Potus Geeks 2019: The Year in Books
For me personally, I have to confess that 2019 was a year in which my 
potus_geeks reading slipped considerably and I read much less on the subject of Presidential History and more in other genres. I'm unsure if this was due to a lack of attractive subject matter, though I am also reluctant to dismiss this theory, because there are already a number of books on preorder for 2020 that I am excited to read. And while I usually don't tend to give books bad reviews, when I look at this past year, there were some real disappointments. Looking back on 2019, here are some of the books which were reviewed in this community:
1. Heirs of the Founders: The Epic Rivalry of Henry Clay, John Calhoun and Daniel Webster, the Second Generation of American Giants by H. W. Brands (reviewed here in this community) looks at the three giants of the antebellum Senate, known as the "Great Triumvirate": Henry Clay, Daniel Webster and John C. Calhoun. All three had Presidential aspirations and while Clay came close in 1844, none of the three would every grab the brass ring. Their distinguished careers paralleled one another and each played an important role in all of the great events in American history from the War of 1812 to the Compromise of 1850. Brands weaves the lives of these three men into a captivating account of the story of their young nation, from Presidents Jefferson to Lincoln, focusing on the times when national unity was most fragile, times when the three members of the Great Triumvirate were at the center of the action, either advocating for one position or the other, or seeking to broker a compromise that would address that challenge or at least postpone them. Brands uses his subject's own words from their most memorable speeches, not only to illustrate where each man stood on the issue, but to demonstrate the corresponding arguments on each issue, and their complexities. In doing so, he also highlights the brilliant oratory that each was capable of, and the brilliance of each man in advocating the position he took. Brands writes in his usual engaging style, clarifying complex issues, not confining them to just political battles, but also explaining what was going on in the nation at the time and what conditions shaped those issues. He makes the case that these debates, especially concerning the conflict between states rights and the national interest, form the basis of divisive issues that have continued throughout history and continue to this day. As Brands writes: "The struggle originated with the founders. It continued with their heirs. It is with us still."
2. The Problem of Democracy: The Presidents Adams Confront the Cult of Personality by Nancy Isenberg and Andrew Burstein (reviewed here in this community) is a rather pedantic offering in which the authors trace the history of the famous father and son Chief Executives in a manner than only two classical academics would, with lengthy analytical prose of Goldilocks proportions: sometimes too superficial, sometimes too deep and sometimes just right. The book's failing is its inconsistency. Parts provide too much detail, especially in aspects of their lives that are less relevant to history, such as which books and other works each man read, with accompanying speculation about how such might have shaped the political decisions each made. Parts of the book offer too little information, particularly on some substantial issues during each man's presidency. Very little is also said about the younger Adams' outstanding career as one of the nation's leading Secretaries of State. Parts of the book are too unctuous or fawning. For example, the authors fail to take the elder Adams to task for his role in the Alien and Sedition Acts, which ended up being used as a tool to silence political enemies. Nor is any criticism offered of John Quincy's failure to realize that he needed congressional support to make his policies reality. The worst parts of the book are the authors' own speculations and their overly academic and pedantic analysis, especially in the book's 30 page introduction and in its concluding chapter (pretentiously named "exordium" and "ad consummandum" respectively). Much of the book's nearly 500 pages are unnecessarily verbose ramblings that dilute other parts of the book in which the authors tell the story of the Adams presidents brilliantly.
3. The Presidents-Noted Historians Rank The Best and Worst Chief Executives by Brian Lamb, Susan Swain and C-SPAN (reviewed here in this community) was perhaps one of the most eagerly anticipated and subsequently the most disappointing of 2019's offerings in books about the Presidency. After beginning with an interesting essay on the process of ranking presidents, the second and longest section of the book contains a discussion of each president, in order of his most recent ranking, from first (Abraham Lincoln) to last (Lincoln's predecessor, poor James Buchanan). But rather than examine each president and discuss what positive and negative factors contributed to his place in the race, the editors took a rather lazy approach and have instead simply included an edited transcript of a C-SPAN interview with one of that president's biographer. In many cases, the interview focuses on just one section of the president's life or one event in it. (For example, the section on Barack Obama talks about some of the women he dated before his current wife, while the section on Abraham Lincoln focuses on the period between his election and his inauguration.) Often these sections seem to make the case that a highly ranked President had flaws that may make the high rating undeserved (such as how Lyndon Johnson was corrupted by power) while the sections on some of the lower ranked Presidents make the case for the subject deserving a higher ranking (as in the case of the sections on Warren Harding or Franklin Pierce.) The book is worth reading as a refresher of all of the Presidents and their spectrum of personalities, abilities and accomplishments. It is unfortunate that such a worthwhile subject as a review of how, where and why all of the Presidents are ranked was not approached with more effort and organization and with the structure and discipline that the ranking system itself was created. Each of the historians are respected and very academically credible. The problem is not in their opinions, but in how the editors of the book have organized and presented them.
4. Siege-Trump Under Fire by Michael Wolff (reviewed here in this community) is the author's second work about the current president. Writing about incumbent Presidents has always been a polarizing subject, since the times when the rabidly partisan editor James Callender maligned George Washington, claiming that the first President had "debauched and deceived" the nation by self-promotion. Things haven't gotten much better since, and it is virtually impossible for readers to know how much of any contemporary historical accounts of the current presidency are fact and how much are polarized spin. But what is clear is that the author's follow up to his earlier book about the Trump Presidency, Fire and Fury, is disappointing in that it sacrifices a historical chronicling of some of the most interesting issues confronting the current administration, opting instead for salacious gossip that paints a picture of a president completely devoid of any redeeming qualities or intelligence whatsoever. This may be completely fair or Wolff may be serving as the James Callender to those of a different ideology. Readers will never really know. The book appears to have two central themes. The first is a focus on anecdotes of presidential craziness. Rightly or wrongly, Wolff tries to convey the impression that the current presidency is unfocused, haphazard, and centered on a chief executive with a narcissistic personality disorder. The book ignores a more objective analysis of the issues themselves such as border security, the impact of illegal immigration on the economy, and the declining middle class. These issues take a back seat to presidential personality. The second theme running throughout the book is the influence that Steve Bannon, who is undoubtedly the source of much of the author's information, has on the book. It is as much a book about what Bannon thinks as it is about the President.
5. After the Fall: The Remarkable Comeback of Richard Nixon by Kasey Pipes (reviewed here in this community) is the story of how President Richard Milhous Nixon left the office of the Presidency in disgrace, vilified and mocked by virtually everyone, and how, over the next two decades, the former political pariah was able to transition himself into becoming a respected and admired elder statesman, eulogized by former friends and foes alike. At Nixon's funeral, then incumbent President Bill Clinton told his audience, "may the day of judging President Nixon on anything less than his entire life and career come to a close." Pipes describes how Nixon transformed himself and his image from a the emotionally and physically fragile man who resigned from the Presidency in disgrace, into becoming the most respected foreign policy analyst of his time, one that every president from Gerald Ford to Bill Clinton turned to for advice on how to conduct themselves on the world stage. It is hard to tell to what degree Pipes' conservative pedigree influences his objectivity in telling the story of Nixon's post-presidency. Regardless, Pipes references an impressive collection of source material to tell the story of Nixon's careful and well thought out plan to make his opinions on foreign relations relevant again. He also does a very good job in following the advice given to him by iconic biographer David McCullough that "it does no injury to history to make it readable." The book is enjoyable to read both for the story it tells and the engaging style in which that story is told. It is a fascinating read that will be enjoyable to all but those incapable of suppressing their contempt for the 37th President.
6. Theodore Roosevelt for the Defense: The Courtroom Battle to Save His Legacy by Dan Abrams and David Fisher (reviewed here in this community) is the story of a famous trial held in Syracuse, New York in 1915 when New York Republican "boss" William Barnes Jr. sued Theodore Roosevelt for libel after the ex-president labelled Barnes as "corrupt" in a newspaper article he authored. The result was what authors Dan Abrams and David Fisher term "the trial of the century". Although a libel trial does not have the same sense of drama as a criminal trial, the authors maintain their fidelity to providing a description of what took place, including the mundane as well as the exciting. They excel in painting a picture of the litigants: the energetic Roosevelt struggling to contain his exuberance while remaining at the center of attention, and the smug and crafty Barnes, whose cross-examination was likened to trying to nail jello to a wall. This is a book that will especially appeal to those with an interest in trials and in courtroom proceedings. It is a tale of egos and politics, of populism and the political establishment.
7. Star Spangled Scandal: Sex, Murder, and the Trial that Changed America by Chris DeRose (reviewed here in this community) tells the story of the murder of an unarmed Washington DC District Attorney Barton Key (son of Francis Scott Key) by Congressman Dan Sickles, in broad daylight near the White House, and how Sickles used the defense of temporary insanity to justify his actions. The murder occurred in 1859 as President James Buchanan attempted in vain to keep a nation together that was ripping apart over the issue of slavery and whether it would be abolished or allowed to expand into new territories acquired by the growing nation. Washington DC society tried to put on an air of gaiety amidst this struggle. DeRose provides a fascinating play-by-play of the trial, its reporting, as well as the national mood. He also builds up to the trial's outcome and the manner in which it created what became known as the "unwritten law" that defied legal precedent for over a century. He does all of this brilliantly, writing in a manner that is informative, entertaining and a pleasure to read.
8. Bosom Friends: The Intimate World of James Buchanan and William Rufus King (reviwed here in this community) teases as a potential expose on whether or not James Buchanan and William Rufus King were gay lovers and instead explores the antebellum political relationships among those in Congress who lived together in messes and how sharing quarters in the nation's capitol shaped political partnerships and forged political alliances between legislators from different parts of the country, from both free states and slave states. The book also offers an interesting epilogue about how a tradition of close male friendships among DC politicians is nothing new and continues to this day. The author deserves high marks for his academic attention to the importance of the relationship of these two pivotal political figures rather than simply focusing on pointless speculation about whether the two "messmates" were messing around in other ways.
9. Two Suns of the Southwest: Lyndon Johnson, Barry Goldwater and the 1964 Battle between Liberalism and Conservatism by Nancy Beck Young (reviewed here in this community): This is part of the University of Kansas Press's Presidential Election series, and it provides a wonderful post mortem of the 1964 Presidential election. Although the election was one which Lyndon Johnson won in a landslide, the author reminds us what a historic year it was for both of the two major political parties. For Democrats it was a time of major transition from the theoretical vision of John F. Kennedy to the practical, can-do legislative accomplishments of the former Master of the Senate LBJ as he orchestrated his plan for his Great Society. For Republicans, it was a battle for the soul of the party between the conservative faction led by Goldwater and a politically ascendant Ronald Reagan, and the liberal moderates led by Nelson Rockefeller and William Scranton, a battle that would change the party and bring about the evolution of its current state. This is an excellent book in which the author compacts a lot of information into less than 200 pages. This was the best book on Presidential history that I read in 2019.
So what's in store for 2020? Here's some of what's on order:
1. James Monroe: A Life by Tim McGrath
2. President without a Party: The Life of John Tyler by Christopher J. Leahy
3. Lincoln on the Verge: Thirteen Days to Washington by Ted Widmer
4. Washington's End: The Final Years and Forgotten Struggle by Jonathan Horn
5. Old Tip vs. the Sly Fox: The 1840 Election and the Making of a Partisan Nation by Richard Ellis
6. The Cabinet: George Washington and the Creation of an American Institution by Lindsay M. Chervinsky
7. The Education of John Adams by R. B. Bernstein
So many good books, so little time! Happy reading in 2020 everyone.
potus_geeks reading slipped considerably and I read much less on the subject of Presidential History and more in other genres. I'm unsure if this was due to a lack of attractive subject matter, though I am also reluctant to dismiss this theory, because there are already a number of books on preorder for 2020 that I am excited to read. And while I usually don't tend to give books bad reviews, when I look at this past year, there were some real disappointments. Looking back on 2019, here are some of the books which were reviewed in this community:1. Heirs of the Founders: The Epic Rivalry of Henry Clay, John Calhoun and Daniel Webster, the Second Generation of American Giants by H. W. Brands (reviewed here in this community) looks at the three giants of the antebellum Senate, known as the "Great Triumvirate": Henry Clay, Daniel Webster and John C. Calhoun. All three had Presidential aspirations and while Clay came close in 1844, none of the three would every grab the brass ring. Their distinguished careers paralleled one another and each played an important role in all of the great events in American history from the War of 1812 to the Compromise of 1850. Brands weaves the lives of these three men into a captivating account of the story of their young nation, from Presidents Jefferson to Lincoln, focusing on the times when national unity was most fragile, times when the three members of the Great Triumvirate were at the center of the action, either advocating for one position or the other, or seeking to broker a compromise that would address that challenge or at least postpone them. Brands uses his subject's own words from their most memorable speeches, not only to illustrate where each man stood on the issue, but to demonstrate the corresponding arguments on each issue, and their complexities. In doing so, he also highlights the brilliant oratory that each was capable of, and the brilliance of each man in advocating the position he took. Brands writes in his usual engaging style, clarifying complex issues, not confining them to just political battles, but also explaining what was going on in the nation at the time and what conditions shaped those issues. He makes the case that these debates, especially concerning the conflict between states rights and the national interest, form the basis of divisive issues that have continued throughout history and continue to this day. As Brands writes: "The struggle originated with the founders. It continued with their heirs. It is with us still."
2. The Problem of Democracy: The Presidents Adams Confront the Cult of Personality by Nancy Isenberg and Andrew Burstein (reviewed here in this community) is a rather pedantic offering in which the authors trace the history of the famous father and son Chief Executives in a manner than only two classical academics would, with lengthy analytical prose of Goldilocks proportions: sometimes too superficial, sometimes too deep and sometimes just right. The book's failing is its inconsistency. Parts provide too much detail, especially in aspects of their lives that are less relevant to history, such as which books and other works each man read, with accompanying speculation about how such might have shaped the political decisions each made. Parts of the book offer too little information, particularly on some substantial issues during each man's presidency. Very little is also said about the younger Adams' outstanding career as one of the nation's leading Secretaries of State. Parts of the book are too unctuous or fawning. For example, the authors fail to take the elder Adams to task for his role in the Alien and Sedition Acts, which ended up being used as a tool to silence political enemies. Nor is any criticism offered of John Quincy's failure to realize that he needed congressional support to make his policies reality. The worst parts of the book are the authors' own speculations and their overly academic and pedantic analysis, especially in the book's 30 page introduction and in its concluding chapter (pretentiously named "exordium" and "ad consummandum" respectively). Much of the book's nearly 500 pages are unnecessarily verbose ramblings that dilute other parts of the book in which the authors tell the story of the Adams presidents brilliantly.
3. The Presidents-Noted Historians Rank The Best and Worst Chief Executives by Brian Lamb, Susan Swain and C-SPAN (reviewed here in this community) was perhaps one of the most eagerly anticipated and subsequently the most disappointing of 2019's offerings in books about the Presidency. After beginning with an interesting essay on the process of ranking presidents, the second and longest section of the book contains a discussion of each president, in order of his most recent ranking, from first (Abraham Lincoln) to last (Lincoln's predecessor, poor James Buchanan). But rather than examine each president and discuss what positive and negative factors contributed to his place in the race, the editors took a rather lazy approach and have instead simply included an edited transcript of a C-SPAN interview with one of that president's biographer. In many cases, the interview focuses on just one section of the president's life or one event in it. (For example, the section on Barack Obama talks about some of the women he dated before his current wife, while the section on Abraham Lincoln focuses on the period between his election and his inauguration.) Often these sections seem to make the case that a highly ranked President had flaws that may make the high rating undeserved (such as how Lyndon Johnson was corrupted by power) while the sections on some of the lower ranked Presidents make the case for the subject deserving a higher ranking (as in the case of the sections on Warren Harding or Franklin Pierce.) The book is worth reading as a refresher of all of the Presidents and their spectrum of personalities, abilities and accomplishments. It is unfortunate that such a worthwhile subject as a review of how, where and why all of the Presidents are ranked was not approached with more effort and organization and with the structure and discipline that the ranking system itself was created. Each of the historians are respected and very academically credible. The problem is not in their opinions, but in how the editors of the book have organized and presented them.
4. Siege-Trump Under Fire by Michael Wolff (reviewed here in this community) is the author's second work about the current president. Writing about incumbent Presidents has always been a polarizing subject, since the times when the rabidly partisan editor James Callender maligned George Washington, claiming that the first President had "debauched and deceived" the nation by self-promotion. Things haven't gotten much better since, and it is virtually impossible for readers to know how much of any contemporary historical accounts of the current presidency are fact and how much are polarized spin. But what is clear is that the author's follow up to his earlier book about the Trump Presidency, Fire and Fury, is disappointing in that it sacrifices a historical chronicling of some of the most interesting issues confronting the current administration, opting instead for salacious gossip that paints a picture of a president completely devoid of any redeeming qualities or intelligence whatsoever. This may be completely fair or Wolff may be serving as the James Callender to those of a different ideology. Readers will never really know. The book appears to have two central themes. The first is a focus on anecdotes of presidential craziness. Rightly or wrongly, Wolff tries to convey the impression that the current presidency is unfocused, haphazard, and centered on a chief executive with a narcissistic personality disorder. The book ignores a more objective analysis of the issues themselves such as border security, the impact of illegal immigration on the economy, and the declining middle class. These issues take a back seat to presidential personality. The second theme running throughout the book is the influence that Steve Bannon, who is undoubtedly the source of much of the author's information, has on the book. It is as much a book about what Bannon thinks as it is about the President.
5. After the Fall: The Remarkable Comeback of Richard Nixon by Kasey Pipes (reviewed here in this community) is the story of how President Richard Milhous Nixon left the office of the Presidency in disgrace, vilified and mocked by virtually everyone, and how, over the next two decades, the former political pariah was able to transition himself into becoming a respected and admired elder statesman, eulogized by former friends and foes alike. At Nixon's funeral, then incumbent President Bill Clinton told his audience, "may the day of judging President Nixon on anything less than his entire life and career come to a close." Pipes describes how Nixon transformed himself and his image from a the emotionally and physically fragile man who resigned from the Presidency in disgrace, into becoming the most respected foreign policy analyst of his time, one that every president from Gerald Ford to Bill Clinton turned to for advice on how to conduct themselves on the world stage. It is hard to tell to what degree Pipes' conservative pedigree influences his objectivity in telling the story of Nixon's post-presidency. Regardless, Pipes references an impressive collection of source material to tell the story of Nixon's careful and well thought out plan to make his opinions on foreign relations relevant again. He also does a very good job in following the advice given to him by iconic biographer David McCullough that "it does no injury to history to make it readable." The book is enjoyable to read both for the story it tells and the engaging style in which that story is told. It is a fascinating read that will be enjoyable to all but those incapable of suppressing their contempt for the 37th President.
6. Theodore Roosevelt for the Defense: The Courtroom Battle to Save His Legacy by Dan Abrams and David Fisher (reviewed here in this community) is the story of a famous trial held in Syracuse, New York in 1915 when New York Republican "boss" William Barnes Jr. sued Theodore Roosevelt for libel after the ex-president labelled Barnes as "corrupt" in a newspaper article he authored. The result was what authors Dan Abrams and David Fisher term "the trial of the century". Although a libel trial does not have the same sense of drama as a criminal trial, the authors maintain their fidelity to providing a description of what took place, including the mundane as well as the exciting. They excel in painting a picture of the litigants: the energetic Roosevelt struggling to contain his exuberance while remaining at the center of attention, and the smug and crafty Barnes, whose cross-examination was likened to trying to nail jello to a wall. This is a book that will especially appeal to those with an interest in trials and in courtroom proceedings. It is a tale of egos and politics, of populism and the political establishment.
7. Star Spangled Scandal: Sex, Murder, and the Trial that Changed America by Chris DeRose (reviewed here in this community) tells the story of the murder of an unarmed Washington DC District Attorney Barton Key (son of Francis Scott Key) by Congressman Dan Sickles, in broad daylight near the White House, and how Sickles used the defense of temporary insanity to justify his actions. The murder occurred in 1859 as President James Buchanan attempted in vain to keep a nation together that was ripping apart over the issue of slavery and whether it would be abolished or allowed to expand into new territories acquired by the growing nation. Washington DC society tried to put on an air of gaiety amidst this struggle. DeRose provides a fascinating play-by-play of the trial, its reporting, as well as the national mood. He also builds up to the trial's outcome and the manner in which it created what became known as the "unwritten law" that defied legal precedent for over a century. He does all of this brilliantly, writing in a manner that is informative, entertaining and a pleasure to read.
8. Bosom Friends: The Intimate World of James Buchanan and William Rufus King (reviwed here in this community) teases as a potential expose on whether or not James Buchanan and William Rufus King were gay lovers and instead explores the antebellum political relationships among those in Congress who lived together in messes and how sharing quarters in the nation's capitol shaped political partnerships and forged political alliances between legislators from different parts of the country, from both free states and slave states. The book also offers an interesting epilogue about how a tradition of close male friendships among DC politicians is nothing new and continues to this day. The author deserves high marks for his academic attention to the importance of the relationship of these two pivotal political figures rather than simply focusing on pointless speculation about whether the two "messmates" were messing around in other ways.
9. Two Suns of the Southwest: Lyndon Johnson, Barry Goldwater and the 1964 Battle between Liberalism and Conservatism by Nancy Beck Young (reviewed here in this community): This is part of the University of Kansas Press's Presidential Election series, and it provides a wonderful post mortem of the 1964 Presidential election. Although the election was one which Lyndon Johnson won in a landslide, the author reminds us what a historic year it was for both of the two major political parties. For Democrats it was a time of major transition from the theoretical vision of John F. Kennedy to the practical, can-do legislative accomplishments of the former Master of the Senate LBJ as he orchestrated his plan for his Great Society. For Republicans, it was a battle for the soul of the party between the conservative faction led by Goldwater and a politically ascendant Ronald Reagan, and the liberal moderates led by Nelson Rockefeller and William Scranton, a battle that would change the party and bring about the evolution of its current state. This is an excellent book in which the author compacts a lot of information into less than 200 pages. This was the best book on Presidential history that I read in 2019.
So what's in store for 2020? Here's some of what's on order:
1. James Monroe: A Life by Tim McGrath
2. President without a Party: The Life of John Tyler by Christopher J. Leahy
3. Lincoln on the Verge: Thirteen Days to Washington by Ted Widmer
4. Washington's End: The Final Years and Forgotten Struggle by Jonathan Horn
5. Old Tip vs. the Sly Fox: The 1840 Election and the Making of a Partisan Nation by Richard Ellis
6. The Cabinet: George Washington and the Creation of an American Institution by Lindsay M. Chervinsky
7. The Education of John Adams by R. B. Bernstein
So many good books, so little time! Happy reading in 2020 everyone.