisers (first Russian then German) and the use of bribery rather than personal military skills to often win victories. While making certain initial military reforms, CSK was unable to accept the wider need to invest in a high quality army relying on size and loyalty rather than skill and focus.
   
   Having formed a loose regional federation, CSK then failed to seize the initiative to introduce much needed rural reform and instead aligned himself by marriage with corrupt urban wealthy families and launched a series of vicious attacks on the infant Communist party. His near success in eradicating the Communists was devastated by the Japanese invasion of China and the continual loss at great cost in lives of large and important areas of China to Japanese rule.
   
   Even when presented with the golden opportunity of USA support post Pearl Harbour the opportunities were spurned due largely to CSK's nationalist attitude and lack of pragmatism and reality as to what was happening in China plus endless arguing with his US advisers who he saw threatening his authority. His endless meddling in military matters by issuing numerous orders when he was far from the front or executing a sound strategy plus the increasing corruption of his close followers meant that the Japanese were not pushed back and the Communists were able to survive and prosper.
   
   With the end of WWII, CSK again took a gamble in the hope of playing off Russia and USA influences under the Cold War to survive but underestimated their lack of support based on his WWII performance - once his armies had to face down the communists his poor military skills became clear and the end was quick. Consistent to the end he ensured a retreat to exile in
   Formosa with troops and gold leaving Chian to its fate but only after wreaking his final vengeance in murdering Chinese allies whohe felt had betrayed him.
   
   One finishes the book clear that whill CSK may have had a major impact on China it came at a great cost and with little real chance of long term success given his inability to react correctly to changes in Chinese society and economy and foreign forces.



5. Short, Philip (1999) Mao: A Life (Holt: New York)
   
   Fenby, Jonathan (2003) Chiang Kai-Shek: China's Generalissimo and the Nation He Lost (Carroll & Graf: New York).
   
   On October 1, 1949 Chairman Mao Zedong stood at the Gate of Heavenly Peace and declared the founding of the People's Republic of China. He told the assembled crowd, "We, the 475 million Chinese people have stood up and our future is infinitely bright." He further continued "The Chinese people have stood up." Two months the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) achieved later final victory. The leader of the Kuomintang (KMT), Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek, fled with his party to the Chinese provincial island of Taiwan. That day was the endgame of a battle that began twenty-two years earlier during the 1927 Autumn Harvest Uprising in Hunan.
   Both Mao and Chiang are synonymous with the history of modern China. Both men came from similar backgrounds, had similar strategies and similar visions for China. Each man came from humble origins - Chiang the son of a salt merchant and Mao the son of a well off peasant. Mao and Chiang also sought to remake China as a modern nation within the world of nation-states. On more than one occasion each man was willing to use the other for their own struggle within their respective parties. To a degree, they were peas in a pod in modern China.
   The capturing of these complicated men in their pod has been a complicated process for most writers. Many writers are trapped in their internal politics to capture the true person behind the images. Mao and Chiang both have had devoted followers and devote detractors who were more than willing to take a blind eye to things both good and bad done by these men.
   Short and Fenby, however, do not. These two biographies are both extremely objective and sound. Mao is seen as the terrible dictator that he was. "His rule brought about the deaths of more of his own people than any other leader in history." Short admires Mao as being the man "who wrenched China from it medieval torpor and forced it into the contours of a modern nation."
   Fenby, meanwhile, is equally objective in his assessment of the Generalissimo. Chiang's regime, both on the Mainland and on Taiwan, was not the thriving democracy it is even though of in the west. But in fact, it was a authoritarian one "organized on Leninist lines with a repressive internal security apparatus." Yet in the wake of three decades of horrid revolution, "Chiang and his era become less of the nightmare painted after the Communist victory."
   Without Mao or Chiang China would probably still be the semi-colonial backwater it was when they were born in the late nineteenth century. Both men helped to unmake the old feudalist China ran for the betterment of Qing Dynasty and laid the groundwork for the extreme economic growth both on the Mainland and on Taiwan. Each Short and Fenby attempt to capture these two complicated men who will dominate the pages of history for centuries to come. Each is a fantastic read about the two men who would be king.

4 comments about The Strange Deaths of President Harding.

1. The Strange Deaths of President Harding, by Robert Ferrell is a well researched and documented work that concerns itself with debunking many of the myths that surround the legacy of President Harding. Ferrell begins by recounting a story about a time when he was in college driving through Ohio with a carload of friends. Nearing the Harding Memorial, he drove onto the memorial grounds and stopped the car. At that moment, he pointed out to his friends that it was Harding's tomb, and everyone including Ferrell, laughed. Indeed Ferrell's story as he indicated, demonstrated how the passage of years can change a person's mind. And yet, as he also indicates, Harding continues to be ranked last in the presidential polls. Ferrell sets out not to argue that Harding should be considered a great or near great president--he simply calls for an honest reconsideration of Harding. Ferrell begins by offering evidence that Harding died of a heart attack, from overexertion and after years of suffering from heart disease; He disproves the theory that Florence Harding poisoned her husband. Ferrell then challenges the claims made by Nan Britton, who claimed Harding fathered her child. After which, Ferrell discusses the scandals of the Harding administration and the aftermath. He goes into great detail questioning the motives of a few journalists and authors who relentlessly attacked Harding's reputation and the many salacious biographies written before the Harding papers were opened that relied on rumor, gossip and unsubstantiated claims--and subsequent biographies after the Harding papers opened that continued to rely heavily on these earlier, albeit inaccurate works, giving little to no consideration of the Harding papers. Ferrell makes a compelling argument that many of the stories surrounding Harding would have been disproven had the Harding papers been available. He also suggests that Florence Harding, in her well meaning attempts to protect the legacy of her late husband by burning his papers,(she believed she had burned the majority of his papers but was not aware that she possessed only a very, very small portion of his papers) unwittingly helped hasten the maligning of her husband. Overall Ferrell makes a compelling case that given the inaccuracies that have persisted for decades regarding Harding, there should and must be a reexamination of Harding's legacy that separates fact from fiction.



2. Americans have always had a love hate relationship with the truth. We love the truth because it's something that we believe in, but we hate the truth when it is less entertaining than tawdry details dreamt up in the minds of scandal mongers. Such is the case of the Nation's 29th President Warren G. Harding, for whom lore wins out over the truth.
   
   "The Strange Deaths of President Harding" is Robert Ferrell's painstakingly researched retort to the years of lies, myths and lore that have enveloped the legacy of President Warren G. Harding, the nations 29th President (1921-1923). At the time of Harding's death in 1923, he was one of the most beloved people in the nation. During the trip that returned his body to Washington D.C. for the State Funeral, millions of Americans lined the railway tracks to pay tribute to him. Adding to the speculation of wrong doing was Mrs. Harding's death in 1924, leaving both Harding's defenseless against the rising tide of tales surrounding them and the President's appointees. The Harding's reputations were so harmed by the public's inability to separate the man from his appointee's actions that their final resting place, completed in 1927 wasn't dedicated until 1931.
   
   Ferrell's strength is not in writing a juicy tell all, but in writing a well documented expose on the truths about the Harding's, and the truth is always less juicy to the American people than the rumors that have persisted. Ferrell does an outstanding job at stripping away the salacious speculations (for example, Mrs. Harding did not kill her husband as Gaston Means speculated) and circumstantial evidence that has damned Harding to be appraised as one of the worst Presidents in American History. Indeed, once free of innuendo and false labels, Harding actually comes out as an average President who gave to much power the wrong the people, and suffered dearly because of this loyalty.
   
   So if you are one of those who believe that Mrs. Harding and Dr. Sawyer conspired to kill Harding, or that Harding fathered Nan Britton's baby or that even Nan Britton worte "The President's Daughter", Ferrell is poised to poke you in the eye with fact patterns and research that show that Harding died of end stage heart disease, no concrete evidence exists to support the paternal claims of Britton and that Britton's book was most likely written by her middle-age mentor.
   
   Despite Ferrell's outstanding work, this book will never enjoy the success it and its writer fully deserve and that is a true American tragedy. Had Ferrell set out to trash the reputation of an American hero, this would have been a best seller, his face would have appearred on the cover of Time and Oprah would have chosen this for her book club. Regardless, this remains a must read for those people who value truth over myth, and honor over dishonor.



3. I read through this book very carefully, as well as that of John Dean's recent one on Harding. Dean's is much more balanced, and gives a sense of Harding's attributes in the context of his very real and deep weaknesses for women and drink and gambling. Why is it that Ferrell cannot see the whole man and must whitewash him into a hero? To me the real hero is one who overcomes his failings to succeed. Also, I suspect the author is old, because it is amusing that he dismisses every woman's opinion as "gossip" yet takes as bible truth the gossip of men like the mail clerk! I also read a book about his wife and noticed that this book uses a sanitized "for public eyes" version of the doctor's notes - while the Mrs. Harding book uses the raw handwritten first and real notes. And the most obvious fact - the face of Nan Britton's daughter - speaks more obviously to the fact that Harding did father the child. Why is it hard to believe that a ditzy mistress can't remember exact times and hours of everything and did as she was told to burn every single letter her great hero asked her to? If you want to see a rush job and a lot of failure in biography - this is the one. But if you want the real story of the Hardings read John Dean's book, Professor Murray's excellent book, Francis Russell - who actually interviewed many of the people involved in the 1950's when they were old-timers, and the Mrs. Harding story.



4. This is an attempt to look at President Harding from a different perspective. The general opinion is that this man was one of the worse presidents this country has every had. Although Mr. Ferrell does not try to totally reverse this opinion and make President Harding out to be a great president he does attempt to explain how the Harding Administration was a reflection of the 1920s and what the people wanted and needed from their government.

   The many "deaths" relates first to his physical death. President Harding was -- contrary to what his aides wanted people to believe -- not a well man and had a severe heart condition. He went on a tour to the west coast and was so beaten down physically that he was laid up on bed rest for several days with reports on his conditions being monitored by the news media. The first couple of days the reports were grim and then suddenly the reports became optimistic. Then, just as suddenly the man was dead.

   The other deaths of President Harding relates to the death of his image. He reportedly had affairs and illegitimate children. His name was mired in the Teapot Dome Scandal. His accomplishments were diminished by the events that followed his administration. In the end most President Harding's accomplishments were forgotten and so, too, was President Harding.

1 comments about Presidential Diversions: Presidents at Play from George Washington to George W. Bush.

1. As a fan of Presidential facts & trivia, I was so excited when I saw this book was coming out. Thankfully, it is as much fun to read as I thought. It talks about each Presidents' hobbies and dislikes and offers hilarious stories about them, so funny that found myself retelling them to others. I've been skipping around to my favorities at first, but I definately will finish each and every one, even Taylor!
   
   The only thing missing is some of the controversial stories - JFK and his parties, Clinton and Lewinsky, etc.
   
   I recommend this book for any history lover who would love insights into the personalities and loves of some of the greatest (and possibly worst!) leaders in history!

1 comments about Everything American Presidents Book: All You Need to Know About the Leaders Who Shaped U.S. History (Everything: Travel and History).

1. After recently watching a wonderful 4 hour show on the Presidents on C-SPAN, I realized how much I had forgotten or never learned over the years. I was seeking a book that was interesting, quick and yet easy to carry for my bus ride to work. After looking at all the books available in Borders (ones that didn't have an obvious agenda), I would say this was a great choice. For me, I just wanted a review in chronological order that wasn't too elementary.

No comments about Nicolae Ceausescu - The Genius of the Carpathians (Biography).

No comments about Historic Photos Of Harry S. Truman (Historic Photos.).

5 comments about My Life: The Early Years.

1. Even though I had the chance to live through the years that Bill Clinton was president, I cannot believe how much of the Clinton years I had forgotten. Bill has a great sense of humor and is a great storyteller with compassion, grace and style. He is one of my favorite presidents of all time. A great read. It made me want to know more about his early years growing up in Arkansas.



2. As someone who has written a lot on Bill Clinton I eagerly awaited the release of his biography. It met most of my expectations although at times he put in far more than I needed to or cared to know. Nigel Hamilton does an excellent job in his early years biography and it matches most of what Clinton talks about here. The need for Bill Clinton to please everyone around him really comes out in his own biography and while I feel he skirts around his disagreement with Carter and does not express the anger that most sources say he felt it is a very honest attempt. I would have liked more details about his college years and meeting Hillary which he jumps past fairly quickly and gets into their political relationship. It is very well written which is to be expected from someone as educated as Bill Clinton.



3. As I said to my fellow authors earlier, Bill's one of us. He's a writer. This isn't about agreeing with his politics, by the way. It's about, as the book title implies, his life. Which, as luck would have it, does feature a whole lot of politics. I can picture professors building courses around this book, and I think that'is probably a good thing. In China we use FORREST GUMP, which is quite good, but in the US let's go for the gold. MY LIFE goes way below the surface.
   
   Bill Clinton has an amazing memory, in addition to detailed notes and journals and such, and he takes us on a very candid journey. It's almost like being an imbedded journalist. We start with a country boy and many southern tales, then move through some "small town hick in the big city" tales that include Oxford and the soul-searching of the Vietnam War years, then finally through his lengthy political career, one year at a time. Campaigns for others, then for himself. A lot of politics when he's in office.
   
   Politics doesn't simply bore me. I find them downright painful. But I must admit that I've wondered where presidents come from. When I was a little boy, I wanted to be a writer, a teacher or perhaps a cop. Or an NFL quarterback, but I realized early on that might be a tad unrealistic. But president? It never occurred to me. Why did it occur to the poor bumbling fat kid from Arkansas? Read his book and you'll know the answer.
   
   I admire anyone who can pull together a wide variety of seemingly contradictory influences into a consistent whole. You've seen me try to do it in this newsletter, and you can see Bill Clinton do it in this book. Those who equate "thinking" with "waffling" just don't get it. Quite probably they quit subscribing to THIS rag ages ago, if they ever found it at all. So I don't write for them. I write for you.
   
   I'm reaching the age where it's getting very hard to find a non-fiction writer older than me writing about events that I find interesting. Bill qualifies. It's very good to watch history unfold through his eyes. The events I lived through and remember, the ones that preceded those, the ones I just plain missed because I was too busy with other things. One of life's little ironies is that I missed some of Bill's efforts to unburden the lower class because I was too busy shouldering that burden.
   
   This is a 957-page monster, folks. It's a big-un, and it's largely narrative. I've been at it for maybe two weeks. There's no law saying you can't take longer. Stop to read something else, come back to it later, whatever. I'm glad I'm reading it. I think you will be too. (It helps to be American.) Heck, I think you already have read it and I'm just preaching to the choir over here. But hey, Mikey likes it.



4. I like a story that takes its time and give me the details to make my own conclusions and that is just what Bill Clinton has done with his book. I didn't vote for him either time he ran for national office and I still enjoyed this book.



5. Okay, so the man didn't exactly need redeeming in my eyes. I thought him a kind of hero before I picked up this book and think of him that way still, though now I have better reasons for it than his public humility, esteem on the world stage, and deft financing of public schools across the country. In his biography, Clinton plies his stock-in-trade, or better, his skill in spades, charm, to his life, both private and political, early and late. When was the last time a public figure acted with such transparency regarding his motives, failures, and frustrations? If he is guilty here of recasting his life favorably, as most biographers eventually are, it is not the usual kind of favoritism that has a large figure becoming mythic, larger-than-life. It is rather that he is uber-authentic, having been born of an alcoholic dad, and living aside an estranged and drug-addicted brother; these snapshots tend to emphasize his claim to the title "the nation's first black president," a street kid who made good through excessive pulling of bootstraps. Larger-than-life is precisely what Clinton is not in this story, but endearingly and precisely life-sized.

No comments about The Papers of Abraham Lincoln, 4-volume set: Legal Documents and Cases.

1 comments about Theodore Roosevelt and the Politics of Power.

1. It's available from Waveland Press, Inc., I recently purchased a new copy of it.