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- By Order President
- Incredible action and characters
- Needs to do his homework
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By Order of the President
W. E. B. Griffin
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Similar Items:
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The Hostage
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The Hunters (A Presidential Agent Novel)
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RETREAT, HELL!
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Under Fire
ASIN: 0515139777 |
Book Description
When a leased Boeing 727 is violently hijacked from Angola and flown to parts unknown, the President turns to an outsider--Major Carlos Guillermo Castillo--for answers. A pilot, West Point graduate, and veteran of Desert Storm, Castillo has a sharp eye for the facts--and the truth behind them. In Africa, he is helped and hindered by unexpected allies and ruthless enemies, and begins to untangle a plot of horrific dimensions--a plot that, unless Castillo acts quickly, will end very, very badly.
Customer Reviews:
By Order President.......2007-05-16
This is a new politica thriller series and is certainly by Griffin. He knows how to use his very great knowledge of the military and the U.S. government to create a new lead character in the battle agaist terrorist attacks. The use of the (bad but not to bad) Russian to feed important information to the lead character makes one think of just what is right and wrong in this world.
Incredible action and characters.......2007-05-13
Early attempt to change venue with outstanding new hero characters and believable interaction in the plot.
Enjoyed very much B+
Needs to do his homework.......2007-04-10
As a retired Marine Corps officer who currently works at USCENTCOM & has also spent time in the special operations community both on staff(USSOCOM) & operationally, I really looked forward to starting this new series from Griffin. However, like I assume most military members who read military-related books, I look for any military inaccuracies that might jump out of the story. Although not always presenting a problem, these inaccuracies sometimes detract from the story, as well as the author's crdibility. This story was disappointing in that respect. Almost immediately the first inaccuracy comes in regard from where the plane was hijacked. Angola is not in the CENTCOM area of operations, but rather in the European Command's area of operations. Neither is Chad or several of the other western African nations mentioned. Next, the J-5 does not have a special operations division/branch/section/etc. J-5 is policy & plans. Special operations for a Geographic Combatant Command (GCC), of which CENTCOM is one, are usually run by that respective GCC's own Special Operations Command, in this case SOCCENT. Also, CENTCOM would not run Delta Force operations. US Special Operations Command would most likely have some say-so in that. Although these inaccuracies would not probably be picked up by most non-military readers, I would assume that the majority of readers of this series by Mr Griffin would be military & might be annoyed by the lack of attention to detail that the inaccuracies project. After all, Tom Clancy, Vince Flynn, & several others who write in this genre seem to do their homework & get it right. I would expect the same from Griffin.
Longwinded Drivel.......2007-03-06
Unlike the author of this book, I will make this review mercifully short. The book was great up to page 50, then descended into such a muddled pool of unnecessary detail, useless characters, and boring backstory that I forgot what the book was supposed to be about. Unless you're into minutia and enjoy run-on sentences and endless renditions of "Yes, sir", do yourself a favor and move on.
My First Book By Griffin.......2007-02-20
While I enjoyed the story of this book, the lack of action and constant long flashback scenes kind of make this book drag along. I only got this one because I wanted to read The Hostage and this is the first book in the series.
Book Description
Already the acclaimed choice of thousands of successful organizations including the American Library Association, the Fourth Edition features an all-new chapter that considers the ways the Internet and other state-of-the-art technologies have rewritten the rules of today’s meetings and conventions. This easy-to-use, paperback volume—the popular alternative to Robert’s Rules—is the most comprehensive, understandable, and logical guide to smooth-running, professional meetings. Alice Sturgis was a practicing parliamentarian and consultant to national and international professional and business organizations. She taught at Stanford University and the University of California.
Download Description
Already the acclaimed choice of thousands of successful organizations including the American Library Association, the Fourth Edition features an all-new chapter that considers the ways the Internet and other state-of-the-art technologies have rewritten the rules of today's meetings and conventions. This easy-to-use, paperback volume-the popular alternative to Robert's Rules-is the most comprehensive, understandable, and logical guide to smooth-running, professional meetings. Alice Sturgis was a practicing parliamentarian and consultant to national and international professional and business organizations. She taught at Stanford University and the University of California.
Customer Reviews:
Preferred to Robert's.......2007-03-27
If you can convince your orgaization to use this manual instead of Robert's, I say go for it! I find this manual much easier to use and more in line with what people expect to be the procedures for having meetings. The book updates old-fashioned language like, "I move the previous question" with the more understandable "I move to close debate". The book includes model Bylaws (useful for our Homeowner's Association which is in the process of revision), and a section that explains the differences between this book and Robert's, as well as tips for those whose organizations still use Robert's.
The book is much more readable than Robert's and tends to explain the basic principles a little better. There's a handy table inside each cover to help a member attending a meeting or a presider with proposing and handling motions.
Best Parliamentary Authority.......2003-05-10
The Standard Code is a better parliamentary authority then Robert's. It simplifies and modernizes parliamentary authority, making it more accessible to more people. Dump your RONR and get this work.
We don't wear wigs and robes! We're a casual, social club........2001-08-10
If you've always feared having to pull out the ol' Robert's Rules of Order because it was too detailed and complex for the casual social organizations in which you participated, help is here. Someone has realized that, because a group might need parliamentary procedures, it does not need the granularity required by The Parliament of England.
The Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure is understandable, comprehensive, logical, refined, and efficient. As it should, it covers all the formal business of holding a productive and respectful meeting. But it also includes procedures that facilitate business for the less formal organization or club.
Necessary jargon is defined in a glossary. The "Often-Asked Questions" section covers many common situations and eliminates the need to look through the chapters for most answers. The book is up-to-date, addressing contemporary and often-encountered situations such as holding meetings and elections via the telephone or Internet.
As a bonus, it serves as a resource to those trying to form an organization. There are chapters to help you prepare documents (like bylaws and financial records) that won't be in conflict with legal and parliamentary procedures down the line. It explains the hierarchy of documents that govern an organization. There's even a section that helps explain some of the arcane procedures in Robert's Rules!
I'm grateful to have found this gem. It deals with all the situations that my clubs have encountered.
An alternative to Robert's Rules of Order.......1999-12-22
One of the best modernised book on the parliamentary procedures.
1st published in 1950, this 3rd edition is revised by the American Institute of Parliamentarians in 1988.Since this publication, many organisations have changed their bylaws to designate it as their parliamentary authority, among them are: American Medical Association and the American Dental Association.
It is the second most popular parliamentary authority after Robert's Rules of Order.
WHAT GROUPS MUST FOLLOW PARLIAMENTARY PROCEDURE? 'All organizations, such as business, cultural, religious, social, fraternal, professional, educational, labor, civil, scientific, medical, and governmental, are subject to the principles and rules of common parliamentary law. All profit and non-profit corporations and associations and the boards, counsels, commissions, and committees of government, must observe its rules.' Sturgis, p. 3.
This book is undoubtedly one of the best and comprehensive works. There is also a chapter which intended especially to aid persons unfamiliar with parliamentary procedure.
To quote Dr. Floyd M. Riddick, Parliamentarian Emeritius US Senate: 'It is understandable vocabulary makes it usable by anyone, not just experts in the field. All students of parliamentary procedure should have a copy in their library.'
THE Code of Parliamentary Procedure.......1999-11-28
Contains the complete standard code of parliamentary procedure, with each aspect thoroughly explained. This is the widely accepted procedure for meetings (ie United Nations). Very useful for keeping large meetings organized.
Book Description
In his widely acclaimed To End All Wars, Thomas Knock provides an intriguing, often provocative narrative of Woodrow Wilson's epic quest for a new world order. The account follows Wilson's thought and diplomacy from his policy toward revolutionary Mexico, through his dramatic call for "Peace without Victory" in World War I, to the Senate's rejection of the League of Nations. Throughout Knock explores the place of internationalism in American politics, sweeping away the old view that isolationism was the cause of Wilson's failure and revealing the role of competing visions of internationalism--conservative and progressive.
Customer Reviews:
Woodrow Wilson and the League of Nations.......2005-03-30
This book is about Woodrow Wilson's quest for a new world order during and after WW I, especially his strong desire for the creation of a League of Nations which would mediate all future disputes between nations. The U.S. Senate, of course, voted it down. I found it interesting how the country (and Wilson) had strong socialist leanings, especially in international affairs, until War was declared in 1916, when a huge reaction took effect. Knock does a good job relating events and portraying Wilson as one whose ideas for truly ending warfare was convincing to world leaders but not his own country. The effort of trying to persuade his countrymen of the importance of a League probably broke his health and led to his death. Recommended.
Meticulous study on the League of Nations.......2002-01-01
When I was very young, I read somewhere that Wilson was the greatest swindler in human history. And Wilson has always been a mistery to me. Reading this book, I expected to learn the reason why Woodrow Wilson decided to lead America into World War I. But it was not a main theme of this book. And the explanation about it was not satisfactory to me. My misunderstanding about Wilson, however, is removed now thanks to this book.
Thomas J. Knox decidedly focused on the League issue. He meticulously studied the process of the formation of League of Nations. And his analysis of American political spectrum of that era - especially progressive internationalism & conservative internationalism - was excellent. It was very helpful in studying American history.
A Good Analysis of President Wilson's Views.......2001-09-21
To End All Wars attempts to show where President Wilson's ideas on the League of Nations came from and why he ultimatly failed. A fascinating protryal of early 20th century poltics, Knock successfully intergrates both the domestic policies of Wilson with his international policies. The links between the progressive, pacifist leagues and Wilson's views are clearly marked and appear credible. What is not examined is the moral conflict between Wilson's anti-war views and the fact he lead the country into World War I. Further research into this inconsitency could have led insight into why Wilson treated his former progrssive allies with such contempt as the war progressed. The ultimate result was his political inability to convince the American people to join the League of Nations after he alientated his greatest supporters.
Turning Your Head Around on Woodrow Wilson.......2000-05-31
Professor Knock turned my head around on the foreign policies of Woodrow Wilson. This book takes the reader back into the 1890s, when Wilson was a professor of politics and history, in its quest to understand the evolution of his foreign policy thru American entry into the First World War. Nothing is sacred in this author's hands either. He devises a large-scale drama encompassing a spectrum of players--Jane Addams, William Howard Taft, Elihu Root, Eugene Debs, and more--as he dissects how and why Wilson failed to gain Senate ratification for the Treaty of Versailles. If it is a familiar story, Professor Knock's retelling of it is both original and compelling. I think this is the single most important book currently available on Wilsonian foreign policy.
Book Description
Since the early 1960s, scholarly thinking on the power of U.S. presidents has rested on these words: "Presidential power is the power to persuade." Power, in this formulation, is strictly about bargaining and convincing other political actors to do things the president cannot accomplish alone. Power without Persuasion argues otherwise. Focusing on presidents' ability to act unilaterally, William Howell provides the most theoretically substantial and far-reaching reevaluation of presidential power in many years. He argues that presidents regularly set public policies over vocal objections by Congress, interest groups, and the bureaucracy.
Throughout U.S. history, going back to the Louisiana Purchase and the Emancipation Proclamation, presidents have set landmark policies on their own. More recently, Roosevelt interned Japanese Americans during World War II, Kennedy established the Peace Corps, Johnson got affirmative action underway, Reagan greatly expanded the president's powers of regulatory review, and Clinton extended protections to millions of acres of public lands. Since September 11, Bush has created a new cabinet post and constructed a parallel judicial system to try suspected terrorists.
Howell not only presents numerous new empirical findings but goes well beyond the theoretical scope of previous studies. Drawing richly on game theory and the new institutionalism, he examines the political conditions under which presidents can change policy without congressional or judicial consent. Clearly written, Power without Persuasion asserts a compelling new formulation of presidential power, one whose implications will resound.
Customer Reviews:
Good scholarship, but too complicated.......2004-10-06
Howell's book is part of a recent trend towards viewing the president as more than just one player in a larger system. Instead we can better understand the presidency if we realize that the president comes in to the game with institutional advantages over Congress and the courts.
Debunking further Richard Neustadt's bargaining hypothesis (see his book Presidential Power and the Modern Presidents), Howell argues that presidents have the ability in many situations to use direct forms of action, such as executive orders, rather than relying upon persuasion and normal legislative processes.
Howell's argument is a game-theoretic model, which ultimately undermines somewhat the usefulness of his argument. He makes some interesting points, but also leaves the reader wondering whether what he says is true in practice and in history, not just in theory.
Overall, recommended for serious scholars of the presidency only.
Book Description
Scholars and citizens alike have endlessly debated the proper limits of presidential action within our democracy. Yet few have truly understood the nature of the president's special powers and their impact on American life. In this volume, Phillip Cooper offers a cogent guide to these powers and shows how presidents from George Washington to George W. Bush have used and abused them in trying to realize their visions for the nation.
As Cooper reveals, there has been virtually no significant policy area or level of government left untouched by the application of these presidential "power tools." Whether seeking to regulate the economy, committing troops to battle without a congressional declaration of war, or blocking commercial access to federal lands, presidents have wielded these powers to achieve their goals, often in ways that seem to fly in the face of true representative government. Cooper defines the different forms these powers take--executive orders, presidential memoranda, proclamations, national security directives, and signing statements--demonstrates their uses, critiques their strengths and dangers, and shows how they have changed over time.
Here are Washington's "Neutrality Proclamation," Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, and the more than 1,700 executive orders issued by Woodrow Wilson in World War I. FDR issued many executive orders to implement his National Industrial Recovery Act--but also issued one that led to the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. Truman issued orders to desegregate the military and compel loyalty oaths for federal employees. Eisenhower issued numerous national security directives. JFK launched the Peace Corps and issued an order to control racial violence in Alabama. All through executive action.
As Cooper demonstrates in his balanced treatment of these and subsequent presidencies, each successive administration seems to find new ways of using these tools to achieve policy goals--especially those goals they know they are unlikely to accomplish with the help of Congress. Reviewing all recent administrations up to George W. Bush's "faith-based initiatives," Cooper assesses the costs and benefits of these executive actions and offers a crucial new perspective on the ongoing debate regarding the expanding scope of presidential power.
This book is part of the Studies in Government and Public Policy series.
Amazon.com
Thomas E. Patterson, a professor of political science at Syracuse University, argues that the process of electing presidents to office is "out of order." The culprits include poorly planned performances by the news media in which newscasters speak more than candidates and the numerous primaries that only weaken the parties and create a vacuum of political leadership. Patterson calls for a shortened nominating primary season--just six weeks--and an institutionalized televised forum in which candidates could speak, debate and be questioned. Until this is done, he maintains, American will suffer from a lack of communication of the issues and an incomplete translation of voter feedback, things that smack of the demise of democracy.
Customer Reviews:
A Devastating Critique of Media Coverage of Presidential Races.......2007-07-21
If you are unhappy about press coverage for a Presidential candidate you are supporting, you will love this book. The author offers detailed examples from both daily press coverage and scholarly articles and books as to how the media is harming American democracy by trivializing the campaigns and obscuring the messages the candidates are trying to get out. He thinks all major party candidates are poorly covered, and he unhappily blames the media for Ross Perot's strong 1992 showing.
The author blames the McGovern-Fraser Commission of 1969-1970 for empowering the press to play a major political role under the guise of opening up the system to the voters and taking control away from party bosses. He believes the party bosses produced far better candidates and Presidents--Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, John Kennedy, and Lyndon Johnson--than did the voters. This reviewer certainly agrees that the boldness of Presidential leadership has become greatly attenuated in the modern era.
The author blames the media for relentless negative coverage which demeans government and the Presidency in the eyes of the people, and thus makes governing effectively extremely difficult. The greater the exposure to media coverage, the more negative toward the candidates the voters feel.
The media, he says, is a "miscast institution" in the Presidential primary process. They are concerned with what is new and newsworthy, and not what is significant over the long run. The voters are much more concerned with issues of long-range significance than the media is, he argues. A position paper on a major issue will perhaps get a day's worth of coverage, while a gaffe by the candidate can last for a week or two or more.
The media, he finds, is more about game than governing. The initiatives of candidates to build a broad coalition capable of leading our country is reduced to game elements. We learn of day by day strategical considerations, but do not learn of consistently pursued goals over the length of the candidate's career. The candidate is left with having who he or she is personified by strategical campaign decisions, since the candidate's record and plans for the future are essentially only on the table on those rare occasions--often in new media--where the candidate can get his or her message across without having it distorted by media interpretation.
The images of the campaign are all important. Media coverage can create a bandwagon effect, where candidates are backed by voters largely because other voters are backing them. He quotes the Markle Commission analysis of the 1988 Presidential campaign: "Viewers and readers are implicitly invited to assume that the strategic political game is a worthy and possibly a sufficent test of suitablity for office, and that the shrewdest candidate with the most effective campaign both wins and deserves the Presidency for that reason alone."
The author's conclusion about campaign imagery states that "The voters, as V.O. Key noted, 'are not fools.' But their decisions can be foolish when they are forced to choice without adequate guidance. They depend on the press for information about the candidates. Much of the information they receive is useful, but much of it consists of fanciful imagery."
There is a major difference, the author writes, between reporter' issues and voters' issues. Reporters want to know what a candidate thinks about what a rival did last night, while voters want to know what the candidate will do that affects their lives if he or she is elected President. The voter issues are gnerally far more relevant to the actual conduct of the Presidency than are the media issues.
The author quotes Walter Lippman, a keen Washington observer from the administration of Woodrow Wilson to that of Lyndon Johnson, many times, including the Lippman quote that "News and truth are not the same thing, and must be clearly distinguished." News, Lippman says, is found in particular events rather than in the underlying forces that create them. News is a small and unrepresentative manifestation of a vastly more intricate reality. It is what is new and out of the ordinary and thus atypical and a weak base for judging trends that are powerful and lasting.
The author further blames the media for its fascination with early winners and electability, and says that these foci "fails to distribute power evenly across the electorate." He sees the media as especially strong in primaries, where "Voters are not anchored by party loyalties, and most of them are feebly motivated and poorly informed. In these circumstances, the press' interpretations of wht is happening in the race, and the glare of its spotlight, can significantly influence the vote."
He calls the voter's process of decision the "whimsical vote" and says it is analagous to Herbert Krugman's "learning without involvement" in which "attitudes and motiavations are weak, but people do absorb some information. People 'learn ' the message, and since they are 'uninvolved' do not resist it." This contrasts with a "situation where people have strong attitudes" and "information is tested against existing beliefs, and affected by these beliefs....In this case, the individual is largely in control. Wheras, in the case of 'learning without involvement,' power rests primarily with the communicator."
The way to fix the campaign, the author concludes, is to shorten it. He envisions primaries right before the national conventions. What is actually happening, of course, is that the nomination process is being shortened to end in February, but the campaign is being lengthened, with a long period of two virtual nominees facing each other.
It is difficult for any review to do this book justice. The arguments the author makes are so filled with facts and cogent analysis that they are not easy to adequately summarize. Few sentences are wasted. Few references to scholarly texts can be dismissed as being pedantic, and few references to actual media coverage can be dismissed as anecdotal irrelevance.
With a scope of coverage from the election of John Kennedy in 1960 to the election of Bill Clinton in 1992, as well as prior historical references, this book may well be the most thorough and analytical treatment of the modern Presidential nominating process ever written. No reporter should attempt to cover a Presidential campaign without it. No candidate or campaign manager should attempt to win the Presidency without studying it closely.
A Must Read.......2005-02-22
This book is a must-read for any student of the media or politics. Thomas Patterson writes a terrific critique of the role the media has played in corrupting politics - particularly the political election process - arguing persuasively that things are now "out of order." Patterson provides numerous examples of how the media has negatively impacted elections. Some of these are:
1. Articles about campaigns focus on the "horse race," or the constant jockeying between candidates and their campaigns, rather than on the actual platforms of the candidates or the important issues being discussed.
2. Great emphasis is placed on poll results, and on candidates' rise and fall in the polls, rather than on their stated goals or positions on various issues.
3. Reporters travel around with a candidate for months on end (as the candidate travels around the country or state to meet with voters) and as a result start focusing more on internal problems within the campaign (campaign staffers disagreeing with each other, for example) than on the substance of the candidates' speeches. Minor gaffes, such as a candidate tripping, or a candidate's spouse saying something odd, take on much greater importance in the media than they should.
4. Media "talking heads" become celebrities in their own right and dominate news casts. They may show 30 seconds of a candidate's speech and then spend 5 minutes talking about their spin on the speech. This hardly gives the candidate much opportunity to communicate directly with the voter.
We've gotten to the point now where a substantial portion of articles about campaigns tell you everything about the campaigns *except* for the candidates' stances on actual issues. Patterson proposes a number of remedies for this: shorten the nominating primary season to 6 weeks, and make it so that candidates all have the opportunity to communicate with the electorate in some sort of national broadcast. Patterson believes that this will help reduce the impact of the media on the election and give the candidates a more direct communication vehicle with voters.
This is a fascinating read, and it has greatly influenced my understanding of the media and how it affects politics. I highly recommend it.
Not bad.......2001-11-01
My jerk, hippy, liberally biased professor made Out of Order a required reading. So I went into it expecting to cringe with disagreement. A nice surprise to me, what Patterson had to say was well thought out and really made a lot of good points about the media and its role in elections. It was a bit repetitive at times but I don't even care because it was the only book that I didn't loathe reading in my government class.
A must have.......2000-11-15
This book was required reading for a seminar and I found it very beneficial in understanding the strained relationship between two groups with conflicting goals: the media and elected officials.
I especially enjoyed his analysis on reporters making news with their interpretation of the facts.
I'm very excited to add that I will be meeting Tom Patterson and hope he will expand upon his books results as they relate to our current political situation. I welcome any questions you would like me to submit.
Especially relevant this year.......2000-10-11
Thomas Patterson's sweeping indictment of the media is especially relevant this election year. The press is once again fulfilling Patterson's worst predictions of its behavior and making it easy to agree with his thesis that the media is failing its duties and harming our political process.
Patterson makes many points, but his central ones are below, and it's easy to find supporting examples from the 2000 campaign cycle:
1. The press sees the election as a game, not a democratic process. Its news stories are focused on the candidates' strategy, not their views, and makes the candidates look shallow and pandering as a result.
2. The tone of the news is generally negative. Candidates are relentlessly criticized and negative stories are much more frequent than positive ones.
3. The press focuses far too much on gaffes and trivialities. In the 2000 campaign, Bush's RATS ad and Gore's simple misstatements have resulted in feeding frenzies portraying both candidates as untrustworthy.
4. Journalists have become the center of the news. Much of the news has reporters' own interpretations as the main story (In an attempt to bolster his support among elderly voters, Bush/Gore ...), instead of quoting the candidates at length.
The inescapable conclusion is that the media is failing to inform the public of the important issues in a presidential campaign and contributes greatly to our general lack of faith in our political system.
Book Description
On February 19, 1942, following the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor and Japanese Army successes in the Pacific, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed a fateful order. In the name of security, Executive Order 9066 allowed for the summary removal of Japanese aliens and American citizens of Japanese descent from their West Coast homes and their incarceration under guard in camps. Amid the numerous histories and memoirs devoted to this shameful event, FDR's contributions have been seen as negligible. Now, using Roosevelt's own writings, his advisors' letters and diaries, and internal government documents, Greg Robinson reveals the president's central role in making and implementing the internment and examines not only what the president did but why.
Robinson traces FDR's outlook back to his formative years, and to the early twentieth century's racialist view of ethnic Japanese in America as immutably "foreign" and threatening. These prejudicial sentiments, along with his constitutional philosophy and leadership style, contributed to Roosevelt's approval of the unprecedented mistreatment of American citizens. His hands-on participation and interventions were critical in determining the nature, duration, and consequences of the administration's internment policy.
By Order of the President attempts to explain how a great humanitarian leader and his advisors, who were fighting a war to preserve democracy, could have implemented such a profoundly unjust and undemocratic policy toward their own people. It reminds us of the power of a president's beliefs to influence and determine public policy and of the need for citizen vigilance to protect the rights of all against potential abuses.
Customer Reviews:
Interesting read but theory does not hold water.......2007-04-29
In "By Order of the President," Robinson dogmatically attempts to prove his theory that Franklin D. Roosevelt was one of the worst biased and prejudiced presidents we have ever had, giving as proof, FDR's "undemocratic" methods of forcing Japanese Americans into incarceration, based upon his racist and prejudiced views of all Japanese. We shall see now just who is prejudiced.
The first impression one receives from any book, quite naturally, is from the cover. Judging then from the title, one would expect that this book would set out to prove that Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered the internment of Japanese Americans.
First of all, just how many Japanese Americans (Nisei) are we talking about? Robinson says "more than 100,000." Actually, there were exactly zero.
Robinson should have known, and let the reader know, that no Japanese having American citizenship were ever ordered to be interned by FDR during WWII. Only enemy alien Japanese were interned, in Department of Justice internment camps, awaiting possible deportation. True, there were some Nisei wives (with their children) who joined their interned husbands at the Crystal City Internment Camp in Texas, the only internment camp that allowed families.
Could these be the ones Robinson refers to? Hardly, for they were not ordered to go there by FDR, either.
Then perhaps Robinson means the Nisei who were at the detention camps. No, those camps were really jails for the Nisei who were there because of their own fault -- they were never ordered there by FDR.
So, who exactly does Robinson mean by "Japanese Americans"? He states that FDR's "most tragic act of his administration" was "the internment of Japanese Americans." Then he says that Executive Order 9066 was intended to apply to Japanese Americans exclusively. Here is how he then defines these people:
"...the Japanese-American or Nikkei community was made up of several distinct groups. First-generation immigrants from Japan, ...Issei, ...resident aliens, ...(then) second-generation, ...the Nisei... by birth-right, American citizens, ...(and finally) a third group, the Kibei, American-born U.S. citizens who were brought up and educated in Japan."
Then he concludes that: "All three groups were interned."
So there you have it -- the Nikkei were all Japanese-American (including the enemy alien residents) and they were all ordered interned by Roosevelt's EO 9066. These resident alien Japanese are suddenly somehow given American citizenship, according to Robinson's theory.
Amazing, yet sad -- Robinson has not done his research very well at all. Perhaps we can give him the benefit of doubt and attribute his usage of Japanese Americans to how he felt _Roosevelt_ viewed them. But, that is stretching a bit too far.
More fallacious (and obviously under-researched) statements can be found in almost every paragraph of his "Introduction":
* Japanese Americans were "rounded up by the army" and "sent under armed guard to confinement in ten camps."
* Japanese Americans were damaged by "the stigma and psychological impact of segregation and incarceration."
* American citizens were "incarcerated without any charge, trial, or evidence against them."
* They were "forced to abandon their homes, farms, furnishings, cars, and other belongings," and as a result of EO 9066, the "vast majority of... Japanese Americans lost all their property."
One quote from FDR, which Robinson starts out with, is a favorite among many modern re-interpreters of this episode in US history: "And it is felt by a great many lawyers that under the Constitution they [Japanese of American citizenship] can't be kept locked up in concentration camps."
The "concentration camp" advocates say this is proof that even Roosevelt used the term. But does it? Was not Roosevelt only referring to what the _lawyers_ felt these camps were? He used the term only twice, Robinson says, but he fails to mention about the other times FDR called them relocation centers.
Regarding this and other vocabulary, however, Robinson has his arbitrary "Notes on Terminology," where he redefines usage of important words and phrases. This is somewhat confusing, and perhaps is the reason it has been relegated to the back of the book.
In the end, Robinson fails to convince us that Roosevelt was a terrible president, though he tries his best with these wild accusations:
* "He deserves censure for not providing moral and constitutional leadership." -- So, is that why he was re-elected to the presidency four times (over 12 years in office), with the largest electoral vote ever (98.5%), and ranks among the three greatest presidents, and is one of only four presidents who have memorials in the National Mall? Sir, you obviously missed reading about FDR's moral integrity, his faith in God, and, as he put it, his striving to "uphold the integrity of the morals of our democracy."
* "He repeatedly subverted the rights of those of Japanese descent." -- Mr. Robinson, what rights do enemy aliens have? No rights of American citizens were "subverted" by FDR, not even once, not even repeatedly.
* FDR made his EO9066 decision "casually... with no consideration... of the racial or constitutional implications."
* FDR "effectively stripped the internees of their property and possessions."
Robinson ends with his most vehement of accusations, stating that FDR bore "a special measure of guilt for his inability to project any real sympathy or consideration for the concerns and interests of the interned Japanese Americans." Especially damning he no doubt thinks, "FDR made little effort to defend the internees from the stigma of disloyalty," "took no steps to improve conditions in the camps," and "made no effort to assist them in... reintegrating into mainstream society."
For a president known for his secrecy and hiding his true feelings and his real motives, Robinson seems to have discovered the real Franklin D. Roosevelt, a feat not even achieved by the multitude of authors who have written biographies on FDR.
The reader will be greatly relieved to remember, though, that what Robinson has written is simply his theory. And theory it will remain, ill-conceived as it is. Try as anyone may, there will never be found proof that the people of Japanese ancestry on the West Coast suffered irreparable damage due to Roosevelt's leadership, a phenomenal leadership that has never been equalled.
Well-done critique and rethinking of the WWII internment.......2004-02-15
In this book, Greg Robinson reexamines one of the most controversial incidents in American history: President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's decision to relocate more than 100,000 Japanese Americans, two-thirds of whom were American citizens, to internment camps for the duration of World War II. In this book, Mr. Robinson argues that scholars have not sufficiently examined Roosevelt's role in formulating and implementing the internment policy. Previous studies sought to explain FDR's decision primarily as a pragmatic reaction to political pressure from military and political leaders on the West Coast who feared pro-Japanese fifth-column activities, as well as powerful nativist groups motivated by racial prejudice and economic self-interest. While acknowledging the importance of these factors, Robinson also argues that standard accounts typically underplay two additional and important factors that influenced Roosevelt's controversial final decision: his own view of Japanese Americans as immutably foreign, and the weaknesses of his hands-on, competitive administrative management style.
As for the accusations and charges that all Japanese Americans were probably disloyal and untrustworthy, it should be known that Japanese Americans did volunteer to join the US Army to fight against the Germans. For example if you read the book Go For Broke (written by Chester Tanaka), it tells about the bravery of the Japanese-American 100th Infantry Battalion and the 442d Regimental Combat Team during World War II. They were the most decorated unit in the United States Army; at least 680 of them were killed in action fighting the Germans.
The 100th Infantry Battalion fought in North Africa and Italy, joining the 442nd Regimental Combat Team in June 1944. They fought in Italy, France, and Germany, rescued the "Lost Battalion," and their 522nd Field Artillery Battalion liberated the survivors at the Dachau death camp. Of the 10,000 volunteers for the all-American combat unit, 1200 came from mainland U.S. concentration camps and the rest from Hawaii, where Executive Order 9066 to intern the West Coast Japanese-American community did not apply.
So if Japanese-Americans were considered to be so untrustworthy and disloyal, then why would the United States Army allow young Japanese-American men from internment camps to join their ranks to fight against the Germans?
A Well-Rounded, Enjoyable Read.......2003-03-11
`By Order of the President' is a book that attempts to show how involved Franklin D. Roosevelt was in the internment of a group of Americans during World War II (more specifically, the Americans whom ancestrally came from Japan). The book starts out by detailing FDR's youth and pre-presidential opinions of the Japanese portion of the American population, as well as his position on the Japanese of Japan's population. It then proceeds to present the events that led to the internment and how the president contributed to the process. After the preliminary details on internment, Robinson goes on to bring forth facts and information in accordance with the continuation and eventual dismemberment of the internment as well as Roosevelt's involvement in the process.
Robinson's work presents many facets of popular and unpopular interpretations of FDR's involvement in the events leading to, and beginning the internment - as well as presenting details as to why each opinion is in existence. His book notably allows the reader to see into the meetings and investigations that went into the original initiation of the internment, as well as the misinterpretations and lies that led to the ongoing existence of internment. Robinson sets out to show the true circumstances and events surrounding the prosecution and incarceration of the so-called Japanese American population as well as the involvement of the president in the matter, who seems to have actually been in support of the internment.
The book presents its literary style in a very attractive manner and will keep the reader involved, despite the fact that the author does seem to use commas a bit excessively. Despite the title of the book, however, the book mostly centers on the positions and deliberations of the president's advisors - something that needs to be presented, but is focused on exceedingly in this case. Nevertheless, the factual evidence about FDR that Robinson does present is compelling and is demonstrative of the true nature of FDR. The facts are largely presented in such a way as not to force an opinion on the reader, but rather to allow the reader to come upon their own conclusions - a writing style that is seemingly growing rarer with every passing year.
Overall, `By Order of the President' is a work that should not go ignored and which presents the opinions of the president on internment, as well as how these opinions led to the internment of Americans under the pretext that they were dangerous due to their ancestry. Robinson presents a pleasing literary style and I personally look forward to any future publications by the author. The book is therefore highly suggested for anyone interested in Franklin D. Roosevelt, civil rights, American history, or the World War II era in general.
please!!.......2002-10-22
to whoever wrote the review about "sickening anti-americanism"- that is completely ridiculous. the conditions in the internment camps are not the issues i am speaking of; it was the concept of forcefully interning american citizens that i find disgusting. that you defend this action is even more disgusting. perhaps you should rate the book- which i found extremely interesting- more on the basis of the information it gave rather than your view of American presidents being unable to do any wrong.
Important history lesson.......2002-04-06
While United States pop culture has tradditionally portrayed the 40's as a binary of freedom vs. facism, this book exposes the truth that had long been supressed behind ideological walls.
The United States was in fact guilty of it's own internment of an entire group of people based on their involuntary membership in a subordinated group. Although taken to a lesser extent than that of the Nazi's, the actual reality of the country's actions severely clashes with the images of freedom and justice used to marshall support for the war effort.
Paranoia and bias about the potential actions of a few people led to the stereotyping of millions. Their only crime was being of Asian descent in a world where racism and fear was rampant.
The actual event in itself is still shocking, but what is even more shocking was that it happened under one of the great liberals whose presidency had been irevocably cross-referenced with the quest for social justice. FDR had openly built his presidency on advocating for the disavantaged and giving them access to the American dream, something which obviously did not happen here.
Book Description
Theodore Roosevelt and World Order presents a new understanding of TR’s political philosophy while shedding light on some of today’s most vexing foreign policy dilemmas. Most know that Roosevelt served as New York police commissioner during the 1890s, warring on crime while sponsoring reforms that reflected his good-government convictions. Later Roosevelt became an accomplished diplomat. Yet it has escaped attention that TR’s perspectives on domestic and foreign affairs fused under the legal concept of “police power.”
This gap in our understanding of Roosevelt’s career deserves to be filled. Why? TR is strikingly relevant to our own age. His era shares many features with that of the twenty-first century, notably growing economic interdependence, failed states unable or unwilling to discharge their sovereign responsibilities, and terrorism from an international anarchist movement that felled Roosevelt’s predecessor, William McKinley. Roosevelt exercised his concept of police power to manage the newly acquired Philippines and Cuba, to promote Panama’s independence from Colombia, and to defuse international crises in Venezuela and Morocco. Since the end of the Cold War, and especially in the post–9/11 era, American statesmen and academics have been grappling with the problem of how to buoy up world order. While not all of Roosevelt’s philosophy is applicable to today’s world, this book provides useful historical examples of international intervention and a powerful analytical tool for understanding how a great power should respond to world events.
Average customer rating:
- Executive Orders Can Hurt!!
- A Dangerous Executive Power
- It's unbelievable. I have to answer ...
- The real reason Clinton should have been impeached
- lousy
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Government by Decree: From President to Dictator Through Executive Orders
James L. Hirsen
Manufacturer: Huntington House Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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With the Stroke of a Pen: Executive Orders and Presidential Power
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By Order of the President: The Use and Abuse of Executive Direct Action
ASIN: 1563841665 |
Customer Reviews:
Executive Orders Can Hurt!!.......2002-02-16
This is really more of a pamphlet than a book. In a few short pages James Hirsen outlines his belief that Executive Orders pose a serious risk to American government. Executive Orders are those nifty little notes the President signs whenever he needs to do some housecleaning within the Executive branch of government. This booklet explains that these orders have existed since the earliest days of the Republic, but only in recent years have they expanded in both number and scope.
According to Hirsen, Clinton relied on them to circumvent the legislative process when scandals torpedoed his chances of passing his programs in Congress. Two orders from the Clinton regime are reprinted in the booklet. One deals with the issue of Federalism, the other with international treaties. Hirsen believes that the order on Federalism was an attempt by Clinton to override the 10th amendment of the Bill of Rights. Hirsen believes this order would (or could) be used by the government to take away powers traditionally awarded to the states. This order also revoked two previous orders under Reagan's watch, although Hirsen is somewhat vague on what these orders were (one required a cost-benefit analysis to be performed for federal "rules," the other is referred to as only "protecting the family."). Hirsen sees the other order as a means for the United Nations and environmentalist organizations to sink their meat hooks into American sovereignty. A short conclusion makes several suggestions to curb the use of Executive Orders.
Hirsen certainly has an agenda, but he does make points. Executive Orders can be dangerous and should only be used to change rules within the Executive branch. Hirsen's concern about the United Nations seems to be on par with that of the John Birch Society and other ultraconservative organizations. His references to Helen Chenoweth and Ron Paul would certainly endear him to those groups as well. Still, for those concerned with the increasingly autocratic stance of the government, this is a good read. At the very least, it will give some even more to worry about at night!
A Dangerous Executive Power.......2001-04-25
This little book will show you the way our Constitution has been disregarded by occupants of the Oval Office. Read it and share it.
It's unbelievable. I have to answer ..........2001-04-20
I don't need to dream with any scheme to bleed USA. These kind of positions. You WASPs have nothing in your heads... it's impossible to be crazyer than you... You think that the whole world is the same thing, you have no vision beyond your little farms...
The real reason Clinton should have been impeached.......2001-01-31
Hirsen brings arguments that totalitarians and utopians will not want to read. If the abuse of presidential power is allowed to go unchallenged, then our government will rapidly devolve into a dictatorship. Congress is almost as culpable, for not jealously protecting their law-making prerogative (how could the Founding Fathers have foreseen that their primary concern would become getting re-elected?) Every person who has any regard for Constitutional limitations on the abuse of government needs to add this to their reading list. At this price, they should buy ten and give them for gifts! . Those who live in third-world countries and dream of schemes to bleed the USA dry with global welfare will not have a clue. They should work, instead, to bring freedom and limited government, and hence, properity, to their own countries.
lousy.......2000-12-29
This book is really disgusting. The author is one of those people who live based on abstract principles, without any contact with the real world. He simply ignores the needs of the modern state and the real problems of public administration. Besides, he is one of those Americans that cannot see beyond the US borders. He thinks all the time in terms of US universal values. Very bad.
Book Description
The conventional wisdom holds that the president of the United States is weak, hobbled by the separation of powers and the short reach of his formal legal authority. In this first-ever in-depth study of executive orders, Kenneth Mayer deals a strong blow to this view. Taking civil rights and foreign policy as examples, he shows how presidents have used a key tool of executive power to wield their inherent legal authority and pursue policy without congressional interference.
Throughout the nation's life, executive orders have allowed presidents to make momentous, unilateral policy choices: creating and abolishing executive branch agencies, reorganizing administrative and regulatory processes, handling emergencies, and determining how legislation is implemented. From the Louisiana Purchase to the Emancipation Proclamation, from Franklin Roosevelt's establishment of the Executive Office of the President to Bill Clinton's authorization of loan guarantees for Mexico, from Harry Truman's integration of the armed forces to Ronald Reagan's seizures of regulatory control, American presidents have used executive orders (or their equivalents) to legislate in ways that extend far beyond administrative activity.
By analyzing the pattern of presidents' use of executive orders and the relationship of those orders to the presidency as an institution, Mayer describes an office much more powerful and active than the one depicted in the bulk of the political science literature. This distinguished work of scholarship shows that the U.S. presidency has a great deal more than the oft-cited "power to persuade."
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