Summer Reading for Potus Geeks: Jean Edward Smith
This week the prolific biographer Jean Edward Smith published his fourth biography of a president. His 600 plus page bio of the 43rd President simply entitled Bush was released on Amazon and other online websites for sale yesterday. According to early reviews, the author is very critical of his subject, which is in contrast with some of his earlier works, in which he was more complimentary about his subjects.
I haven't read this book yet, but according to the New York Times review, it is a "scathing indictment" of its subject. Smith makes it clear at the outset where he stands on President Bush’s place in history, commencing with the first sentence of his book, which reads: “Rarely in the history of the United States has the nation been so ill-served as during the presidency of George W. Bush.” He concludes by stating "Whether George W. Bush was the worst president in American history will be long debated, but his decision to invade Iraq is easily the worst foreign policy decision ever made by an American president." It leaves little doubt what lies in the 650 pages between those two sentiments.
Smith is also the author of Eisenhower in War and Peace (2012), FDR (2007) and Grant (2001). Besides biographies of presidents, he has written a number of other interesting biographies of historical subjects. These include his 1996 work John Marshall: Definer of a Nation and his 1990 work Lucius D. Clay: An American Life.
Smith, who was born on October 13, 1932, is the John Marshall Professor of Political Science at Marshall University. He is also professor emeritus at the University of Toronto after having served as professor of political economy there for thirty-five years. He is also on the faculty of the Master of American History and Government program at Ashland University. He has won a number of awards for his writing, including the 2008 Francis Parkman Prize and he was a 2002 finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography.
Smith received an A.B. from Princeton University in 1954. He served in the military from 1954–1961, rising to the rank of Captain in the Army. Part of his military service was spent in West Berlin and in Dachau, Germany. In 1964, he obtained a Ph.D. from the Department of Public Law and Government of Columbia University.
Smith began his teaching career as assistant professor of government at Dartmouth College, a post he held from 1963 until 1965. He then became a professor of political economy at the University of Toronto in 1965 until his retirement in 1999. Professor Smith also served as visiting professor at several universities during his tenure at the University of Toronto and after his retirement including the Freie Universität in Berlin, Georgetown University, the University of Virginia’s Woodrow Wilson Department of Government and Foreign Affairs, the University of California at San Diego, and Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia.
His books require a lot of time to read. They are thorough and well-researched, but generally well-received. For those of you who like your summer reading of the weighty variety, this author fits the bill.
I haven't read this book yet, but according to the New York Times review, it is a "scathing indictment" of its subject. Smith makes it clear at the outset where he stands on President Bush’s place in history, commencing with the first sentence of his book, which reads: “Rarely in the history of the United States has the nation been so ill-served as during the presidency of George W. Bush.” He concludes by stating "Whether George W. Bush was the worst president in American history will be long debated, but his decision to invade Iraq is easily the worst foreign policy decision ever made by an American president." It leaves little doubt what lies in the 650 pages between those two sentiments.
Smith is also the author of Eisenhower in War and Peace (2012), FDR (2007) and Grant (2001). Besides biographies of presidents, he has written a number of other interesting biographies of historical subjects. These include his 1996 work John Marshall: Definer of a Nation and his 1990 work Lucius D. Clay: An American Life.
Smith, who was born on October 13, 1932, is the John Marshall Professor of Political Science at Marshall University. He is also professor emeritus at the University of Toronto after having served as professor of political economy there for thirty-five years. He is also on the faculty of the Master of American History and Government program at Ashland University. He has won a number of awards for his writing, including the 2008 Francis Parkman Prize and he was a 2002 finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography.
Smith received an A.B. from Princeton University in 1954. He served in the military from 1954–1961, rising to the rank of Captain in the Army. Part of his military service was spent in West Berlin and in Dachau, Germany. In 1964, he obtained a Ph.D. from the Department of Public Law and Government of Columbia University.
Smith began his teaching career as assistant professor of government at Dartmouth College, a post he held from 1963 until 1965. He then became a professor of political economy at the University of Toronto in 1965 until his retirement in 1999. Professor Smith also served as visiting professor at several universities during his tenure at the University of Toronto and after his retirement including the Freie Universität in Berlin, Georgetown University, the University of Virginia’s Woodrow Wilson Department of Government and Foreign Affairs, the University of California at San Diego, and Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia.
His books require a lot of time to read. They are thorough and well-researched, but generally well-received. For those of you who like your summer reading of the weighty variety, this author fits the bill.