5 comments about Empire Statesman: The Rise and Redemption of Al Smith.

1. there is a largely-forgotten statue of al smith on the lower east side at the corner of monroe & catherine streets, but i like to think of the empire state building as the true monument to al smith. at the time perhaps the building was a financial failure, but it was simultaneously a symbol of hope even during the depression when it was being built. only a man like al smith had the vision to help create a monument of such optimism during such bleak times - but more importantly, he did so with the intention of providing a symbol of hope to his fellow nyers. (a symbol, i might add, that has renewed importance in post-9/11 ny.)

   i appreciate & love the fact that reading lists in nyc have been expanded to include the writings & histories of all the races & creeds & cultures that have come to nyc. but as a white, working-class, catholic nyer, i have noticed a real lack of identity awareness or cultural heritage. this biography of al smith fills that void: by presenting al smith and his beliefs, it not only describes the immigrant experience of catholics at the turn of the century, but shows too how great men like al smith were key in helping the various catholic immigrant groups (irish, italian, polish, etc) to become mainstream, integrated americans in this formerly predominantly-protestant country. the anti-catholic impulse in america is largely forgotten, & in fact it is also forgotten that there was a time when white catholic americans were certainly not considered part of the white ruling class.

   in addition, i love the fact that al smith's life & legacy point to another subculture: the progressive catholics. this term is not an oxymoron; at one point in american history, catholics were on the frontlines of many progessive agendas. this book provides an insight into a church that might have been.

   i strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in american history or politics, but moreso to anyone who wants to examine the relationship of ny to the rest of america or how the aspects of class and religion (& not just race) influenced the poltical and cultural climate of america in the 20th century.

   al smith was a hero of the working class, a hero of immigrant groups, a hero for catholics, for liberals, for new deal democrats, and ultimately for all americans. it is a shame that most people - even nyers - don't even know his name. this book is a huge step toward remedying that tragedy.

   very highly recommended!




2. The book does a very nice job of describing one of the more important, but forgotten, figures in US political history. Smith's role as governor of New York and the various groundbreaking reforms he introduced, his mentorship of various figures from FDR to Robert Moses, and of course being the first Catholic to run for President would be enough to rank him right up there with some of the more widely written about icons of America. When you consider two of his top four advisers were women (this is the 1920's, mind you), his role in building the nation's tallest building at the time, his emergence as a spokesperson for the immigrant masses who became a political force during his era (and the subsequent, seismic shift this caused in the nation's political landscape - he was the first Democrat to lose the Solid South since the Civil War), his being one of the first politicians to speak out against Hitler, and that he did all this without even attending high school, Al not only deserves a high quality biography but perhaps a major motion picture as well. John Cusack in the lead!

   The book is occasionally "cheerleady" - superlatives come landing out of left field in the midst of other, more traditional descriptions of events. It is, however, critical and frank in other areas of Smiths career, so it reads in a balanced fashion overall. It is a great read and one that should be read by anyone interested in the US political landscape and how it got to what it is today.




3. The election of John F. Kennedy to the presidency occurred when I was in the seventh grade of my local parochial school. In the Catholic/Democratic atmosphere of East Buffalo, and probably in Tim Russert's South Buffalo as well, the resulting ascendancy of a Catholic to the White House was a vindication. We knew that a Catholic had run once before; in fact, he had been governor of our own state. The popular wisdom of the Catholic grass roots held that the first intrepid candidate had lost because he was a Catholic, and a lot of America did not like Catholics. It did not occur to a seventh grader that people vote for lots of reasons, and that this was true in 1928 as in 1960.
   
   Alfred E. Smith, a man of no small accomplishment, lost miserably to Herbert Hoover in a 1928 presidential election that added little to the American character. It may be true that his Catholicism was a major factor in his defeat, but biographer Robert A. Slayton provides a balanced study of Smith that gives reason to pause. We see early in this work that Smith [particularly when compared to Hoover] suffered from major deficiencies in his political upbringing that affected his judgment and contributed to a naiveté about the nature of the American electorate.
   
   Born in 1873 in New York's infamous Fourth Ward, there was no way that young Smith would not be baptized into the two religions of his neighborhood: the Roman Catholic Church and Tammany Hall. At his local St. James Parish he received his elementary school education from the Christian Brothers. It is doubtful that he absorbed any particularly subversive tendencies of church and state at St. James. Catholic schools of the time were a laborious financial undertaking for Catholic bishops of the day, who considered them a necessary refuge against the virulent anti-Catholic attitudes of many public school curriculums. What Smith certainly absorbed from his Catholic upbringing was New York's multiculturalism, a phenomenon not understood and generally feared in the predominantly agricultural and Protestant Middle America.
   
   Tammany Hall, one of America's most notorious yet beneficent Democratic political machines, would also demonstrate in Smith's day that same ability to adapt to cultural diversity despite its Irish heritage. Tammany was the incarnation of Tip O'Neill's dictum that "all politics is local." Slayton has no argument with this philosophy except to note that it is notorious bad presidential politics. Thus from the formative years Smith emerges as the Catholic/Tammany wounded duck.
   
   But Smith postponed his inevitable denouement for a long time. For much of his life his personality, loyalty, affability and attention to detail, not to mention his "made man" status with the Tammany war horses, were enough to see him through his political climb. Despite its size and stature, New York State government was Byzantine and unwieldy. The legislature itself was a purgatory for a man without some kind of particular agenda, and Smith found his in the very organization of state government. With little to do, he became that body's best studied member and probably the best informed of the lot; he had something of Bob Taft's feel for the paper of legislation but with a much more extroverted personality. His counsel became cherished and his respect among his peers flourished.
   
   And, he was lucky, though it is also true that men can make their own luck through hard work. On March 25, 1911 a fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company Fire in New York killed 146 workers. The dimensions of this tragedy and the accompanying neglect of worker safety made labor reform a statewide issue, allowing Smith to conduct emotional public hearings throughout the state. This exposure, and his public advocacy for a popular issue, put him into the New York State governor's mansion in 1919. With the invaluable help of Belle Moskowitz, Frances Perkins, and Robert Moses, among others, Smith continued his program of reform of the state constitution and generally pleased voters enough to maintain office more often than not in the dreadful decade of 1920's national Democratic defeats.
   
   When William McAdoo declined to seek the presidential nomination in 1928, Governor Smith was virtually unopposed within his party. Suffice to say that once he stepped onto the national stage, however, all of his assets of many years became liabilities. His New York bonhomie, his Catholicism, his parochial accent, and his enjoyment of spirits in the age of the Volstead Act doomed his campaign from the start. He was running against the extremely popular Coolidge legacy, against a candidate who knew how to avoid mistakes. To borrow a metaphor from this century, the "red states" were really red, and there were many more of them in 1928.
   
   Having said that, there is no denying that the 1928 campaign set the twentieth century low water mark for bigotry and ugliness. Slayton points out that the KKK of the 1920's was primarily an anti-Catholic movement; Jim Crow laws made Negro intimidation relatively unnecessary at the time. Catholicism was understood as a foreign invasion of lower class degenerates who drank excessively and usurped the jobs of present American citizens. The Democratic ticket was seen as an endorsement of this demographic shift, and voters turned upon the top of the ticket with a particular vehemence. Smith's parochialism had not prepared him for this, and the intensity of feeling against him, along with the size of the defeat, seems to have left psychological scars that remained with Smith for the rest of his life.
   
   After this grueling ordeal, it galled Smith all the more that the perceived savior of his party was a man he considered a political lightweight, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. As long as FDR lived, Smith would never get his electoral revenge. Coupled with the debacle of managing the day's tallest white elephant, the new Empire State Building, Smith's "redemption" makes only a cameo appearance in this work.



4. Growing up in New York, it was hard to avoid the name Alfred E. Smith. The huge housing development on the Lower East Side is just one structure that bears his name. But it wasn't until I had read Leon Stein's "Traingle Fire" (for a college paper), when I learned something about the man himself. Later, as another reviewer mentioned, Al Smith was highlighted in the Ric Burns "New York" documentary. Intrigued, I picked up Christopher Finan's "Happy Warrior", which was a very good introduction. However, Professor Robert Slayton's "Empire Statesman: The Rise and Redemption of Al Smith" has completed the picture for me.
   
   Slayton painstakingly examines the complex relationships between Smith and many of the players in his political spectrum, especially FDR. How this contrasts with the simple but deep relationships he had with friends and family is astounding. One of Professor Slayton's main theses--that Smith embodied the best qualities of turn-of-the century immigrant New York--is smoothly argued. For New York, Smith was the right man at the right time. But then Slayton switches gears, with convincing authority, that Smith was the wrong man at wrong time for 1928 America. It is a devestating irony, and grippingly described.
   
   I found the final sections about Smith's reconciliation with FDR and America extremely moving. The entire "Finale" section, including the deaths and funerals of Smith's wife, Katie, and then Smith himself, had me choking back the tears. Finally, there is Professor Slayton's reminder of the legacy that Al Smith left behind, both for New York City and the nation. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.
   
   Rocco Dormarunno
   Author of The Five Points



5. In his short 1958 study of Al Smith, Oscar Handlin noted that "[t]he written word did not come as easily to Al Smith as the spoken word." Because of this, there it no great body of correspondence or private papers for Smith biographers to consult, ultimately hampering any effort to understand "the Happy Warrior." In this respect, Robert Slayton's book stands as a major achievement. Having conducted extensive archival research and interviewed the children and grandchildren of many of the key figures, he presents what is the most thoroughly researched work on Smith that we are likely to have, and easily the most definitive one currently available.
   
   Slayton uses this material to present a compelling interpretive portrait of his subject. Tracing his idealistic, even naive view of America to his upbringing, Slayton argues that Smith never grew beyond viewing the world through the prism of the lower East Side. This was not a problem in the context of New York state politics, where he rode the crest of a wave of change in the state, one which brought him into the governor's office as the first holder representing the urban immigrants who were to plan an increasingly important role in politics during the twentieth century. When Smith ventured onto the national stage in 1928, however, his naivete about America's essential decency and tolerance crashed up against the prejudices of an America still dominated culturally by rural Protestant values. Slayton sees Smith's defeat as a decisive event transforming his character, leaving a streak of bitterness that only grew as he saw Franklin Roosevelt - a man he dismissed as his political junior - capture the prize that Smith would never obtain.
   
   Yet for all of its strengths of research and analysis, Slayton's book suffers is in its writing. Throughout much of the book Slayton peppers his text with unnecessary slang, and at points such as when he is discussing Tammany or Smith's old neighborhood he adopts a more casual, colloquial tone. The effort jars with the more readable narrative of the rest of the text, appearing as if he were attempting to evoke the conversational style with which Smith was most comfortable. Instead of appearing atmospheric and creative, however, it comes across as amateurish and ham-handed, hobbling rather than helping the rest of the work.
   
   These compositional gaffes can distract from the overall quality of this book. Slayton as provided a biography of Smith filled with insight into his character and his times. It is a book, however, that doesn't quite embody the legendary nature of this political figure, who dominated Democratic politics in the 1920s and who heralded many of the changes that America would undergo. Until the book that can capture this is written, Slayton's biography is the best work available for anyone seeking to understand this fascinating individual.

4 comments about The Autobiography Of Calvin Coolidge.

1. President Calvin Coolidge was a good man and great President who deserves to remembered for more than his reticence. Read here the life story of the President who grew up learning that hard work and a thoughtful outlook are the keys to success. He cut taxes four times and vetoed agricultural subsidies twice. He was unusually tolerant of minorities for his time. The story of President Coolidge is one that deserves to be read. Conservatives and libertarians will find his story especially appropriate for their children.



2. "The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge" is a fabulous autobiography. Calvin Coolidge was a good man and a good writer, and in his autobiography, Cooidge talks about growing up, his career in law and politics, his family, and everything anybody would want to learn about President Coolidge. People who are interested in becoming President should read Calvin Coolidge's autobiography: Coolidge shared with his readers some duties of the President and what seeking a third term can do to you. How a President is elected has changed since Coolidge's time, but Coolidge became President because of the death of his sucessor, Warren G. Harding. Even though Coolidge shared his opinion, anybody in the White House because of the death of their sucessor should take Coolidge's opinion. Calvin Coolidge was a good man, and there are lessons everyone could benefit from by reading his autobiography.



3. To the extent that most Americans remember Calvin Coolidge, it is for a series of amusing anecdotes concerning his economy with words. That characterization is only partly true. Few people know that Coolidge was one of the last presidents who wrote his own speeches and that he held regular press conferences without a press secretary running interference for him. Coolidge, the son of a general store owner in rural Vermont, was immensely popular and could have easily been renominated had he chosen to run in 1928. There was even a movement to draft Coolidge to accept the nomination in 1932. He declined and his successor, Herbert Hoover, was renominated and defeated by Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
   
   Coolidge had a syndicated newspaper column following his retirement from party politics and he produced a highly readable autobiography that is candid and simple in its approach. Coolidge possessed a sense of humor and he did not take himself too seriously. This brief book should not be dismissed by anyone interested in America during the Twenties. Coolidge's reputation suffered, somewhat unfairly, at the hands of the New Deal historians who sought to promote Roosevelt by denigrating his predecessors. Coolidge was neglected as a historical figure until Ronald Reagan sought to rehabilitate his boyhood hero.
   
   Coolidge is buried in Plymouth Notch, close to the same country cross roads store in which he was born and sworn into office by his own father following the sudden death of President Warren G. Harding.



4. Who would think about reading a book about Calvin Coolidge? I'd like to report though that it was a wonderful experience to read about a humble, self-effacing man with a legendarily dry sense of humor,in marked contrast to some of today's self-serving politicians.
   
   Coolidge tells of his boyhood,his warm relationship with his mother, father,sister and stepmother,how he was sworn in by candlelight,about his political life,but most importantly the book is a true model of character and values which can serve as a fine example for anyone,particularly for those entering political life. It would also be an excellent resource for character and values courses for elementary and high school students.
   
   Coolidge isn't known as a great president, but his interpretation was that the role of making laws was the function of Congress,not requiring presidential initiation. Since FDR of course, the President has taken on a far more active role in setting policy. Coolidge's great contribtion to history was not his presidency, but his embodiment of character and values. He also helped restore the dignity of the office after the Harding scandals, much as Ford and Carter did after Nixon.
   
   His autobiography and his character motivated me to create a website about his life,quotes,humor and his truly charming, way ahead of her time wife Grace Coolidge: www.calvincoolidge.us. I also wrote a two hour one man show of his life and performed it twice. It all started with his humble book.
   
   A visit to his family homestead where he took the candlelight oath, and also where he and his wife and sons are buried,is in Plymouth Notch, Vermont,one of New England's prettiest spots in the Fall. But I digress, as they say. The book is excellent.

3 comments about Separate Pasts: Growing Up White in the Segregated South (Brown Thrasher Books).

1. McLaurin's book is a touching recollection of growing up in the South during the 1950s. His rich narative describes not only the difficulties all teenagers face, but explores how these difficulties are made even more difficult in a changing environment. While so many imagine the white teenagers of the Little Rock school integration as pictures of young whites during the 1950s, McLaurin paints a picture of a young man sensitive to the plight of blacks in the Jim Crow South. A very good book, highly recommended to those who wish to get a detailed portrait of the 1950s South



2. McLaurin has written a valuable and beautiful book. It deserves a place on the shelf with "Coming of Age in Mississippi" as a document of life in the segregated South and of the moral challenges that segregation presented to those who lived in the system.



3. Since few people in respectable circles today would admit to having supported segregation, it is rare to read honest accounts from White southerners who admittely accepted the system and went along with it, as most did at the time.
   
   This book is an interesting read for that reason. He speaks matter of factly about his own acceptance of the prejudices of his era and area, as he punches a black boy who uses his mouth on the same needle that he does to blow up a basketball without realizing why at the moment, although he is usually pleasant in hiis relations with the black customers who frequent his grandfather's general store in Wade, NC in the 1950s.
   
   However, he comes across people who challenge everything he is led to believe about Blacks. There is the African-American schoolteacher who forces him to refer to her as "Miss" and most of all, his unlikely friend Street. Street is a self-educated free spirited intellectual who is amazingly accurate on biblical, astronomical, and constitutional facts who lives in a cave by himself. The local Whites dismiss him as crazy and eccentric, but Melton comes to see that Street is not only accurate in his facts, but represents the tragedy of racism through the inability of Street to make a living from his knowledge. One of the most interesting characters in all of Southern biography, one could easily picture Louis Gosset Jr. or James Earl Jones portraying Street in a film version of this book.
   
   I would strongly recommend this for exposing young people in particular to a seldom-heard side in writings about the segregation era.

No comments about William and Henry Walters, the Reticent Collectors.

3 comments about Nixon Agonistes: The Crisis of the Self-Made Man.

1. It's too bad that this book is out of print. Probably it stopped selling because of its title -- people must have assumed that it was only relevant for the Nixon era. Not so! The book is valuable today for the evocation of the early part of that time (especially the summer of 1968), but more than that, it is a masterful analysis of that collection of shared intellectual assumptions that make up a great deal of American political (and other) impulses -- specifically, that set of post-Lockean interpretations of social, moral, economic and political life which fall under the rubric of "liberalism". Wills details the connection between Nixon and this background, and the results are far-ranging. Many of the great American assumptions about life are implicated and their mythical foundations revealed: equality of economic opportunity, electoral "mandates", democracy via fair elections in countries that do not have them, fair competition of ideas in academia, and others. Wills leaves no stone unturned. The book deserves to be reprinted again.

   Original review above was July 1998; Below added Jan 2003:
   Hurrah! It's back in print! Get your copy before it disappears again!

   I should have mentioned that, in addition to the fun of watching Wills dismantle the superstructure of liberalism, the book provides great pleasure through its style. Wills writes non-fiction better than most poets write sonnets.




2. A colleague just asked me if this is an apologia of Nixon - it is not. I read this and most of the other burst of books that came out in the 1970s right after Watergate, and they were all great reads, especially with the fire of those times still burning -- and Nixon Agonistes was one of the enduring best, engrossing and well rounded. Nixon was a peculiar character but Wills does a good job of being the good historian, with balance and insight. And as I say, it was engrossing -- I read it all the way through. College poly-sci majors in particular should add this to their must-read list.



3. The English poet and Cromwellian revolutionary John Milton had his Samson struggling against forces that he did not understand and that in the end he was unable to overcome. Professor Wills in his seminal contemporaneous study of the career through his successful run in 1968, up close and personal, of one Richard Milhous Nixon, former President of the United, common criminal and currently resident of one of Dante's Circles of Hell tries to place the same spin on the vices and virtues of this modern "Everyman".
   
   Wills takes us through Nixon's hard scrabble childhood, the formative Quaker background in sunny California, the post World War II start of Nixon's rapidly advancing hard anti-communist political career, his defeats for president in 1960 by John Kennedy and for California governor in 1962 by Pat Brown and his resurrection in 1968 against Democrat Hubert H. Humphrey. And through his discourse, as is his habit, Professor Wills seemingly writes about every possible interpretation of his rise to power and what Nixon symbolized on the American political landscape. If one has a criticism of Wills it is exactly this sociological overkill to make a point but make your own judgment on this one as you read through this tract.
   
   However, as well written and well researched as this exposition is it will just not wash. Nixon knew what the score was at all times and in all places so that unlike old Samson there was no question of his not understanding. As Wills points out Nixon had an exceptional grasp of the `dark side' of the American spirit in the middle third of the 20th century and he pumped that knowledge for all it was worth. Moreover, rather than cry over his self-imposed fate one should understand that Nixon liked it that way. There is no victim here of overwhelming and arbitrary circumstances clouding his fate.
   
   It is perhaps hard for those who were not around then, or older folks who have forgotten, just what Nixon meant as a villainous political target to those of us of the Generation of 68 for all that was wrong with American political life (although one Lyndon Johnson gave him a run for his money as demon-in-chief). Robert Kennedy had it very eloquently right, as he did on many occasions, when he said that Richard Nixon represented the `dark side of the American spirit'. For those who believe that all political evil started with the current President George W. Bush, think again. Nixon was the `godfather' of the current ilk. Some have argued that in retrospect compared to today's ravenous beasts that Nixon's reign was benign. Believe that at your peril. Just to be on the safe side let's put another stake through his heart. And read this book to get an idea of what a representative of a previous generation of political evil looked like.
   
   Although the Nixon saga is the central story that drives this book Professor Wills, as is his wont, has a lot more to say about the nature of those times. He takes some interesting side trips into earlier days in California where Nixon grew up. He draws a direct line on the various other personalities like Nelson Rockefeller, George Romney (Mitt's father) and a younger Ronald Reagan who fought Nixon for the Republican presidential nomination in 1968. He gives an interesting overview of the state of liberal and radical thought during 1968 and how the tensions between them were fought out at the Democratic Convention and in the streets of Chicago.
   
   Wills also tries to draw out the meaning of the virulent George Wallace independent third party campaign and how that kept everyone on their toes on the question of law and order the code word then, and today, for race. In short, Professor Wills has enclosed the Nixon story in a hug sociological and political survey of the times. Some of his observations had momentary importance; some have a more lasting value. Others seem rather beside the point. Collectively, however, they give a helpful history of the key year 1968 in America. The proof is in the pudding. The `culture wars' on the nature of personal rights, political expression and lifestyle choices that we have been fighting for the past forty years have their genesis in this time. Give this book a good, hard look if you want to know what that was all about by someone who covered many of the events closely.
   
   Revised: May 14, 2008

No comments about More Zeal Than Discretion: The Westward Adventures of Walter P. Lane (Elma Dill Russell Spencer Series in the West and Southwest).

1 comments about The Men of the Lewis and Clark Expedition: A Biographical Roster of the Fifty-one Members and a Composite Diary of Their Activities from All Known Sources (Lewis & Clark Expedition).

1. 
   This book is basically in two parts: the first is a listing of all 51 men associated with the L & C expedition and their biographies (most are very short since little or nothing could be learned about them); the second, and much longer part, is a reproduction of those sections in the Journals that mention specific men and their roles. Clarke believes that "as the men are rather lost in the maze of descriptive matter found [in the Journals], the aim of this condensation is to bring them back into sight." He has therefore culled the original journals, not only of Lewis and Clark, but also of Gass, Ordway, Floyd, and Whitehouse, seeking out the names and activities of the expedition's members. It's an interesting approach to the records of the expedition: in studying the original journals with all their mention of miles traveled, campsite locations, weather highlights, etc., it's easy to forget that it's a body of men who are performing this monumental task of exploration. Jefferson wanted the diarists to record "the facts"; this account adds the human element to those facts. A most interesting book.

5 comments about Was Jefferson Davis Right?.

1. "Some of the statements seem particularly misguided, for example, the assertion the the Bill or Rights applies only to Federal actions, not state actions!" (I know what you are thinking, this is not my typo, it belongs to Mr. Connelly.) Mr. Connelly, I am writing to inform you "the the Bill or Rights" did originally apply to Federal actions only. It was not until the previous century and the latter part of the one before it did this change. The blame for this can be placed on an activist U.S. Supreme Court of the time.

   Now that this is out of the way, I can say that this is an excellent book for anyone who is Pro-South. I myself found it very pleasing to read and I feel that others will to. It is full of interesting facts that you just can not find in other books. The Kennedy brothers have, as they have done before, written a great book.




2. This book is: 1. A book that opens up bringing Jeff Davis to life telling us of his lifes joys and sorrows. His adventures and his sufferings. His victories and his defeats. 2. It vindicates Davis's character and faith shrugging off the lies told about him as well as John Edsmoe vindicates the Founding Fathers in "Christianity and the Constitution: The Faith of our Founding Fathers" 3. It provides some solid Constitutional points Davis and his countrymen made about states rights and secession. Davis was definatly NOT a traitor. 4. It shows the reader that the issue of slavery was not as cut and dry as television and movies would have us believe. Not everyone who owned slaves was a cruel barbaric beast. And just because the Abolitionists were called abolitionists does not mean they were interested in the well being of black people. In fact they, like the Environmentalists and Anti-Smoking crowd today, were just using the issue as a vehicle to gain control wealth and power. A great book



3. I found this book interesting. I'm an amateur historian with great interest on the Civil War and the leaders from both sides. I originally bought this book looking for more information on the Biographay and beliefs of Jefferson Davis. It does provide some insight into who he was but REMEMBER WHEN READING the authors' state that it is a defense of Jefferson Davis and what he stood for. Therefore this book definately has a slant toward defending and sugar coating who Jefferson Davis was.

   The book is a defense of State Rights (and decentralized government) as opposed to a strong centralized government. Wether you support one idea or the other this book is definately worth reading to get a different point of view.

   For historical reading on Jefferson Davis read his own writings and speeches from his life and service to the United States and then the Confederate States.




4. This book provides a defense of the southern cause. Slavery was a sympton of the civil war, but not it's direct cause. Although the book's intention is to defend Jefferson Davis and the CSA, it does provide some very thought provoking information concerning Abraham Lincoln, the origins of today's Republican party and an authorative central government. It is a worthwhile read for anyone looking to find the second edge to the sword. There is much more to America's bloodiest war, and most of it are skeleton's buried deep in the closet of Abraham Lincoln and the heroism associated with his deeds.



5. History has not been kind to Jefferson Davis. This is especially true now with the current wave of politically correct motivated attacks on him. The Kennedy brothers seek to rectify this by placing him under a mock trial charged with treason against the United States government. Incidentally, Davis repeatly asked for this trial which the U.S. government refused based on recommendation of their legal counsel.
   Most Davis critics know very little about him. An excellent biography introduces him to the reader. The Kennedy's present the questioning and motives of his federal accusers and offer a stalwart defense in his behalf. Decide for yourself if he was guilty or innocent of treason.
   Also, included in addendum are informative documents relative to the period and subject.
   When Jefferson Davis died in 1889 the South mourned. Thousands upon thousands of people of all races and walks of life attended his funeral and processions. The South still loved and respected their president.

5 comments about Diamond Jim Brady: Prince of the Gilded Age.

1. This book brings you back to the Gilded Age, through the story of Diamond Jim Brady. I couldn't believe how enticing this rags-to-riches story was, especially for people interested in this time period. The author brings Diamond Jim Brady to life, with factual details on his relationships, his love for food, his jewelry collection, and much more. This is one biography you wouldn't want to miss!



2. If you are looking for an enjoyable book about an interesting historical character, look no further. Paul Jeffers, chronicler of Teddy Roosevelt and Grover Cleveland, reaches back once again to the Gilded Age in painting an entertaining portrait of Diamond Jim Brady. An up-from-the-bootstraps son of an Irish immigrant saloonkeeper, Brady would amass a colossal fortune in the burgeoning railroad and steel industries of the late 19th Century. This colossal fortune he used to cut an imposing figure on the New York City social scene, giving new meaning, in the process, to the concept of "living large." One New York restaurater dubbed Brady the best 25 customers he ever had. On page after page, Brady plunges into 14-course meals, often in the company of the era's most renowned American actress, Lillian Russell, who routinely matched the rotund Brady plate-for-plate. Jeffers' descriptions of Brady's voracious appetite are worth the price of the book: "He stationed his chair so that there were four inches between the edge of the table and his stomach. Eating ended when the gap had been closed."

   There's more to Jeffers'new book than Brady's prodigous eating forays. It's actually an engaging history of New York high society in the period between the Civil War and World War I. Robustly recommended.




3. Someone once wrote that there is more to history than wars, treaties, and presidents. This story of Diamond Jim Brady and his platonic friend Lillian Russell makes for great reading of the gilded Eighties, Gay Nineties, and Naughty Naughts. The flamboyant Brady made his money selling railroad equipment and didn't hesitate to spend it on his passion for diamonds, food, or lavishing gifts upon others. It's true that Jim enjoyed advertising himself, but he did enjoy giving gifts to others. When he moved to his West 86th street home on Manhattan he refurnished it with entirely new furniture along with a complete new wardrobe. He introduced New York to the automobile which ran on an electric battery which had a cruising range of thirty-six miles. Since it would be bad for his image if it broke down, he had a friend test drive it for five successive days in the early morning hours. Most people eat to live, but Diamond Jim truly was one who lived to eat. His gustatorial tales fill the book. During the removal of a kidney stone it was found that his stomach was six times larger than normal. I will share a very funny line from the book regarding Jim's wearing of diamonds. It was a rule of his that "diamonds larger than doorknobs should be worn only in the evening." I did find that Diamond Jim had feelings of insecurity regarding his appearance when he was turned down in marriage from a woman named Edna. Jim lamented, "I asked her plenty of times to marry me and she always refused. ...There ain't a woman in the world who'd marry a fat, ugly guy like me." He also offered one million dollars to Lillian Russell to marry him, but she turned him down saying, "Why ruin a beautiful friendship?" If you enjoy American social history you have a treat waiting for you in reading this book.



4. This book reveals what, sadly, the recent Burns PBS documentary 'New York' totally ignored; The whole wonderful parade of characters and events that defined the Gilded Age. While the book has flaws (Reggie Vanderbilt was the great-grandson, not grandson, of Commodore Vanderbilt, and J.P. Morgan was not 'the most hated financier' in America) it still does a good job of bringing to life this epochal time. Especially enjoyable are the descriptions of the New York cafe and restaurant society (Emeril eat your heart out!!) that Brady and Lillian Russell were so much a part of. This book is a good starter for those beginning to explore this period. From here then read Strouse's 'Morgan; American Financier', Patterson's 'The Vanderbilts' and Gregory's 'Families of Fortune' and your off to a good start!!



5. I wanted to like this book, but it seems to have been put together in a hurry. Mr. Jeffers facts were not checked. I don't know if I should blame the author or the editor. pg 305 - 309, Washington Roebling the NEPHEW of the Brooklyn Bridge builder died on the Titanic, not the bridge builder who lived until 1926.

   Brady is NOT entombed in Green-Wood cemetery in Brooklyn, he is in the ground in Holy Cross cemetery in Brookyn. pg 319

   My head hurt from the mistakes! THey are throughout the book. I hope Mr. Jeffers is more on top of his other works - this one was painfull.

5 comments about George Washington and the New Nation: 1783-1793 - Volume 3.

1. George Washington and the New Nation is actually the third in a four volume set, and continues to follow the life of George Washington after the Revolutionary War. From the years immediately following the last withdrawal of British Troops, up through the end of his first term as the President of the United States.

   Flexner does an excellent job of describing the man behind the legendary hero. Through the actual writings of Washington, and those of his contemporaries, we see not only the "Great General" and the "Father of Our Country," but also see Washington as fellow human being, just as fallible as the rest of us.

   This is also a remarkably telling book about the nature of politics and how in over 200 years, very little has changed. As distrustful as we are of todays politicians, Flexner's book puts those of Washington's days in an even less favorable light - and he uses their own words to do it.

   Through this book (and the other volumes in the set) I gained an even deeper appreciation for the one who was "First in War...First in Peace...and First in the hearts of his Countrymen." I heartily encourage this book and this entire set to all.




2. This the third installment of a four volume series by James Thomas Flexner on the life of George Washington taking us through the years 1783 - 1793.

   We see Washington returning to his beloved acres... Mount Vernon, after the British are finally leaving the American shores. Washington is exhausted and wants to retire and live out his life in the resplendency of his home and family. We begin to see Washington open up so to speak, relaxing in his quiet country life. But again the matters of the New Nation are begining to pull and strain the rather reluctant Washington to a leadership roll.

   Being a very popular figure in early American life... Washington now is growing in popularity and as such is called to lead the Constitutional Convention for ratification of a new and untested government. Washington is elected to become the First United States President. Flexner gives us a lot of detail and put into the writing feelings and emotions felt at the time.

   From the writings that were written about Washington from his peers and thoughs of Washington to others, we again see Washington's fallibility, a man wrought with insecurity and heavy responsibilities trying to cope with a newly emerging government. Even present that others from overseas were watching and waiting for the new government to fail, but proving to them a government viable and alive. But, alas, Washington is now aging and retirement is begining to take hold once again in his life.

   This volume take us through Washington's thoughts and thoughs of Jefferson and Hamilton and how does Washington really feel. Washington is now working harder than ever trying to forge this fledging government into a working model of that written on paper. We see Washington's self-doubts again arise... troubling him with insecurities. Then again, who can he trust, to give correct counsil and if he left too soon would the government fail. If he stayed too long, would he be no better than the Kings he fought. We feel Washington's dilemma.

   I found this book to be very well written with sound documentation.




3. This book is the third in a series by Flexner on the life of George Washington. I highly recommend this series for anyone seeking to really understand the founding fathers. Flexner draws his material from many different sources to dovetail the life of Washington with those around him. His attention to detail makes the book a facinating read from cover to cover. It is quite a journey you are taking with a great man. I am so glad that Flexner took the time to put together such a magnificent compilation of data. I feel so much more appreciative of George Washington for all that he did to hold our nation together in its formative years after reading this book. A must read for those who love history!



4. I was somewhat disappointed when I received this book. When I looked for it on your web site, I did a search, and had asked for only hardcovers, so I missed the part on this item that indicated it was a hardcover. I normally collect only hardcovers, and would not have spent $38 on a paperback book. Now, I still have to keep searching for a hardcover version, and I'm stuck with this paperback.
   
   Admittedly, this was my own oversight, so I can only blame myself, but maybe you can fix the problem with your search engine, so when looking for ONLY HARDCOVERS, that is what the result gives.



5. After a brief lull at Mount Vernon, the victorious general of the Revolution found himself harnessed unwillingly into the first presidency of the infant United States. Flexner handily traces Washington's first term, from the foundation of a new government on an untried Constitution to the internecine warfare in his own cabinet that threatened to split that government and sink the republican experiment.