Presidential History Geeks

Benedict Arnold's name will always be synonymous with being a traitor. His perfidy was very unfortunate because when he was fighting on the side of the Continental Army, his courage and military abilities were superb. He likely had much justification for his discontentment, though far from enough to justify his betrayal.

Benedict Arnold (no middle name) was born on January 14, 1741 according to the calendar we use today.  He was born in Connecticut, the second of six children. Am older brother also named Benedict died in infancy. His father was a successful businessman, but also an alcoholic and the young Benedict was much closer to his mother Hannah, who died in 1759. His father's alcoholism worsened after her death, and as the oldest living child, Benedict took on the responsibility of supporting his father and younger sister. His father was arrested on several occasions for public drunkenness. He died in 1761.

It's the book that everyone was talking about months before its release. Would it live up to all of the hype or had all the good stuff been teased out of it ahead of its release?

Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump has a gold cover, a fitting response to a book about a man who, like the Bond villain Goldfinger, has a fascination with all things gold. Written by New York Times correspondents Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, this book chronicles the first two years of Donald Trump's second term in office. The book is broken down into four seconds, culminating with an epilogue which describes the most striking aspects of an interview that the authors had with President Trump in the Oval Office.

He had no middle name, he was just John Hancock, and he was born on January 23, 1737 (according to the calendar we use today) in Braintree (now known as Quincy) in the colony of Massachusetts. He was the first as well as the third governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In addition to signing the Declaration of Independence, he also signed the Articles of Confederation, and he later rallied support for Massachusetts to ratify the United States Constitution in 1788.

Before the Revolution, Hancock was one of the wealthiest men in the colonies. He inherited a profitable mercantile business from his uncle. He began his political career in Boston as a supporter and protégé of Samuel Adams, though the two men later had a falling out. Hancock used his wealth to support the colonial cause as tensions increased between colonists and Great Britain in the 1760s. He became very popular in Massachusetts, especially after Boston customs officials seized his ship, the Liberty, in 1768 and charged him with smuggling. Those charges were eventually dropped.

They called him "Mad Anthony." No, Mad wasn't his given name, and he didn't have a middle name. His military exploits and fiery personality quickly earned him a promotion to brigadier general and also earned him that nickname. 

Wayne was born on New Year's day of 1745 in Chester County, Pennsylvania. He worked as a tanner and, like George Washington, as a surveyor after attending the College of Philadelphia. He was elected to the Pennsylvania General Assembly and when the Revolution broke out, he helped raise a Pennsylvania militia unit in 1775. Members of the local community, many of them Quakers, called him as a radical. On January 3, 1776, Wayne became colonel of the 4th Pennsylvania Regiment by a decision of the Pennsylvania delegation of the Second Continental Congress.

Wayne was an unconventional soldier. He discarded conventional tactics and instead focused on  maneuver warfare. He insisted on strict discipline. One of his first assignments in the war was as part of the Continental Army's unsuccessful invasion of Quebec, led by Benedict Arnold. Wayne commanded a successful rear-guard action at the Battle of Trois-Rivières. He then led the forces on Lake Champlain at Fort Ticonderoga and Mount Independence. 

His full name was Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette, but America has come to know him just as Lafayette. He was a French military officer and later a politician who nearly lost his head during the French Revolution. He volunteered to join the Continental Army during the American Revolution and became so close to General George Washington that their relationship was almost like father and son. He rose to the rank of Major General while still a youth, and commanded Continental Army troops in the decisive siege of Yorktown in 1781. 

Lafayette was born into a wealthy land-owning family in Chavaniac in the French province of Auvergne in south-central France. He followed his family's military tradition and was commissioned an officer in the French Army at age 13. Lafayette's father died on the battlefield on August 1, 1759, struck by a cannonball while fighting at the Battle of Minden in Westphalia. Lafayette became marquis and Lord of Chavaniac, but the estate went to his mother. Lafayette's mother and grandfather both died during the month of April 1770, and Lafayette inherited their wealth. He grew even wealthuer upon the death of an uncle.

Nathanael Greene was one of George Washington's brightest and best generals. Greene exceeded expectations because, as a devout Quaker, many assumed that the pacifism that was part and parcel of his religion would prevent him from being successful in military pursuits. This assumption was incorrect, and except for one blemish on his military record, Greene's performance in the American Revolution was exemplary.

Greene was born on August 7, 1742 in Warwick, Rhode Island. While still in his 20s, Greene became active in the colonial opposition to British revenue policies. He helped to establish the Kentish Guards, a state militia unit in Rhode Island. After the April 1775 Battles of Lexington and Concord, the legislature of Rhode Island established an army and appointed Greene to command it. Later in the year, when the Continental Army was established, Greene became one of its generals. He served under George Washington in the Boston campaign, the New York and New Jersey campaign, and the Philadelphia campaign before being appointed quartermaster general of the Continental Army in 1778.

Since the United States did not become a nation until 1776, every hero of the Revolution was born in some other nation. Some were born on what is today the continental United States at a time when its states were British Colonies. Some were born in Great Britain and came to the colonies to make a new life for themselves. Then there were those from other European nation who came to fight the British. One such man was Friedrich Wilhelm August Heinrich Ferdinand Freiherr von Steuben.

Steuben was a Prussian-born army officer who played a leading role in the Revolutionary War by training the Continental Army into a disciplined and professional fighting force, modeled on European armies. His arrival was followed by a significant improvement in the performance of the American soldiers and today he is consequently regarded as one of the fathers of the United States Army.

Charles Lee is described by historians as being an odd duck. British born, Lee was at first one of Washington's best generals, until he wasn't. He travelled around with a pack of dogs and for a time he was a prisoner-of-war. That experience seemed to have changed him, as when he was released he seemed to become petulant and difficult to work with, ultimately leading to his court-martial. 

Lee was born in England in 1732, the son of British Major-General John Lee. His mother came from a wealthy family and when she died, Lee inherited a considerable sum of money. Shortly after his father's death, in May of 1751, he  obtained a lieutenant's commission and was sent with his regiment to North America in 1754 to serve in what became known as the French and Indian War under Major General Edward Braddock. He was with Braddock at his defeat at the Battle of the Monongahela in 1755.

During this time in America, Lee married the daughter of a Mohawk chief. (The name that the Mohawks gave him translated to "Boiling Water.") On June 11, 1756, Lee purchased a Captain's commission and the next year he took part in an expedition against the French fortress of Louisbourg. On July 1, 1758, he was wounded in a failed assault on Fort Ticonderoga and sent to Long Island to recuperate. After recovering, Lee took part in the capture of Fort Niagara in 1759 and of Montreal in 1760. 

One of the lesser known, but important Founding Fathers was Dr. Benjamin Rush, a confidant of both George Washington and John Adams. He had the distinction of playing a part in the American Revolution both on the battlefield, as a military physician, and in Congress. Born on January 4, 1746, he was also a signatory to the Declaration of Independence.

Rush was a Pennsylvania delegate to the Continental Congress. A modest man, he later described his efforts in support of the American Revolution, by saying that he "aimed well." He also served as Surgeon General of the Middle Department of the Continental Army.

Rush was a leaned man, as well as being an enthusiastic supporter of the American Revolution. He was active in the Sons of Liberty and was elected to attend the provincial conference to send delegates to the Continental Congress. Thomas Paine sought advice from Rush when writing his famous pamphlet Common Sense. Beginning in 1776, Rush represented Pennsylvania and signed the Declaration of Independence. He also represented Philadelphia at Pennsylvania's Constitutional Convention.

We live in a time when shooting wars are taking place in Iraq and Ukraine, and when global tensions exist at numerous other hot spots in the world. The two Koreas are in the midst of a tense standoff; China threatens Taiwan; India and Pakistan are at odds, and India and China also have an acrimonious relationship. President Donald Trump promised to keep the United States out of foreign wars only to authorize military action in Iran, Venezuela and perhaps someday soon in Cuba. All of this takes place as eighty years have passed since the last World War. Will any of these tinder spots give rise to the next global conflict in the near future? This is the subject of The Coming Storm: Power, Conflict and Warnings from History. 

Odd Arne Westad (and yes, that is his name), a Yale professor of history and global affairs begins by comparing the eerie similarities between 1914 and the present day. In the days leading up to the First World War (once called "the war to end all wars"), global tensions were in abundance as the great European powers (Germany, Great Britain, France, Russia and Austria-Hungary) formed various alliance and fostered geopolitical resentments against their enemies. But surely, everyone thought, this will not come to war. After all, weapons of war have advanced to such a frightening state as to make the notion of war unthinkable. Does any of this sound familiar?