Book Review: By One Vote/Future Reading List
I finished reading By One Vote: The Disputed Election of 1876 by Michael Holt coming back on the plane from Ottawa. Following is the review I wrote about it on Amazon:
Michael Holt's historical account of the election of 1876 tells you everything, and I mean everything, about what led up to the disputed election of 1876, what happened and what followed. This is an extremely informative account of how Rutherford B. Hayes became President of the United States, despite the fact that he trailed his Democratic opponent Samuel Tilden in the popular vote, and despite the fact that Tilden only needed one electoral vote from the three disputed states of Florida, Louisiana and South Carolina to win the Presidency.
Holt includes every detail, including what happened in the previous election that set the scene for this election, what resolutions were debated at the respective party conventions, how each candidate achieved victory at their nominating conventions, what the pressing issues of the day were, how the candidates campaigned and didn't campaign, how each walked the tightrope of divergent issues among norther and southern voters, what the issues were (once again telling every nuance and minutia), where and how the voter fraud occurred, what the party maneuvering was when the election was deadlocked, how the parties reached a compromise, and how the election commission reached its decision.
This book is both a blessing and a curse. It is a blessing because it answers every question a reader may have about what happened in the most contested presidential election in US history. Holt also writes a very interesting comparison between the election of 1876 and the election of 2000, analyzing their similarities and their differences. Because this book is so detailed, it is often overly pedantic, giving the reader "TMI". At times, reading this book can be like walking through a swamp. It is a very laborious read. But the story itself is such a fascinating one that those of us who are history geeks will press on. Light reading this is not. It is thoroughness on steroids.
Here are the next five books I plan to read in keeping with my
potus_geeks OCD persona:
1. John Tyler: The Accidental President by Edward Crapol (I started reading this last night and I like the author's style a lot better than Holt's).
2. Andrew Jackson: His Life and Times by H. W. Brands
3. Re-electing Lincoln: The Battle for the 1864 Presidency by John C. Waugh
4. A Magnificent Catastrophe: The Tumultuous Election of 1800, America's First Presidential Campaign by Edward J. Larson
5. 1920: The Year of Six Presidents by David Pietrusza
Of course I'll let you know what I think of each one when I finish it.
Michael Holt's historical account of the election of 1876 tells you everything, and I mean everything, about what led up to the disputed election of 1876, what happened and what followed. This is an extremely informative account of how Rutherford B. Hayes became President of the United States, despite the fact that he trailed his Democratic opponent Samuel Tilden in the popular vote, and despite the fact that Tilden only needed one electoral vote from the three disputed states of Florida, Louisiana and South Carolina to win the Presidency.
Holt includes every detail, including what happened in the previous election that set the scene for this election, what resolutions were debated at the respective party conventions, how each candidate achieved victory at their nominating conventions, what the pressing issues of the day were, how the candidates campaigned and didn't campaign, how each walked the tightrope of divergent issues among norther and southern voters, what the issues were (once again telling every nuance and minutia), where and how the voter fraud occurred, what the party maneuvering was when the election was deadlocked, how the parties reached a compromise, and how the election commission reached its decision.
This book is both a blessing and a curse. It is a blessing because it answers every question a reader may have about what happened in the most contested presidential election in US history. Holt also writes a very interesting comparison between the election of 1876 and the election of 2000, analyzing their similarities and their differences. Because this book is so detailed, it is often overly pedantic, giving the reader "TMI". At times, reading this book can be like walking through a swamp. It is a very laborious read. But the story itself is such a fascinating one that those of us who are history geeks will press on. Light reading this is not. It is thoroughness on steroids.
Here are the next five books I plan to read in keeping with my
potus_geeks OCD persona:1. John Tyler: The Accidental President by Edward Crapol (I started reading this last night and I like the author's style a lot better than Holt's).
2. Andrew Jackson: His Life and Times by H. W. Brands
3. Re-electing Lincoln: The Battle for the 1864 Presidency by John C. Waugh
4. A Magnificent Catastrophe: The Tumultuous Election of 1800, America's First Presidential Campaign by Edward J. Larson
5. 1920: The Year of Six Presidents by David Pietrusza
Of course I'll let you know what I think of each one when I finish it.