Book Description
"Son, we’re going to Hell."
The navigator of the USS Houston confided these prophetic words to a young officer as he and his captain charted a course into U.S. naval legend. Renowned as FDR’s favorite warship, the cruiser USS Houston was a prize target trapped in the far Pacific after Pearl Harbor. Without hope of reinforcement, her crew faced a superior Japanese force ruthlessly committed to total conquest. It wasn’t a fair fight, but the men of the Houston would wage it to the death.
Hornfischer brings to life the awesome terror of nighttime naval battles that turned decks into strobe-lit slaughterhouses, the deadly rain of fire from Japanese bombers, and the almost superhuman effort of the crew as they miraculously escaped disaster again and again–until their luck ran out during a daring action in Sunda Strait. There, hopelessly outnumbered, the Houston was finally sunk and its survivors taken prisoner. For more than three years their fate would be a mystery to families waiting at home.
In the brutal privation of jungle POW camps dubiously immortalized in such films as The Bridge on the River Kwai, the war continued for the men of the Houston—a life-and-death struggle to survive forced labor, starvation, disease, and psychological torture. Here is the gritty, unvarnished story of the infamous Burma–Thailand Death Railway glamorized by Hollywood, but which in reality mercilessly reduced men to little more than animals, who fought back against their dehumanization with dignity, ingenuity, sabotage, will–power—and the undying faith that their country would prevail.
Using journals and letters, rare historical documents, including testimony from postwar Japanese war crimes tribunals, and the eyewitness accounts of Houston’s survivors, James Hornfischer has crafted an account of human valor so riveting and awe-inspiring, it’s easy to forget that every single word is true.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent Book.......2007-09-28
Excellent write-up on a little-known story. I had read of the Houston, but not of the fate of the survivors.
Ship of Ghosts - A Must Read for all Generations.......2007-07-31
Mr. Hornfischer graced my University Area Rotary Club in Austin, his home town, with an excellent talk about the saga of some of our bravest men from the greatest generation. Of course, I bought a copy of the book and it took me a few days to get through it before I hand it to my father to read. Hornfisher shows an unlikely ability to truly connect the facts of the USS Houston and her POW survivors together to tell a compelling human story of the horrors of war and the ability of man to overcome any adversity. Hornfischer is a true patriot for documenting the courage of these brave men, and I am a better man for reading this great book.
A good telling of the USS Houston and her crew.......2007-06-18
Ship of Ghosts is Mr. Hornfischer telling of the USS Houston and her crew during WWII. The USS Houston, known as the Galloping Ghost of the Java Coast (because of how many times the Japanese reported her sunk) was the flagship of the US Asiatic Fleet. In WWII she was responsible for holding and delaying the Japanese in taking Indonesia. Any ways, Mr. Hornfischer opens by telling us the early pre-war history of the USS Houston, how she was used by FDR as his yacht, and the history of the gentlemen whom Mr. Hornfischer interviewed.
After telling us about the pre-war years, Mr. Hornfisher jumps into the action of the Battle of the Java Sea and Sunda Strait. This is then followed by telling us about the crews time as POW's and working on the "Death Railway". Most of this book deals with their experience as POW's (btw, the crew of the HMAS Perth has coverage in this book, not as much as the USS Houston, but it is recognized. Also, Mr. Hornfischer cover the men of the 2nd battalion, 131st Field Artillery). In the chapters dealing with the men being prisoners of war we learn about the poor conditions they kept in and how terrible it was working in Burma on the railway (interestingly, the conditions in Thailand were worse). An interesting fact the Mr. Hornfischer points out several times is how the movie The Bridge on the River Kwai poorly represented the conditions the men served under.
Rating wise this book was very easy for me. A solid 4.5 stars. While Mr. Hornfischer did a commendable job telling us about the crew, I had two problems. First, was his book Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors was more solidly written than this one. There I felt as if I was there, this time I had someone telling me of the tale. My primary reason though for only 4.5 stars is that I'd read The Ghost That Died at Sunda Strait(by W.G. Winslow, a true 5 star book). Since I can't leave this as a half star I need to round the number. If I hadn't read Mr. Winslow's book prior, I might round up, however since I've read his book, this one gets rounded down. Sorry Mr. Hornfischer. A very good book though! It complements Mr. Winslow's nicely and picks up where Mr. Winslow chose to leave off. A very good job!
A Last-Minute Tribute.......2007-04-26
With America's WW II veterans dying at the rate of 1,500 a day, we are clearly into "the last lap". Therefore, Jim Hornfischer's excellent treatment of the cruiser Houston comes none too soon. His taut narrative actually involves two stories between the covers of one book: the ship's early combat in the Pacific and the surviving crew members' 3 1/2 year struggle for survival ashore.
There's a lesson for other researchers and authors: "the greatest generation" is fading fast, and its memories are fading even faster. Now is the time to grab the tape recorder or notepad and get the remaining veterans' stories while they are still accessible.
A Missing Piece of History.......2007-04-09
Americans generally think they know about world War II if they know about Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, the Russian Front, and the Pacific War from the perspective of island hopping coming from the east side of the Pacific. What we usually overlook is the war in Southeast Asia. John Hornfischer has written what might be two books, one about the nearly-solo fight of an isloated ship in the face of the Japanese onslsught in 1942, and the other about the unbelievable suffering of prisoners of war in Japanese prison camps building the Thailand-Burma Railroad - familiar to most of us from the sanitized version seen in the movie, The Bridge on the River Kwai. The writing is good (though not overly great); but it is the content that makes this one of the best books written about World War II, the early struggle to give ground only very dearly, the suffering enduured by our soldiers, and finally the failure to meet the real needs of soldiers trying to readjust to society after three years of captivity.
Book Description
One of today’s premier biographers has written a modern, comprehensive, indeed ultimate book on the epic life of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. In this superlative volume, Jean Edward Smith combines contemporary scholarship and a broad range of primary source material to provide an engrossing narrative of one of America’s greatest presidents.
This is a portrait painted in broad strokes and fine details. We see how Roosevelt’s restless energy, fierce intellect, personal magnetism, and ability to project effortless grace permitted him to master countless challenges throughout his life. Smith recounts FDR’s battles with polio and physical disability, and how these experiences helped forge the resolve that FDR used to surmount the economic turmoil of the Great Depression and the wartime threat of totalitarianism. Here also is FDR’s private life depicted with unprecedented candor and nuance, with close attention paid to the four women who molded his personality and helped to inform his worldview: His mother, Sara Delano Roosevelt, formidable yet ever supportive and tender; his wife, Eleanor, whose counsel and affection were instrumental to FDR’s public and individual achievements; Lucy Mercer, the great romantic love of FDR’s life; and Missy LeHand, FDR’s longtime secretary, companion, and confidante, whose adoration of her boss was practically limitless.
Smith also tackles head-on and in-depth the numerous failures and miscues of Roosevelt’s public career, including his disastrous attempt to reconstruct the Judiciary; the shameful internment of Japanese-Americans; and Roosevelt’s occasionally self-defeating Executive overreach. Additionally, Smith offers a sensitive and balanced assessment of Roosevelt’s response to the Holocaust, noting its breakthroughs and shortcomings.
Summing up Roosevelt’s legacy, Jean Smith declares that FDR, more than any other individual, changed the relationship between the American people and their government. It was Roosevelt who revolutionized the art of campaigning and used the burgeoning mass media to garner public support and allay fears. But more important, Smith gives us the clearest picture yet of how this quintessential Knickerbocker aristocrat, a man who never had to depend on a paycheck, became the common man’s president. The result is a powerful account that adds fresh perspectives and draws profound conclusions about a man whose story is widely known but far less well understood. Written for the general reader and scholars alike, FDR is a stunning biography in every way worthy of its subject.
Customer Reviews:
The Best FDR Biography out there.......2007-09-17
This is without a doubt the greatest biography of Franklin Delano Roosevelt that has ever been composed. The book has a tremendous attention to detail, and Smith is able to record even the driest bits of history with the liveliness of a village storyteller.
Now, this book is not without faults. At some times the story shifts from incident to incident with every paragraph, and he doesn't give some events the attention that they deserve. On the other hand, he may have perhaps given too much attention to insignificant events, and could have used that space elaborating on other points. However, I still feel that this is the best possible biography, and it is not so long as to make it impossible to read (although it is still rather long).
An introduction to FDR.......2007-09-10
This is a well-written and engaging introduction to the life of Franklin Roosevelt, for the reader who knows little or nothing about him. That is the strength of this one-volume biography. The weakness is what Smith had to leave out to keep it to one volume (as he admitted himself recently during a question-answer session on Book TV).
For instance, before reading this book, I had not known about the role FDR's mother played in his youth and adulthood, or his relationship with Teddy Roosevelt, or how and when he contracted polio, or about his early government service. Smith introduced me to all of those subjects. I did know something about the last years of FDR's life, because I had read Doris Kearns Goodwin's No Ordinary Time. So, when I read through the last part of Smith's biography, I was shocked by how much he omitted as he skimmed over the surface of the World War II years. I suspect that someone with more knowledge of FDR would have the same reaction to the earlier chapters.
For someone new to the subject, this book provides introductory context for further reading on Franklin Roosevelt. Smith footnotes copiously (to an irritating extent, in fact), and provides a good bibliography. If you've read a good bit about FDR, though, this volume will only tell you what you already know.
Enjoyable and educational.......2007-09-06
I had read NO ORDINARY TIMES prior to reading FDR. Put together, the two books give you a good feel for the life of FDR and ER..two very interesting people in a very important time for the life of the US. I was able to bring all of this together with a visit to Hyde Park, Val-Kill and the FDR Presidential Library in June. Read this book and you will get a sense of the times and the decisions made that still effect every citizen today.
Useful FDR biography.......2007-09-06
Franklin Delano Roosevelt was such a remarkable man who served as President during such a remarkable time, that it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between biography and hagiography. Jean Edward Smith's "FDR" comes perilously close to being hagiography. But it is also a superior one-volume biography of one of the greatest men in American history.
There is nothing new in this biography. Everything here has been written about previously by other authors. What Smith, much to his credit, does is to bring it all together in an eminently readable volume. This would be a near ideal place for anyone wanting to improve their understanding of 20th Century American history to begin, for Roosevelt's Presidency covered the most important years and events of the century.
Political partisans will find much to criticize since Smith avoids some - but certainly not all - of the aspects of Roosevelt's political life that are arguable. On the whole though, Smith is to be commended for producing a comprehensive biography.
It's a solid effort easily on a par with Conrad Black's effort of a few years back. Like Lincoln, Roosevelt is the subject of thousands of books. While Smith's biography won't stop anyone from writing yet another, this is an excellent overall biography of the man.
Jerry
The best single-volume on FDR's life now available.......2007-09-03
Smith's volume on U.S. Grant was one of the finest biographies I have ever read, a truly masterful work, which led me enthusiastically to his new book on FDR. While the FDR biography contains few new revelations for true Roosevelt devotees, it is a superb work and a "must read" for anyone with an interest in the man or his times. Finely researched, beautifully written and nicely balanced, it is the best single-volume modern biography of Roosevelt now available.
Book Description
This is the story of a political miracle -- the perfect match of man and moment. Franklin Delano Roosevelt took office in March of 1933 as America touched bottom. Banks were closing everywhere. Millions of people lost everything. The Great Depression had caused a national breakdown. With the craft of a master storyteller, Jonathan Alter brings us closer than ever before to the Roosevelt magic. Facing the gravest crisis since the Civil War, FDR used his cagey political instincts and ebullient temperament in the storied first Hundred Days of his presidency to pull off an astonishing conjuring act that lifted the country and saved both democracy and capitalism.
Who was this man? To revive the nation when it felt so hopeless took an extraordinary display of optimism and self-confidence. Alter shows us how a snobbish and apparently lightweight young aristocrat was forged into an incandescent leader by his domineering mother; his independent wife; his eccentric top adviser, Louis Howe; and his ally-turned-bitter-rival, Al Smith, the Tammany Hall street fighter FDR had to vanquish to complete his preparation for the presidency.
"Old Doc Roosevelt" had learned at Warm Springs, Georgia, how to lift others who suffered from polio, even if he could not cure their paralysis, or his own. He brought the same talents to a larger stage. Derided as weak and unprincipled by pundits, Governor Roosevelt was barely nominated for president in 1932. As president-elect, he escaped assassination in Miami by inches, then stiffed President Herbert Hoover's efforts to pull him into cooperating with him to deal with a terrifying crisis. In the most tumultuous and dramatic presidential transition in history, the entire banking structure came tumbling down just hours before FDR's legendary "only thing we have to fear is fear itself" Inaugural Address.
In a major historical find, Alter unearths the draft of a radio speech in which Roosevelt considered enlisting a private army of American Legion veterans on his first day in office. He did not. Instead of circumventing Congress and becoming the dictator so many thought they needed, FDR used his stunning debut to experiment. He rescued banks, put men to work immediately, and revolutionized mass communications with pioneering press conferences and the first Fireside Chat. As he moved both right and left, Roosevelt's insistence on "action now" did little to cure the Depression, but he began to rewrite the nation's social contract and lay the groundwork for his most ambitious achievements, including Social Security.
From one of America's most respected journalists, rich in insights and with fresh documentation and colorful detail, this thrilling story of presidential leadership -- of what government is for -- resonates through the events of today. It deepens our understanding of how Franklin Delano Roosevelt restored hope and transformed America.
The Defining Moment will take its place among our most compelling works of political history.
Customer Reviews:
FDR's Power.......2007-10-15
Quick paced, well-written overview of the FDR peaceful revolution of 1932/33. Hoover had one person opening and responding to his mail. FDR needed a team of 50 people to do the same job, such was the response to his hopeful message. Alf Landon in 1936 called Social Security a "cruel hoax" and was buried as a result in another landslide. It's good to remember all this
The making of a President.......2007-09-15
Using primary sources, overlooked documents, obscure books and oral histories, Jonathan Alter gives us a fairly balanced perspective into the life of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. This in an attempt to try and explain the roots and effects of FDR's amazing `first class temperament'. Alter searches FDR's early life for the answers to this mystery and then moves from nomination, election, New Deal and the changing effects upon the office of the Presidency. Closing out his book is an epilogue wrapping up the text with interesting information on what became of some of FDR's brain trust.
Alter writes a very interesting and informative book. One that is well worth the glimpse into the life and actions of one of America's great Presidents. FDR was a man who is difficult to characterize. It would appear that he didn't truly trust anyone but himself. I'm not sure he ever completely let down the bright and happy mask. Perhaps Louis Howe, his adviser, came closer than anyone to getting inside. We aren't given or perhaps it's unknown how much Sara Roosevelt, FDR's mother, was allowed into her son's thoughts. He keep those thoughts and true counsel to himself creating many times an atmosphere of deception and guile. He implemented policies without much regard for their impact on productivity. Alter discloses that "expanding the pie was not much a part of the discussion". In many areas there wasn't much growth besides public works. FDR certainly was the man of the hour. After the doldrums of Hoover, he was a bright fresh ray of hope and positivity. His first 100 days still hold the standard for future US Presidents. What he accomplished, while not all positive, was truly remarkable. Well worth reading and gaining a better understanding into another of history's great men.
FDR at His Best.......2007-09-12
The Defining Moment, by Jonathan Alter, can be best summarized by its own subtitle: "FDR's Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope." I seldom "read" the audio versions of histories or biographies because the numerous dates and names are hard to retain, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that this 10-disc, 12 hour and 35 minute presentation is so well read by Grover Gardner that I was able to easily follow the book.
Few of us who didn't live through the troubles of the 1930s realize today just how close the United States came to suffering a literal revolution of its citizens who saw everything around them collapsing while they so desperately struggled to feed their families. Just as the unemployment rate began to soar, workers faced the likelihood of losing their savings to a failing bank system. That was the situation faced by newly elected President Franklin Delano Roosevelt when he stepped into his White House office on his first day in office.
Roosevelt won the "anyone but Hoover" election easily and, while many in his own party did not consider him to be the best man for the job, feeling that he was an intellectual lightweight and physically unable to meet the demands of the job, he turned out to be ideally suited for the situation he faced. Instead of becoming the benevolent dictator that some were calling for, Roosevelt set off in co-operation with congress on a 100-day program that effectively saved both capitalism and democracy for future generations. He accepted a plan to save the banking system, a plan that had been largely drafted by administrators from the Hoover administration, and began to rebuild the confidence of Americans within days of the beginning of his first term.
Within the first 100 days of this first term, plans were in place to put people back to work and the country began to recover from the panic and despair that had cost Hoover the White House. Roosevelt's judgment was not always the best and his political instincts sometimes unnecessarily made enemies of people he could have had as political allies rather than as political enemies. He was adamantly opposed to federal deposit insurance for bank accounts, for instance, because he believed that the weaker banks would fail and that the larger, healthier banks would then follow suit. Fortunately, he was unable to stop congress from passing an insurance bill despite his opposition. Of course, although it didn't occur until 1937, Roosevelt's greatest legacy is the Social Security System which he helped to create. Roosevelt may not have always had a plan, but he understood that action was necessary in order to change the public's perception that its government was unable to cope with the country's problems. Some of what he tried did not work, but enough did, to make Americans believe that things were finally turning around.
The Defining Moment gave me a new appreciation for all that Roosevelt accomplished and for just how close the country came to being changed forever in a negative way. Things were so desperate that many in the government and among the citizenry were prepared to junk capitalism in favor of some variation on socialism or communism. As has so often happened in American history, the right man for the job of president came along at the moment he was most needed. Franklin Roosevelt successfully faced his "defining moment" and the rest is history.
The Defining Moment: FDR's Hundred days.......2007-08-23
There is a reason why all new employees and new president's are judged at 100 days--FDR. He set the standard for action and this book explores how he did so. Excellent read & well written.
An Important Remembrance.......2007-08-04
Outstanding encapsulation of the era that led to the development of a vibrant American middle class and the prosperity shared for some 40 years by more than the greedy few. This era was ended with the rise of Ronald Reagan who ushered in the demise of the middle class and the dark times we suffer through to this day. That's about to change.
Amazon.com
Princeton University's Fred I. Greenstein caps off an illustrious career as a presidential scholar with The Presidential Difference. This book won't fundamentally change the way anybody looks at the last 11 chief executives--Greenstein's earlier work The Hidden-Hand Presidency revolutionized the academy's view of Eisenhower--but it does provide a worthwhile series of minibiographies and analytical summations. Greenstein rates his subjects in several categories: communication, organization, political skill, vision, cognitive style, and emotional intelligence. His assessments can be quite frank: Roosevelt is the source of "endless positive lessons"; Truman "illustrates the cost of a defective communication style and a situation-determined approach to presidential leadership"; Ford is "underappreciated"; and so on. Who is Greenstein's favorite? It's clearly FDR, even though he confronts the question with an amusing anecdote about LBJ. Walking on a tarmac in Vietnam, an airman says, "This is your helicopter, Mr. President." Johnson replies, "They are all my helicopters." Writes Greenstein: "Each of the modern presidents is a source of insight, as much for his weaknesses as his strengths. The variation among them provides intellectual leverage, permitting comparisons and expanding our sense of the possible." And so, he writes, "They are all my presidents." --John J. Miller
Book Description
For a quarter-century, Fred I. Greenstein has been one of our keenest observers of the modern presidency. Here, he provides a fascinating and instructive account of the qualities that have served well and poorly in the Oval Office, beginning with Franklin D. Roosevelt's first hundred days. Newly expanded, this second edition now covers the momentous events of George W. Bush's administration--from his handling of the events of September 11 to the war with Iraq.
Throughout, Greenstein offers a series of bottom-line judgments on each of his twelve subjects and a bold new explanation of why presidents succeed or fail. He surveys each president's record in public communication, organizational capacity, political skill, vision, cognitive style, and emotional intelligence--and argues that the last is the most important in predicting presidential success.
Download Description
Fred Greenstein is among the top students of the American presidency -- his book on Eisenhower, The Hidden-Hand Presidency, is regarded as a classic. His pioneering work in political psychology has done much to illuminate the nature of power and leadership writ large. Now, as the culmination of a half-century of study and firsthand experience, The Presidential Difference rewrites the book on greatness in the presidency.
Greenstein looks at both personality and context to consider how well each president "fit" his times. From FDR to Clinton, he paints a portrait, by turns sweeping and detailed, of the era of the imperial presidency. The Presidential Difference employs a concise set of six categories by which a chief of staff is rated: communication, organization, natural skill, vision, cognitive style, and the unexpected key to the whole package -- emotional intelligence. Not since Richard Neustadt's Presidential Power has a scholar so clearly defined the keys to success for the world's most powerful office.
Customer Reviews:
Review.......2006-06-06
Greenstein's The Presidential Difference is short and sweet. It condenses the story of our Presidents from FDR to George W. Bush into an easy to read manner. Each chapter is dedicated to a President and gives six points upon which they are evaluated, which makes comparisons with other Presidents in the book easy. Even with only 223 pages nothing seems to be left out. The book is engaging from beginning to end and before you know it you have gone through twelve presidencies. To end it all Greenstein wraps 13 chapters up in a magnificent conclusion titled "Lessons from the Modern Presidency". There isn't any more one can ask for. I highly recommend this book as a good read, that is fun, short, and a great way to brush up on knowledge of our Presidents.
Great intro to U.S. presidency.......2003-01-08
Fred Greenstein explores the leadership style of the presidents from FDR to Bill Clinton in his piece "The Presidential Difference." In the new edition, Greenstein includes an updated afterword on George W. Bush. The book is a great introduction to the modern day presidents and is recommended to the amateur historian to the most serious public policy students.
The organization of the book is wonderful. Greenstein spends a chapter on each president. The format is the same for each chapter. Each opens with interesting quotes from the respective president, and then goes into a brief biography. Greenstein then spends time describing the major events of the president's tenure, and closes the chapter with the significance of the president's leadership. In doing this last bit, Greenstein analyzes five areas of each chief: public communication, organizational capacity, political skill, cognitive style, and emotional intelligence.
There are other aspects of the book that are praiseworthy. Greenstein scatters wonderful pictures throughout; my favorite is of LBJ in the face of Senator Theodore Green. The appendix is also a wonderful tool, as it in effect shows the resume of each president. It outlines important life events and information, election results, the political composition of Congress, appointments, staff, and key events.
This book is recommended to all as a great introduction the the U.S. presidency.
Wonderful Comparative look at the Modern Presidents.......2002-11-04
Greenstein does a great job in setting aside his bias and reporting on the facts from the people who knew. He reports on the "Modern Presidency" - all of the presidents who were elected from FDR to Clinton. He evaluates them based on a number of qualities including vision, cognitive ability and a few other qualities. Greenstein first gives a basic history of life before being elected president and then evaluates the qualities. At the end of the book, he sums up the qualities he has just evaluated and proceeds to explain that no president will ever be able to perfect all of these qualities because every man is flawed. Overall, this is a great read for everyone who wants to brush up on their knowledge of these presidents. It doesn't go into too much detail but what it does present is both useful and sufficient.
Presidential Leadership in the 20th Century.......2002-03-06
This book by political scientist Fred Greenstein is the first I've read focusing, not on presidential achievement but on effective leadership. Using a series of criteria including vision, cognitive ability, management style and most importantly emotional intelligence, Greenstein looks briefly yet closely at each president from FDR through Clinton with a special afterword on George W. Bush. (pre 9/11) Greenstein chronicles the successes and failings of each president he profiles. Roosevelt receives the highest regards for his ability to translate his popularity into bold leadership. His secretive and manipulative management style is condemmed. Truman is praised for his management style but criticized for his inability at times to lead the nation along the lines of his vision. There is truth to this criticism but Greenstein doesn't look at external facotrs that effected Truman's ability to govern such as the Republican demagoguery of the Democrats as "soft on communism". Eisenhower is highly praised, and properly so, for his strong management style and his strong, quiet leadership. Kennedy gets deserved criticism for his early failings but not enough credit for his later growth. One thing Kennedy is properly criticized for, in my view, is his overreliance on intellectuals, something that would plague Clinton as well. After Kennedy we have a series of failed presidents, with Ford excepted. The common denominator between Johnson, Nixon and Carter are their weak emotional intelligence quotas. All are thin skinned, unable to work well with others, naturally suspicious of those outside their circle. Clinton too is regarded as weak emotionally. Greenstein's thesis is that persons of low emotional intelligence should not become president as it is a recipe for failure. Interestingly, in his brief comments on President Bush, written before Sept. 11, 2001, he predicts, based on his observations of Bush's steady emotional inner core, that he will be a strong and succesful leader. You don't have to agree with Greenstein's entire analysis to appreciate the achievement of this book. It is refreshing to read a book about the presidency that moves beyond Arthur Schlesinger's tired and outdated theory of active and passive presidents. A good read and I highly recommend it.
Creative, Original, and Objective..........2002-01-19
An excellent book! The book illustrates a face of American presidents in a way in which we rarely see in politics today. Not only is the book bipartisan, but Greenstein gives many specific examples of each of his points, therefore giving you a true feeling as if you knew each of the American Presidents. The book does a great job of summarizing the successes and downfalls of each administration, while at the same time reflecting the specific leadership styles of each president. Greenstein has put together a fabulous compilation of facts and examples as this book reflect tremendous research of an insiders' view of each of the presidents he discusses.
Book Description
Most people
will be shocked to learn
that in 1933 a cabal of wealthy industrialists—in league with groups like the K.K.K. and the American Liberty League—planned to overthrow the U.S. government in a fascist coup. Their plan was to turn discontented veterans into American “brown shirts,” depose
F.D.R., and stop the New Deal. They clandestinely asked Medal of Honor recipient and Marine Major General Smedley Darlington Butler to become the first American Caesar. He, though, was a true patriot and revealed the plot to journalists and to Congress. In a time when a sitting President has invoked national security to circumvent constitutional checks and balances, this episode puts the spotlight on attacks upon our democracy and the individual courage needed to repel them.
Customer Reviews:
A cautionary tale, and a great American hero.......2007-09-06
After many years of searching for this too-long out-of-print gem, it is finally back. (I bought three copies just to make sure it gets disseminated to those in my own immediate circle.)
The story of Smedley Butler's colorful career as a Marine probably wouldn't have been interesting to me, but it provides a necessary backdrop to the larger story here, and Jules Archer sketches it out with just enough attention to detail so one doesn't get the feeling that major events are being glossed over.
I should say, at times the book feels like it has a "stories for young adults" quality, but don't let that distract (or detract) from the fact that men of influence, wealth and power sought to overthrow Franklin Roosevelt, the PRESIDENT of the United States, in 1932.
You've never heard of such a thing? Well, citizen, THAT'S how powerful the conspirators were! And when the light of inquiry was shone on their traitorous plot, they scurried for cover like cockroaches heading back under a refrigerator, loudly claiming it was all nonsense. A.J. Leibling's dictum about freedom of the press (for those who own them) has rarely been so resoundingly underscored.
So kudos to the publishers of this volume, for resurrecting it for another generation. In the words of researcher Dave Emory, "if you don't study history, the world's a mystery."
Learn Some History.......2007-05-14
Well-researched, authoritative account of Wall Street's attempt to force a coup in 1933 to prevent New Deal policies from taking place. Every American should know this history, and understand the true politics of Wall Street and the "miracle" of the market.
Did It Happen Nov.22, 1963 ?.......2007-05-07
Chilling reading as Jules Archer tells the story of the attempted Wall Street against FDR. Maj. Smedley Butler, a Republican exposed the Morgan - DuPont financed coup aginst the President and the American people before Congress ( the McCormick - Dickstein Committee )and the plot crumpled. But Wall Street has always favored Pro - Business,War Making Regimes, with more than a pinch a racism. Wall Street wanted to remove FDR ( too radical ) or make him a " figurehead " as a front man for a fascist government. The Military - Industrial Complex succeeded on November 22, 1963, with the murder of John Kennedy. Howard Hunt's recent " confession " should awaken all Americans to the danger just around the corner. The LBJ regime wasn't racist, just the opposite, but starting with Nixon, are old ways are creeping back. "War is a Racket " - Smedley Butler. He should know,he says that he, as a U.S. military officer, was a gangster for Capitalism and Wall Street. Lets defeat facism again, this time at home !
One of the greatest conspiracies of all time.......2007-03-08
Who knows what the world would have been like if this conspiracy had succeeded. We might have never declared war against the Axis (Japan/Germany/Italy) powers in World War II. As Joseph Schumpeter writes in the book Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy: The political world consists of a series of short-run events that can change the course of history...The idea that good always triumphs over evil is one of those happy falsehoods. All patriots need to be vigilant!
One of the most important books you will ever read!.......2007-03-04
Excellent attractive and inexpensively priced paperback edition of the Jules Archer classic. It is terrific to have this wonderful book back in print again! The book tells the shocking true story of how United States Marine Corps Major General Smedley Darlington Butler was the savior of our Republic from a fascist plot by Wall Street plutocratic militarists in the early 1930s. Author Jules Archer is featured in The History Channel documentary, The Plot To Overthrow FDR, a concise summary of this exceptional book.
For more on Butler and the attempted 1930's fascist coup d'etat against FDR, see my Amazon.com Listmania! book and video list, Smedley Darlington Butler.
Amazon.com
The fifth volume of Kenneth S. Davis's magisterial, much-praised biography follows FDR from his re-election to an unprecedented third term in November 1940 through New Year's Eve, 1942, when he screened a brand-new film, Casablanca, at the White House. During the intervening 25 months, President Roosevelt prepared a reluctant nation for the war that he knew was coming, then struggled to maintain the government's commitment to his New Deal social programs, as well as the conflict overseas. Like its predecessors, this installment combines shrewd, intimate psychological insights into Roosevelt's character with a sweeping historical narrative of world events and a superbly detailed account of Washington political maneuvers--all three laid out in grave, elegant prose. Perhaps Davis's most notable achievement lies in tracing the links between FDR's personality and his leadership style: the unexpected benefits of his maddening indecisiveness, his ability to use even his crippling physical handicap to political advantage, the way in which the adult president cemented personal and professional ties with the evasive charm that he developed in adolescence to defend himself against a smothering mother. Admirers of serious yet accessible biography can regret only that the author's death in 1999 means that there will be no concluding volume to this magnificent series, which has shed so much light on one of the more complex men ever to inhabit the White House. --Wendy Smith
Book Description
FDR: The War President opens as Roosevelt has been re-elected to a third term and the United States is drifting toward a war that has already engulfed Europe. Roosevelt, as commander in chief, statesman, and politician, must navigate a delicate balance between helping those in Europe--while remaining mindful of the forces of isolation both in the Congress and the country--and protecting the gains of the New Deal, upon which he has spent so much of his prestige and power.
Kenneth S. Davis draws vivid depictions of the lives, characters, and temperaments of the military and political personalities so paramount to the history of the time: Churchill, Stalin, de Gaulle, and Hitler; Generals Marshall, Eisenhower, and MacArthur; Admiral Darlan, Chiang Kai-shek, Charles Lindbergh, William Allen White, Joseph Kennedy, Averell Harriman, Harry Tru-man, Robert Murphy, Sidney Hillman, William Knud-sen, Cordell Hull, Henry Morgenthau, Henry Stimson, A. Philip Randolph, Wendell Willkie, and Henry Wallace.
The portrait of Henry Hopkins, who interacted with many of these personalities on behalf of Roosevelt, is woven into this history as the complex, interconnected relationship it was. Hopkins burnished the relationship between Churchill and Roosevelt and eased the way for their interactions with Stalin.
Another set of characters central to Roosevelt's life and finely drawn by the author includes Eleanor Roo-sevelt, Sara Roosevelt, Missy LeHand, Grace Tully, Princess Martha of Norway, and Daisy Suckley.
Integral to this history as well are the Argentina Conference, the Atlantic Charter and the beginnings of the United Nations, the Moscow Conference, lend-lease, the story of the building of the atomic bomb, Hitler's Final Solution and how Roosevelt and the State Department reacted to it, Pearl Harbor and war with Japan, the planning of Torch, and the murder of Admiral Darlan. All these stories intersect with the economic and social problems facing Roosevelt at home as the United States mobilizes for war.
The lessons and concerns of 1940-1943 as dissected in this book are still relevant to the problems and concerns of our own time. A recurrent theme is technology: Do people control technology, or does technology control people?
Kenneth Davis had the rare gift of writing history that reads with the immediacy of a novel; and though the outcome of this history is well known, the events and people depicted here keep the reader focused on an enthralling suspense story.
Customer Reviews:
An inscrutable mystery.............2006-10-14
To the layman, FDR's name is associated with Pearl Harbour dilemma and the consequential entry of USA into WWII.
We have read the memoirs of Winston Churchill and seen impassioned appeals (some were even desperate) by the Allied player (France's Reynaud and England's WC) to the American President to interfere. Yet the appeals never effectively addressed the American public opinion.
The French never understood how FDR could be a `leader' in his country and at the same time stood powerless to make decisions.
The French, in the bloody and crowded events that encroached them in first half of 1940, could not fully appreciate the American System.
But the British did.
The public opinion in the USA, during 1939 and 1940, was one that when the allied had an edge in any battle against the Germans `so what, you see anyway they can win without us (USA)' when Germany was winning, the thinking was `Okay, since it's all over we better stay out, there is nothing we can do anymore'.
American public opinion was divided and pacifists regarded the French appeals to `come to their rescue', emotionally hysterical. The French must have known how far was FDR bound by the congressional limits that formulated USA foreign policies.
FDR could not have possibly made his decision apart from the American system, based on personal whims, notably when re-elections were due. FDR was bound to make American voters to see how far he was not missing any opportunity-however small- to prevent an all-out war.
We should remember that before the war FDR had asked the Congress to approve his request for arms embargo to any country in a condition of `aggression' and the Congress refused unless the embargo applied to all countries concerned.
Many American felt the Nazi had been forced to fight a war they never wanted.
British propaganda machines were able to convince a big chuck of the public opinion in the USA that the Nazi had actually betrayed the Versailles Treaty (Post WWI). Wall Street and money mongers were also supporting this thesis. When Germany signed non-belligerent pact with USSR, many pacifists in America claimed that the war between the Europeans was imperialist in nature and urged FDR not to enter forcibly into it. FDR was even accused by the very few American Communists that he was indeed planning to do this.
Although the French wanted them to come sooner than later, Churchill was convinced that in the end America would go to war, and he knew how far FDR depended on the public opinions at home.
In his memoirs WC recounted that Lord Lothian (British Ambassador to USA) saw FDR and discussed `among other things, the danger facing America if a) some part of the British fleet fell to the Germans hand in the event of Nazi victory and 2) what are the chances of USA `being at war with Hitler' 3) FDR reiterated that `much depended not only on American Public Opinion but also on whether before that time dictators had taken some action which compelled the USA to go to war in self-defence' 4) only Congress could make commitments to war.
Was FDR aware of the Japanese attack (`sudden attack' as the world was led to believe at all times) before it happened?
Or had someone held from him the intelligence, which was then available that an air strike was forthcoming?
Pearl harbour was the real casus belli that justified to the American public opinion the urgency of their country to enter the war, after all this was the highly coveted compelling opportunity for USA to fight in self-defence.
When will historians be able to access the documents to sort out this inscrutable mystery?
It may remain a mystery though because the worst thing for any leader is to hurt the intelligent minds of his people.
Hmmm.......2006-02-18
I purchased this book in the hopes of finding insight into FDR's disability. This huge volume discusses everything and includes about one page total (if that) about it, providing a look into how FDR did and did not discuss his disability. Interesting how the history books and buffs don't talk about it much, but disappointing also so I only gave it 3. If you're a history buff and reading it to find out about the politics of the day and such, you would like it more.
Our Century's Greatest President.......2003-02-19
This last of five great volumes continues to look at Roosevelt and his times from the progressive Left. Davis was a liberal New Dealer (with the AAA) and he surveys FDR's third term with a view to what might-have-been through the eyes of one of many who welcomed a more fundamental shift from "selfish materialism" to "selfless ideology" in America. What better perspective to measure this century's greatest Democrat?
Ignore Michael Lind's NY Times review -- except to get a taste of the reactionary manifesto FDR was up against; he simply trashes Davis's liberalism with a neo-con, op-ed spin piece on commies and big business, and concludes the book to be historical fiction. And why the accusation of "calumny" when Davis posits psychology as one of several possible explanations for FDR's inaction to the final solution? Only last year did we learn of John McCloy's discussion with an irate President about bombing Auschwitz ("Why, the idea! I won't have anything to do with it. We'll be accused of participating in this horrible business."), which was insight kept secret for forty years. With such precious little information about the motives of an aging, instinctive President who was always reluctant to espouse the ideological over the pragmatic, why is it unethical to suppose that he "may" have felt the politics of rescue to be personally overwhelming?
Don't let one review deter you from a great history and a great story. From the Grand Alliance to Pearl Harbor to Casablanca and the Darlan Deal, the book presents a magnificent frieze. I give it four stars only because, alas, it ends prematurely.
FDR's Sins.......2001-11-03
Although Davis' book runs 757 pages, it only covers about 4 years real time. If you take the plunge, you will learn much about FDR, the War, and Davis (the author). I have read many books about the military conduct of WWII, from all sides. This was my first book about Great Leaders, Diplomacy, and World War strategy from the "Top." Most of this was new to me and most of the main points in the book don't show Roosevelt in a favorable light. Here are some of the big sins Davis reveals:
1. FDR was clearly deceptive in his 1940 Campaign. He promised American mothers that he would keep us out of the War but he was already anxious to get us into the European War.
2. FDR sold out most of his liberal principles in fighting the War. For instance, he placed industrialists in top positions, he put republicans in the cabinet, looked the other way when large firms ignored labor laws during the war, refused to embrace Henry Wallace's "Century of the Common Man." etc. Worst of all, large firms made money on their contracts! There is a long list
of FDRs actions that show that the FDR's approach to the War effectively ended the New Deal program.
3. There was much more tension between Americans and English than I realized. As far as military strategy, the Americans wanted to attack the Germans directly, ASAP, whereas the English
preferred to attack the Germans indirecty, sometime later....
The English were afraid of the Germans, who had just recently kicked them out of France, Greece, North Africa, etc. At one point in 1942, General Marshall was ready to jettison the English approach, the Torch invasion, and shift US resources to the Pacific. Roosevelt agreed to English strategies....
4. FDR thought he could charm Stalin, "uncle joe." What a colossal miscalculation of Stalin's character.
5. FDR did not worry much about civil liberties, authorizing the "evacuation" of the West Coast Japanese, letting the FBI run rampant with wire-tapping, etc.
6. FDR was an unprincipled man, devious, back-stabbing, disloyal to people who had backed him for decades, such as Hillman, and Farley. Davis claims FDR could turn his emotions on and off to serve practical requirements. He could not be trusted.
7. And the final, greatest sin; FDR knew much about the Holocaust by 1942 and he refused to shout it from the rooftops.
FDR was not anti-semitic, but he did not want his legion of enemies to label it "A War to Save Jews" because FDR knew that many American (voters) were anti-semitic.........
Somehow, Davis is willing to look past all these sins to
claim that FDR still deserves to be classified as a great president. Apparently FDRs unwavering focus on winning the War can offset even the largest sins.I'm not so sure.
As for Davis, his absolute hatred for capitalism and big business is reiterated on every other page. He also puts forth
a vague theory about technology and human welfare that readers can safely ignore. Davis prefers some kind of socialist state.
All in all, it made me curious to read more about FDR.
Thoughtful and provocative.......2001-09-25
It's a shame that Professor Davis did not live to complete his massive biography of FDR. But what he left is a most thoughtful and provocative account of how Roosevelt steered a reluctant country into a war it had to wage. Davis is skeptical of FDR's management of the war effort -- the president's compulsive manipulation of his staff, his over-reliance on self-interested industrialists for war production, and, above all, the woeful lack of response to the Holocaust. But Professor Davis is not a revisionist -- he makes it clear that the Americans had to fight World War II to stop Nazi-fascism and preserve Western civilization, and that no one else on the American scene could have taken the country in that direction. In "The War President," Professor Davis builds on the strengths of his previous volumes with his enlightening commentary on the impact of modernity and technology on presidential leadership. And he adds to his sketches of the figures who played a role in FDR's life -- Churchill, Harry Hopkins, Wendell Willkie and many others. I hated to see the book end, but the final scene is very poignant, with the President spending a New Year's Eve watching the film Casablanca as he is sending Americans to fight in North Africa.
Amazon.com
It was not long after the first Japanese bombs fell on the American naval ships at Pearl Harbor that conspiracy theories began to circulate, charging that Franklin Roosevelt and his chief military advisors knew of the impending attack well in advance. Robert Stinnett, who served in the U.S. Navy with distinction during World War II, examines recently declassified American documents and concludes that, far more than merely knowing of the Japanese plan to bomb Pearl Harbor, Roosevelt deliberately steered Japan into war with America.
Stinnett's argument draws on both circumstantial evidence--the fact, for example, that in September 1940 Roosevelt signed into law a measure providing for a two-ocean navy that would number 100 aircraft carriers--and, more importantly, on American governmental documents that offer apparently incontrovertible proof that Roosevelt knowingly sacrificed American lives in order to enter the war on the side of England. Although obviously troubled by his discovery of a systematic plan of deception on the part of the American government, Stinnett does not take deep issue with its outcome. Roosevelt, he writes, faced powerful opposition from isolationist forces, and, against them, the Pearl Harbor attack was "something that had to be endured in order to stop a greater evil--the Nazi invaders in Europe who had begun the Holocaust and were poised to invade England." Sure to excite discussion, Stinnett's book offers what may be the final word on the terrible matter of Pearl Harbor. --Gregory McNamee
Book Description
Pearl Harbor was not an accident, a mere failure of American intelligence, or a brilliant Japanese military coup. It was the result of a carefully orchestrated design, initiated at the highest levels of our government. According to a key memorandum eight steps were taken to make sure we would enter the war by this means. Pearl Harbor was the only way, leading officials felt, to galvanize the reluctant American public into action.
This great question of Pearl Harbor--what did we know and when did we know it?--has been argued for years. At first, a panel created by FDR concluded that we had no advance warning and should blame only the local commanders for lack of preparedness. More recently, historians such as John Toland and Edward Beach have concluded that some intelligence was intercepted. Finally, just months ago, the Senate voted to exonerate Hawaii commanders Admiral Kimmel and Lieutenant General Short, after the Pentagon officially declared that blame should be "broadly shared." But no investigator has ever been able to prove that fore-knowledge of the attack existed at the highest levels.
Until now. After decades of Freedom of Information Act requests, Robert B. Stinnett has gathered the long-hidden evidence that shatters every shibboleth of Pearl Harbor. It shows that not only was the attack expected, it was deliberately provoked through an eight-step program devised by the Navy. Whereas previous investigators have claimed that our government did not crack Japan's military codes before December 7, 1941, Stinnett offers cable after cable of decryptions. He proves that a Japanese spy on the island transmitted information--including a map of bombing targets--beginning on August 21, and that government intelligence knew all about it. He reveals that Admiral Kimmel was prevented from conducting a routine training exercise at the eleventh hour that would have uncovered the location of the oncoming Japanese fleet. And contrary to previous claims, he shows that the Japanese fleet did not maintain radio silence as it approached Hawaii. Its many coded cables were intercepted and decoded by American cryptographers in Stations on Hawaii and in Seattle.
The evidence is overwhelming. At the highest levels--on FDR's desk--America had ample warning of the pending attack. At those same levels, it was understood that the isolationist American public would not support a declaration of war unless we were attacked first. The result was a plan to anger Japan, to keep the loyal officers responsible for Pearl Harbor in the dark, and thus to drag America into the greatest war of her existence.
Yet even having found what he calls the "terrible truth," Stinnett is still inclined to forgive. "I sympathize with the agonizing dilemma faced by President Roosevelt," he writes. "He was forced to find circuitous means to persuade an isolationist America to join in a fight for freedom....It is easier to take a critical view of this policy a half century removed than to understand fully what went on in Roosevelt's mind in the year prior to Pearl Harbor."
Day of Deceit is the definitive final chapter on America's greatest secret and our worst military disaster.
Download Description
Twenty years ago Robert Stinnett set out to answer the question that the Congressional investigations of 1945 and 1995 could not: Did President Roosevelt know that the attack on Pearl Harbor was coming? Using evidence that has never been released before now, Stinnett describes Japanese activities documented by the American government that prove that FDR knew in advance about the attack, and deliberately did nothing to stop it. For decades it has been believed that the Japanese fleet maintained strict radio silence as it approached Hawaii. But Stinnett reveals that it did not -- in fact, no coordinated fleet could have done so -- and more explosively, he proves that allied listening stations intercepted and decoded dozens of the fleet's military messages, as they had been doing long before December 1941. Stinnett produces several devastating cables, tracing their path from the cryptographers who deciphered them directly to the White House. Here at last is the archival evidence that has been denied for half a century.
Customer Reviews:
Nonsense.......2007-06-27
Does anyone use plain ole common sense anymore? Are we really to believe that the president of the United States would deliberately let thousands of Americans be killed, let half of our Pacific Fleet be crippled, and leave the west coast of America open to attack, all for the sake of winning support for a war that we would eventually be dragged into anyway? And this from a president that loved the Navy? What a bunch of hogwash. There is no doubt many things things about Pearl Harbor have been left out of history, but c'mon folks, use your brains..
What is the truth?.......2007-05-21
This is a well documented history of events leading up to Pearl Harbor which gives a lot of credibility to FDR manipulating events to pull the US into WWII. I will try to find out how Mr. Stinnett is viewed by other noted WWII historians. This book presents a different light on FDR than I have heard before and I wonder if this view and Mr. Stinnett are credible rather than having an agenda to prove. It is well written and an easy read for the most part. It certainly caught my attention as it should anyone that has an interest in FDR's legacy and how his administration operated prior to WWII.
9/11--The New Pearl Harbor.......2007-02-17
See on Google Video--LOOSE CHANGE
This video does for 9-11 what this book does for Pearl Harbor.
Disturbing.......2006-09-16
Gives overwhelming proof that FDR provoked the Japanese attack primarily through denying access to natural resources in Indonesia via the Dutch government in exile, and also by giving support to Chinese resistance fighters. The motive behind the provocation was to ensure that the American people would support a war against Nazi Germany, Italy and Japan that they did not wish to be involved in prior to December 7, 1941. Instead of trying to convince the American people that war would be inevitable against Fascism; condescendingly assured of their stupidity, FDR sacrificed 2500 sailors in order to mobilize the nation for war.
The intelligence services were aware of false Japanese diplomats mapping out Pearl Harbor in preparation for the bombing. They were being monitored but allowed to operate. The secret Japanese communications codes were also cracked early on, so that military and government intelligence were aware of Japanese preparations. The `purple' diplomatic code was also cracked, so that Washington was deciphering communications between Berlin and Tokyo.
Once a military attack became inevitable, Washington hid the fact from military commanders in the Pacific to ensure the attack would be more devastating, and Pearl's base commander would take the blame for being unprepared. I find it truly troubling that only warships that were outdated were left at anchor in Pearl that morning on December 7. The Navy knew that the modern aircraft carriers would be extremely useful during modern naval war, so the USS Enterprise and USS Lexington were out to sea on maneuvers and safe from the bombing. Only ships 27 years old, relics from World War I, were left at anchor and vulnerable.
A Review of Someof the Reviews........2006-08-09
There is a strong political bit to the negative reviews. It reminds me a little of creationists reviewing an evolutionary biology work.
Historians use the concept of convergence when evaluating the truth/falsity of claims. For example, we know the holocaust happened and that the nazis ordered the killing of jews because there is an overwhelming amount of evidence. There is disagreement about certain aspects, some bits have been proved wrong (eg. the soap made out of people), but we can be as close to certain that it happened as is possible. But that hasn't stopped smart people from trying to proved it didn't. You can do some research on how their thinking is flawed in debunking books.
Another enlightening topic is how biblical literalists have attempted to create 'creation science'. Smart people actually believe things that aren't true, and there are very human reasons for it. It's quite enlightening looking at people who are 100% certain about things they cant possibly be sure about.
So who are you to believe? Believe no one. If you are interested in the topic, read the book. It is immaculately footnoted, primary source riddled, and intellectually rigorous (i.e. honest, not hard to read), although its hardly a page turner.
So why do people who cannot possibly know with 100% certainity, with no education in historiographical evaluation, with only a superficial grasp of the subject (ret navy code crackers included), etc state with absolute conviction the author is a liar, idiot, etc and that there is no way the prez knew about this? It's almost like the author is insulting their mothers. Afterall, the author spent years going over primary sources and has never been shown to be untrustworthy. Can any of these naysayers say the same? No, they just like to be prejuidiced and judgemental and pretend they know everything. People like that bug me...rant over.
So be like me, read the book, look at the arguements and evidence, and make up your own mind. And no I am not 100% sure the prez knew. But pretty sure. Afterall, buddy used a nuke when he didn't have to...
Ps, if you want some more fun looking at prejuidiced reviews, check out anything written about hillary clinton. Man that woman sends some people in to rage-goofy-land. Oh and al gore, and noam chomsky's good too (not as funny though).
pps you people who use your real names have more guts then i do!
Book Description
Coming of age during World War I and attaining their finest hour in World War II and the Cold War, these men -- FDR, Truman, Eisenhower, Marshall, MacArthur -- transformed America from an isolated frontier nation into a global superpower. As he tells their stories, Fromkin, author of
A Peace to End All Peace, shows how this generation not only made America great but largely succeeded in making it a force for good.
Customer Reviews:
Another spectacular history from Fromkin.......2001-11-26
I read Fromkin's A Peace to End All Peace in preparation for travelling to the Middle East earlier this summer. This book continues his ability to bring history to life, with details on the diaries, conversations, and interactions of both the known major players in the World Wars, as well as those that were influential but behind the scenes.
I was already fairly conversant in the major events of the time, but even so, Fromkin's retelling is set in a class by itself by his portraits of the leaders of the time: Wilson, FDR, TR, Churchill, MacArthur, Ike. By bringing together painstaking research as well as acectodes, it's amazing to see how much just one man can electrify and fire up a nation -- FDR yanking America out of the Depression, or Churchill stalwartly leading Britain through WWII as notable examples.
This book is sort of an in-between point between Fromkin's almost too-detailed history in A Peace to End All Peace and his recent ultra-summarized history of the world (150 pages, well worth your time) in The Way of The World. I'd recommend them all highly, but in order from most-summarized to least.
The Reluctant Superpower.......2001-08-04
In this marvellous book, David Fromkin tells the story of how the United States made the journey from introverted isolationist to global superpower. He begins his account with the Presidency of Theodore Roosevelt, whose accession to office as a result of the assassination of President McKinley must be regarded as one of the most significant accidents in history. The tension between TR's "big stick" internationalism and Woodrow Wilson's more idealistic version is vividly described, and Fromkin does an excellent job of showing how the ideas (and policies) of FDR, Truman and their generation were both indebted to and yet reactions against the ideas of the great scholar-President. America's reluctant path to the centre of the world stage is presented as a mixture of fait accompli, idealism and enlightened self interest. It is a great story, and Mr. Fromkin does it justice. Warmly recommended.
Captivating Proof that Individuals Help Change the World!.......2000-05-27
This is a wonderfully written book detailing how five exceptional American individuals literally transformed America from a country characterized by isolationism and a narrow, parochial perspective into the major player on the world stage. All five came to age in an America still locked in the self-absorbed issues of the 19th century, yet each grew with the needs of the times to become instruments for monumental change.
The most interesting aspect of this book is the fashion in which the author sets out substantive proof for the "exceptional man" thesis in history. So here we had five such individuals interacting contemporaneously and profoundly changing the world as a result. Of course, this isn't to suggest that they somehow aggressively pounded the world into their chosen image, for nothing is farther from the truth. This was a time when many titans strode the stage, men like Hitler, Churchill, Stalin, Mussolini and Hirohito. Yet the fact that these five succeeded in vanquishing Hitler, Mussolini and Hirohito demonstrates the extent of their accomplishment.
Yet these five men successfully confronted the most urgent and manifest challenges of their time, from FDR's New Deal and transformation of the national government into an active instrument for change. It is no accident that three of the five, Eisenhower, Marshall, and MacArthur, were military professionals, each of whom played an unique and indispensable role in defeating the Axis powers. That each then continued to contribute after the end of the hostilities is more proof of their sense of personal responsibility and need to serve the nation in whatever manner they could. each had a sense of time and place, as well as an appreciation for the unique historical circumstances he found himself in, whether it be MacArthur in Asia, who over decades became a kind of American Centurion, or Harry Truman, thrust onto the national and then world stage most unexpectedly.
In a time like ours, when we are surrounded by public pygmies like Clinton, Gore, the Bushes, Newt Gingrich, and those nine comedians over in Supreme Court land striving to be giants, it's instructive to remember that we weren't always hampered by such venal, self-interested, and morally corrupt leaders. Indeed, it is refreshing, hopeful, and perhaps even a bit nolstalgic to remember that America is not necessarily the eternal land of manipulative mental midgets, and that it once was a place whose titans strode and literally saved the world. Read this book and remember.
One of the best books on 20th Century American History.......1998-04-19
Frompkin pulls all of the major players together and tells a story that fills in the blanks left out of the history books. He also describes why and how these men came together to end, once and forall, European wars. We can truely thank these men for the past 53 years of European peace. We can thank Frompkin for telling the story.
magnificant tale.......1997-12-08
This book is a riveting account of the lives of thoughs who changed American politics and foreign policy in the twentieth century. Anyone interested in the rise of America in the world and the roots of her assention to global dominace after World War Two must read this book. Fomkin is a skill writer and historian who takes the tales of significant events and shows how they changed our nation.
Book Description
“Admirers of FDR credit his New Deal with restoring the American economy after the disastrous contraction of 1929—33. Truth to tell–as Powell demonstrates without a shadow of a doubt–the New Deal hampered recovery from the contraction, prolonged and added to unemployment, and set the stage for ever more intrusive and costly government. Powell’s analysis is thoroughly documented, relying on an impressive variety of popular and academic literature both contemporary and historical.”
–
Milton Friedman, Nobel Laureate, Hoover Institution
“There is a critical and often forgotten difference between disaster and tragedy. Disasters happen to us all, no matter what we do. Tragedies are brought upon ourselves by hubris. The Depression of the 1930s would have been a brief disaster if it hadn’t been for the national tragedy of the New Deal. Jim Powell has proven this.”
–
P.J. O’Rourke, author of Parliament of Whores and Eat the Rich
“The material laid out in this book desperately needs to be available to a much wider audience than the ranks of professional economists and economic historians, if policy confusion similar to the New Deal is to be avoided in the future.”
–
James M. Buchanan, Nobel Laureate, George Mason University
“I found Jim Powell’s book fascinating. I think he has written an important story, one that definitely needs telling.”
–
Thomas Fleming, author of The New Dealers’ War
“Jim Powell is one tough-minded historian, willing to let the chips fall where they may. That’s a rare quality these days, hence more valuable than ever. He lets the history do the talking.”
–David Landes, Professor of History Emeritus, Harvard University
“Jim Powell draws together voluminous economic research on the effects of all of Roosevelt’s major policies. Along the way, Powell gives fascinating thumbnail sketches of the major players. The result is a devastating indictment, compellingly told. Those who think that government intervention helped get the U.S. economy out of the depression should read this book.”
–
David R. Henderson, editor of The Fortune Encyclopedia of Economics and author of The Joy of Freedom
The Great Depression and the New Deal. For generations, the collective American consciousness has believed that the former ruined the country and the latter saved it. Endless praise has been heaped upon President Franklin Delano Roosevelt for masterfully reining in the Depression’s destructive effects and propping up the
country on his New Deal platform. In fact, FDR has achieved mythical status in American history and is considered to be, along with Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln, one of the greatest presidents of all time. But would the Great Depression have been so catastrophic had the New Deal never been implemented?
In
FDR’s Folly, historian Jim Powell argues that it was in fact the New Deal itself, with its shortsighted programs, that deepened the Great Depression, swelled the federal government, and prevented the country from turning around quickly. You’ll discover in alarming detail how FDR’s federal programs hurt America more than helped it, with effects we still feel today, including:
• How Social Security actually increased unemployment
• How higher taxes undermined good businesses
• How new labor laws threw people out of work
• And much more
This groundbreaking book pulls back the shroud of awe and the cloak of time enveloping FDR to prove convincingly how flawed his economic policies actually were, despite his good intentions and the astounding intellect of his circle of advisers. In today’s turbulent domestic and global environment, eerily similar to that of the 1930s, it’s more important than ever before to uncover and understand the truth of our history, lest we be doomed to repeat it.
Customer Reviews:
An unique read.......2007-07-08
This is a good book for everyone. It gives a perspective that you don't see often in history books about President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Since FDR was a great president, it's easy to write a pro-FDR history book but this book points out the flaws in FDR's policies and how the New Deal did not actually end the Great Depression. Personally, I am a fan of FDR and his policies but he was not perfect, nor were all his programs perfect. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in reading more about FDR and getting many different perspectives.
Excellent research tool .......2007-06-09
I have researched many sources to learn and document the real facts of FDR's influence on the Great Depression's recovery. This book is the best source yet. It discloses and explains FDR's socialist policies that delayed the recovery and that gave socialism it's stronghold in the USA. Great source to use to discuss with those that think FDR is a saint and who are class warfare believers.
One of the Worst We've Ever Had.......2007-06-09
It is a common trait of human nature to judge people and events within the limited historical scope of their own lifetimes. We tend to think of things in absolutes (e.g. - "It's never been this bad" or "he's the worst president ever,") because we have no historical context in which to properly judge the actual significance of a person or an event that we personally experience. As a result, we tend to take on faith the judgment of "experts" about those people and events that lie outside of our own personal experience. Unless we actually take the time and effort to investigate an historical person or event for ourselves, we will always tend to agree with the "general consensus."
Jim Powell's "FDR's Folly: How Roosevelt and His New Deal Prolonged the Great Depression" is one of those historical sources that will change your opinion from that of the "general consensus" that FDR is one of the top five American presidents to something appropriately lower. In this rigorously cited work, Powell presents evidence that FDR's New Deal, far from helping the country recover from the Great Depression, actually extended and exacerbated it.
Powell begins by introducing the FDR's main actors who collectively constructed the New Deal. Almost to a man, they were ambitious, arrogant Ivy Leaguers who thought they knew better how to control an economy than the millions of citizens who daily executed informed economic choices in a free market. As Powell explains, "some New Dealers were outright socialists" who rejected free market economics. Indeed, Chamber of Commerce president, Henry Harriman, typified this attitude when he declared that "laissez-faire must be replaced by a philosophy of planned national economy." Powell also relates how "many people in FDR's administration especially admired Italian fascism."
Powell then addresses several aspects of the New Deal with chapter titles that are questions such as "Why Did FDR Seize Everybody's Gold?," "Why Did the New Dealers Destroy All That Food When People Were Hungry?" and "How Did New Deal Labor Laws Throw People Out of Work?" Then, with sound economic analysis, backed by facts and citations, Powell meticulously describes how New Deal policies made things worse instead of better.
New Deal policies consisted of higher taxes, minimum wages, price controls, production limits and myriad other things that were exactly the wrong things to do to bring about economic recovery. Many of these policies were so-called "experiments," but as Powell writes, "Such policies were `experiments' only to the degree that New Dealers were ignorant about what had been tried and failed before." New Deal policies also assaulted individual liberty and economic freedom. Indeed, in April of 1934, Jacob Maged "was jailed for three months and fined for charging 35 cents to press a suit, rather than the 40 cents mandated by the NRA dry cleaning code." Powell summarizes, "Wherever there is dictatorial power over an economy, wherever economic liberty is denied, people are sure to be suffering agonies of the damned. New Dealers assumed that individual rights, private property, and economic liberty were obstacles to recovery, but they are essential."
Particularly disturbing during this time was FDR's encroachment on constitutional freedoms. Many today accuse George W. Bush of being a dictator, but Bush can't hold a candle to the imperial presidency of FDR. As Powell explains, "...FDR was impatient with American democracy, and he issued an extraordinary number of executive orders - 3728 altogether - which is more than all the executive orders issued by his successors Harry Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard M. Nixon, Gerald R. Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton combined." Many of these had the power of law behind them, effectively circumventing the legislature. FDR's assault on constitutional liberty was so severe, that in a November 1941 "Fortune" magazine poll "93 percent of employers said they expected their property rights to be undermined and also anticipated the possibility of a dictatorship."
Powell's book conclusively proves that the New Deal was an economic and civil rights disaster whose effects are still being felt today. FDR and his administration, arrogant in their ignorance, committed the cardinal sin of thinking they knew better than all those who had gone before. The sheer destructiveness of FDR's assault on freedom and his economic incompetence disqualifies him from the top five of "general consensus" and rightly places him near the bottom of American presidents.
Sets the Record Straight.......2007-02-16
What ended the Great Depression was not the New Deal, but instead World War II. However, both liberals and neoconservatives alike have taken as gospel the idea that massive governmental intervention are good for the economy.
As Jim Powell in FDR's Folly makes clear, the New Deal was an unmitigated disaster in its own right. The agricultural policy was a total bust. The unprecedented tax rates drained investment capital out of the economy. The New Deal programs were basically boondoggles with the much ballyhooed Tennessee Valley Authority being rife with corruption.
Jim Powell's FDR's Folly should be required reading in American classrooms.
Not all revisionism is wrong.........2007-01-11
After reading most of these reviews, I feel hard put to place anything new on this book here. The subject matter is important and seems to be finally getting the attention it needs. FDR's false legacy of caring and supre
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