The Best Books of 2017 for Potus Geeks
In 2017, the cry for 
potus_geeks was "so many books, so little time." The past year was a time of great choices in reading for those interested in Presidential history. There were some excellent biographies of Presidents, some well-considered analyses of past elections, and some great accounts of pivotal periods in presidential history. For me personally, there was too much to read, as some of the epic biographies and new books were left unread (so far) but I have listed many of these below. My one regret was the absence of post-mortems of the 2016 election that were present in the aftermath of almost all of the previous elections since Theodore White wrote "The Making of the President: 1960". The current political polarization seems to preclude an objective analysis of what went down in the last election, but I'm hopeful that this may yet be coming.
Here is my personal list of the 10 best books read in 2017, followed by some comments on some others:
1. Lincoln's Pathfinder: John C. Fremont and the Violent Election of 1856 by John Bicknell (reviewed here): I had eagerly awaited this book because of John Bicknell's talent for seeing both the forest and the trees in analyzing how history transpired. In this book, Bicknell tells the story of the pivotal election of 1856, the first in which the Republican Party ran a national candidate for President. It is the story of the dashing and daring explorer Colonel John C. Fremont and his charismatic and confident wife, the former Jesse Benton, the political power couple of their era. Fremont became the first Republican candidate for President, and the author describes how previously scattered abolitionist and anti-slavery factions were able to achieve a measure of unity in the formation of the new party that offered the first serious challenge to the status quo that had permitted slavery to continue long after other parts of the globe had acknowledged its immorality. These were indeed dangerous times and John Bicknell weaves a number of stories and into his chronicle of the 1856 presidential election campaign, creating a fascinating tapestry of this era of antebellum America. Bicknell's tremendous strength as a historian is his understanding that presidential elections are not one-dimensional and that while election campaigns are occurring, life goes on. He has the ability to tell those collateral stories and make ordinary Americans as interesting as their more famous contemporaries.
2. President McKinley: Architect of the American Century by Robert W. Merry (reviewed here): Merry reviews the life of William McKinley, from his ancestry and birth, to his youth, as well as his fascinating adventures during the Civil War, a war that McKinley entered as an 18 year old private, and left with the rank of Major. Merry explains how being witness to the horrors of Antietam and other battles would shape McKinley's view of war as President. McKinley had an accomplished career as a lawyer, a congressman famous for his leadership in creating protectionist tariffs, and as a unifying Governor of Ohio. But the majority of the book's 488 pages contains a thorough analysis of the McKinley presidency. Quietly rising to a position of leadership and respect in a divided party, McKinley was able to emerge victorious in a pivotal election, set against the backdrop of economic disparity, one founded on class distinctions that set the interests of agrarian America against the financial establishment, as the debate over gold vs. silver backed currency captivated the nation. As President, McKinley was able to lead his nation from panic to prosperity, win a war with Spain, grapple with the issues of governing distant colonies while resisting a rush to imperialism, and position his nation into one of military security before other nations could leave it in a position of jeopardy. Merry argues that is is McKinley who deserves the credit for leading the nation into a position of world leadership. Merry's biography is not an exercise in hero worship or sycophancy however. The strength of this author is in his ability to present both sides of an issue and to fairly explain the arguments of McKinley's opponents, much as if he is describing current affairs rather than history. There were those who accused McKinley of empire building, of getting embroiled in a war in the Philippines much as would later occur in Vietnam or Iraq. Doing so makes Merry's assessment of McKinley's character, ability and accomplishments all the more forceful and make his assertion that McKinley deserves a larger place in history all the more persuasive. This book deserves strong consideration as the best biography of 2017.
3. Richard Nixon: The Life by John Aloysius Farrell (reviewed here): John Farrell's accounting of Richard Nixon's transition from an idealistic young candidate into an unprincipled Machiavellian capable of brilliant statesmanship, but also capable of justifying all kinds of moral and ethical lapses, is fascinating to read. It demonstrates the author's brilliance, both as a biographer, and as a keen student of human nature. This is a subtle transaction, but it is not without its defining moments and Farrell is alert to all of these. He manages to walk the historian's tightrope of intellectual honesty and ideological neutrality, while still having his own strong opinions, some of which are critical of Democrats, Republicans, and often of Nixon himself. He give his subject credit credit when it is due and excoriates him when it is deserving. Farrell's consideration of Watergate and of Nixon's downfall is aided by mountains of recently released audio recordings and documents previously unavailable to many historians. It is also supplemented by an impressive array of oral histories and interviews from many of those present at the scene of the crime (literally so in many cases), the ultimate who's who of all thing's Nixon. The author has certainly done his homework. This exceptional biography incites neither hatred, admiration, nor pity for its subject. The feelings this book evokes for the fallen president are as complex and as mishmashed as the man himself. This is a significant accomplishment on the part of the author. He has not simply presented "just the facts". He has successfully conveyed an appreciation of the complexity of character that make the life of Richard Nixon so epically tragic.
4. The Unexpected President: The Life and Times of Chester A. Arthur by Scott Greenberger (reviewed here): Greenberger has written a 242 page biography of the 21st President that is representative of what one might expect from such an intensely private subject. Much of the book's pages are filled with stories of many of the peripheral events in Arthur's life and the stories of other important figures in the politics of the day. First among these is Senator Roscoe Conkling, the leader of the "Stalwart" faction of the Republican Party, the man that Arthur served as a political hack, and the master he was expected to serve as President, contributing to the "unexpected" part of the book's title. Other prominent figures are President James Garfield, the man whose assassination led to Arthur's presidency; James G. Blaine, leader of the rival faction in the Republican Party; and Julia Sands, a young woman whose health and gender prevented her from being a political player in the "Gilded Age" of American politics, but who the author believes became the conscience of the former spoilsman in the White House. Taking on the challenge of writing a biography of Chester Alan Arthur is a daunting task for any biographer and is fraught with difficulty. While Greenberger provides little in the way of new insight into who Chester Alan Arthur was, and what made him tick as president, this is still an interesting book for the reasons its title suggests. For someone as private as Arthur was, any insight on the man in helpful. There is much about both his life and the times that he lived in that provide a fascinating story.
5. Ike and McCarthy: Dwight Eisenhower's Secret Campaign Against Joseph McCarthy by David Nichols (reviewed here): This book makes the case that, while President Dwight Eisenhower never directly criticized witch-hunting Senator Joe McCarthy by name, he waged a brilliant and masterfully strategic behind-the-scenes campaign to discredit McCarthy and to neuter him politically. Nichols tells the story of the McCarthy led investigation into allegations of communist infiltration of the United States Army and how Eisenhower covertly orchestrated political efforts to bring about McCarthy's downfall and to protect the integrity of the army officers that McCarthy sought to disgrace. It is the story of McCarthy's alleged misuse of power by his own actions and those of his inner circle. Nichols provides a well researched account both of what went on in the public eye and behind the scenes. He offers a rare window on oval office political strategic machination as well as a fresh perspective on the McCarthy hearings. It is always a pleasure for a reader of history when the historian can provide an account of an event that goes beyond what is common knowledge, while maintaining fidelity to credible historic records. David Nichols succeeds very capably in this pursuit.
6. Washington's Farewell: The Founding Father's Warning to Future Generations by John Avlon (reviewed here): Daily Beast Editor-in-Chief John Avlon looks at the first President's valedictory, tracing the history of its creation and genesis, analyzing and dissecting its message, and examining how its message has been applied and ignored over the course of subsequent American history. Avlon offers a very thoughtful and considered analysis of Washington's enduring message, and especially of how it has weathered the time since its publication in 1796. He explains that Washington's tenets were never meant to create a straight-jacket of absolutes to apply to every situation. As he explains, Washington understood that history was composed of life-cycles unique to their time, but always rooted in human nature. This book is quite academic at times, but as Avlon presents it, that's not a bad thing. Important governing principles should never be confused with fortune cookie logic, and Avlon provides the reader with an appreciation of the complexities involved in Washington's basic tenets, and of how these have weathered the test of time. This is a very careful and interesting examination of the fundamentals of government as Washington saw them, timeless, and at the same time evolving. Avlon invites the reader to accompany him on a thinking person's excursion of them, with a view to understanding their importance today.
7. The Election of 1860: An Election Fraught With Consequences by Michael F. Holt (review to come): If you think that the election of 1860 was all about slavery, think again, says author Michael Holt. The election the split the nation was about much more, including Democratic Party division and corruption. It may have been Stephen Douglas and not Abraham Lincoln, who aroused southern animosities and created a political and geographic polarization that led to civil war. I haven't yet finished this book, the latest in the American Presidential Elections series, but promise a review as soon as I do.
8. I Like Ike-The Presidential Election of 1952 by John Robert Greene (reviewed here): This is another in the US Presidential Election series published by the University of Kansas. In 1985, Professor John Robert Greene published his first book on the 1952 US Presidential Election entitled The Crusade: The Presidential Election of 1952, in which he advanced the proposition that the candidates for the two major political parties were disingenuous in their claims that neither man wanted to be President. Thirty-two years later, in his new post mortem of the first Eisenhower vs. Stevenson presidential battle, entitled I Like Ike: The Presidential Election of 1952, Professor Greene eats some academic crow, and concedes that he may have been two hasty in this conclusion. He retells the story of the 1952 presidential election campaign, arguing that it was always Eisenhower's to win. He asserts that the importance of Nixon's "Checkers" speech has been overestimated and that in reality it had no impact on the outcome of the election. He explains how Eisenhower's popularity and likeability had wider appeal to voters than Stevenson's professorial demeanor and his oratorical style of talking over the heads of his audience. He provides an excellent analysis not only of the election results, but of how they affected subsequent electoral cycles.
9. Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton's Doomed Campaign by Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes (reviewed here): The book is both an insider's recounting of Hillary Clinton's 2015-16 presidential campaign against Donald Trump, and a post mortem analysis of what went wrong, and where the blame for her loss should be placed. Despite all of the apparent advantages that candidate Clinton enjoyed going into the 2016 presidential campaign, the authors point out how the Clinton campaign possessed a magnetic ability to attract bad luck in epic proportions. This included dysfunction and a lack of unity at the upper level of the management of her campaign. The authors argue that Clinton was unable to present a clear vision for her candidacy beyond a personal lust for power. They blame her for not making adjustments in her campaign team, and for pursuing a flawed strategy that was blind to voter anger over the fact that recovery from the 2008 crash came quickly for the rich, but at a glacier's pace for the middle class and for the poor. It is probably the best of a weak selection of retrospectives on the past election.
10. Bill Clinton (American Presidents Series) by Michael Tomasky (reviewed here): In the latest in the American Presidents Series, In the latest volume, Daily Beast editor-in-chief Michael Tomasky tells the story of Bill Clinton, whom he correctly describes as "a president of contradictions". Tomasky rushes through Clinton's early life and antecedents before describing Clinton's odds-defying 1992 victory over incumbent President George H. W. Bush, a man whose record setting approval ratings of 1990 didn't seem to matter two years later. The author covers Clinton's two terms in office, describing how Clinton confronted daunting challenges both on the international front as well as at home on domestic issues. He tells the story of how Clinton governed at a time when control of Congress was ceded to a very partisan opposition party and how the former Arkansas governor was able to achieve extraordinary success in deficit reduction (and eventual surplus budgets), while compromising on social issues such as welfare reform, all by adopting the stance of a centrist middle-of-the-road Democrat. Tomasky describes how Clinton insisted on his relevance as President despite operating with a hostile Republican Congress and how his capable political skills allowed him to achieve much in this environment despite numerous and frequent challenges. Tomasky has strong opinions on Bill Clinton, and even stronger ones on Ken Starr, and on Clinton's critics. Regardless, he does a good job of describing and assessing the many accomplishments of Clinton's presidency, and of how Clinton's negotiating skills and political street smarts enabled him to do so in spite of his opponents in Congress. For him to do so in such a concise volume is an impressive achievement.
Honorable Mention: Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann (reviewed here): Though not strictly about a president or a presidency, the subject matter of thus book is the result of a fallout from a number of failed government policies. Author David Grann describes how a number of wealthy members of the Osage were defrauded and murdered by unscrupulous businessmen and how the murders were covered up through alarming means. It was a time when, in the words of one contemporary indigenous leader, "killing an Indian was more likely to be charged as cruelty to animals than as murder." Local law enforcement were either useless or in the pockets of those responsible for the crimes or both. This was a time when unscrupulous oil men pursued the great wealth that came with the oil rights on Osage land. A naive President Warren Harding had been taken advantage of by oil men in what became known as the Teapot Dome Scandal, and the law had yet to catch up with those whose money trumped the rule of law. Grann tells the story of how one honest federal agent and his team were able to bring some of the killers to justice, confronted by the challenges of corrupt local law enforcement, threats to personal safety, and the constraints of working under the mercurial and self-promoting FBI director J. Edgar Hoover. Grann describes how Agent Tom White was able to uncover the perpetrators of many of these crimes, even though they were living close to their victims undetected, and how White was able to secure sufficient evidence for conviction of some of the offenders, amid a corrupt justice system that repeatedly threatened to push the prosecution's case off the rails. The confluence of Grann's professional integrity as a researcher and author, along with his talent as a wordsmith and the gripping human interest in this story makes this book deserving for consideration as the best non-fiction work of 2017.
Reviewed but not recommended: Avenging the People-Andrew Jackson, The Rule of Law and the American Nation by J. M. Oppal (reviewed here): Professor J. M. Opal selects an interesting subject, appropriate for these times, the controversial Andrew Jackson. Unfortunately, the book's apparent lack of a clear focus and its pedantic and stream of consciousness style of prose makes for a very difficult read and tough slog, even at just 225 pages. If you're a reader who reads history for pleasure and enjoyment, you might want to give this book a miss.
Not reviewed, but of interest topotus_geeks:
1. Grant by Ron Chernow: Because of the recency of two excellent biographies of Ulysses Grant (by H. W. Brands and Ronald White), I haven't tackled this 1000 page doorstop. Most reviews are favorable, aside from criticism of the book's length.
2. Hoover: An Extraordinary Life in Extraordinary Times by Kenneth Whyte: Once again, the recency of two bios of Hoover by Charles Rappleye and Glen Jeansonne have put off my reading this book. Reviews of this book have also been very positive.
3. The Presidency of Ulysses S. Grant by Charles W. Calhoun: This is one of a series of books that analyzes each president's time in office. Calhoun is an excellent biographer, and this is likely a great source for those interested in the technical aspects of Grant's presidency.
4. Franklin D. Roosevelt: A Political Life by Robert Dallek: Robert Dallek is an excellent author. Reviews of this book are generally positive, but most suggest that the subject matter is wider than FDR's political life and include some interesting material on his childhood and early years and on some of his personal matters.
5. The Accidental President: Harry S. Truman and the Four Months That Changed The World by A.J. Baime: This book focuses on Harry Truman's first four months in office, succeeding FDR in the final year of the second world war. I wish this book had arrived in time for my visit the the Truman Library and Museum this year. It will go on the "to read" pile.
2018 promises more good reading to come. I'll touch on this in more detail, but I'm eagerly anticipating David Pietrusza's book on Theodore Roosevelt, entitled TR's Last War: Theodore Roosevelt, The Great War, and a Journey of Triumph and Tragedy as well as The Age of Eisenhower: America and the World in the 1950s by William Hitchcock, and The Moralist: Woodrow Wilson and the World He Made by Patricia O'Toole. Here's to more happy reading in 2018!
potus_geeks was "so many books, so little time." The past year was a time of great choices in reading for those interested in Presidential history. There were some excellent biographies of Presidents, some well-considered analyses of past elections, and some great accounts of pivotal periods in presidential history. For me personally, there was too much to read, as some of the epic biographies and new books were left unread (so far) but I have listed many of these below. My one regret was the absence of post-mortems of the 2016 election that were present in the aftermath of almost all of the previous elections since Theodore White wrote "The Making of the President: 1960". The current political polarization seems to preclude an objective analysis of what went down in the last election, but I'm hopeful that this may yet be coming. Here is my personal list of the 10 best books read in 2017, followed by some comments on some others:
1. Lincoln's Pathfinder: John C. Fremont and the Violent Election of 1856 by John Bicknell (reviewed here): I had eagerly awaited this book because of John Bicknell's talent for seeing both the forest and the trees in analyzing how history transpired. In this book, Bicknell tells the story of the pivotal election of 1856, the first in which the Republican Party ran a national candidate for President. It is the story of the dashing and daring explorer Colonel John C. Fremont and his charismatic and confident wife, the former Jesse Benton, the political power couple of their era. Fremont became the first Republican candidate for President, and the author describes how previously scattered abolitionist and anti-slavery factions were able to achieve a measure of unity in the formation of the new party that offered the first serious challenge to the status quo that had permitted slavery to continue long after other parts of the globe had acknowledged its immorality. These were indeed dangerous times and John Bicknell weaves a number of stories and into his chronicle of the 1856 presidential election campaign, creating a fascinating tapestry of this era of antebellum America. Bicknell's tremendous strength as a historian is his understanding that presidential elections are not one-dimensional and that while election campaigns are occurring, life goes on. He has the ability to tell those collateral stories and make ordinary Americans as interesting as their more famous contemporaries.
2. President McKinley: Architect of the American Century by Robert W. Merry (reviewed here): Merry reviews the life of William McKinley, from his ancestry and birth, to his youth, as well as his fascinating adventures during the Civil War, a war that McKinley entered as an 18 year old private, and left with the rank of Major. Merry explains how being witness to the horrors of Antietam and other battles would shape McKinley's view of war as President. McKinley had an accomplished career as a lawyer, a congressman famous for his leadership in creating protectionist tariffs, and as a unifying Governor of Ohio. But the majority of the book's 488 pages contains a thorough analysis of the McKinley presidency. Quietly rising to a position of leadership and respect in a divided party, McKinley was able to emerge victorious in a pivotal election, set against the backdrop of economic disparity, one founded on class distinctions that set the interests of agrarian America against the financial establishment, as the debate over gold vs. silver backed currency captivated the nation. As President, McKinley was able to lead his nation from panic to prosperity, win a war with Spain, grapple with the issues of governing distant colonies while resisting a rush to imperialism, and position his nation into one of military security before other nations could leave it in a position of jeopardy. Merry argues that is is McKinley who deserves the credit for leading the nation into a position of world leadership. Merry's biography is not an exercise in hero worship or sycophancy however. The strength of this author is in his ability to present both sides of an issue and to fairly explain the arguments of McKinley's opponents, much as if he is describing current affairs rather than history. There were those who accused McKinley of empire building, of getting embroiled in a war in the Philippines much as would later occur in Vietnam or Iraq. Doing so makes Merry's assessment of McKinley's character, ability and accomplishments all the more forceful and make his assertion that McKinley deserves a larger place in history all the more persuasive. This book deserves strong consideration as the best biography of 2017.
3. Richard Nixon: The Life by John Aloysius Farrell (reviewed here): John Farrell's accounting of Richard Nixon's transition from an idealistic young candidate into an unprincipled Machiavellian capable of brilliant statesmanship, but also capable of justifying all kinds of moral and ethical lapses, is fascinating to read. It demonstrates the author's brilliance, both as a biographer, and as a keen student of human nature. This is a subtle transaction, but it is not without its defining moments and Farrell is alert to all of these. He manages to walk the historian's tightrope of intellectual honesty and ideological neutrality, while still having his own strong opinions, some of which are critical of Democrats, Republicans, and often of Nixon himself. He give his subject credit credit when it is due and excoriates him when it is deserving. Farrell's consideration of Watergate and of Nixon's downfall is aided by mountains of recently released audio recordings and documents previously unavailable to many historians. It is also supplemented by an impressive array of oral histories and interviews from many of those present at the scene of the crime (literally so in many cases), the ultimate who's who of all thing's Nixon. The author has certainly done his homework. This exceptional biography incites neither hatred, admiration, nor pity for its subject. The feelings this book evokes for the fallen president are as complex and as mishmashed as the man himself. This is a significant accomplishment on the part of the author. He has not simply presented "just the facts". He has successfully conveyed an appreciation of the complexity of character that make the life of Richard Nixon so epically tragic.
4. The Unexpected President: The Life and Times of Chester A. Arthur by Scott Greenberger (reviewed here): Greenberger has written a 242 page biography of the 21st President that is representative of what one might expect from such an intensely private subject. Much of the book's pages are filled with stories of many of the peripheral events in Arthur's life and the stories of other important figures in the politics of the day. First among these is Senator Roscoe Conkling, the leader of the "Stalwart" faction of the Republican Party, the man that Arthur served as a political hack, and the master he was expected to serve as President, contributing to the "unexpected" part of the book's title. Other prominent figures are President James Garfield, the man whose assassination led to Arthur's presidency; James G. Blaine, leader of the rival faction in the Republican Party; and Julia Sands, a young woman whose health and gender prevented her from being a political player in the "Gilded Age" of American politics, but who the author believes became the conscience of the former spoilsman in the White House. Taking on the challenge of writing a biography of Chester Alan Arthur is a daunting task for any biographer and is fraught with difficulty. While Greenberger provides little in the way of new insight into who Chester Alan Arthur was, and what made him tick as president, this is still an interesting book for the reasons its title suggests. For someone as private as Arthur was, any insight on the man in helpful. There is much about both his life and the times that he lived in that provide a fascinating story.
5. Ike and McCarthy: Dwight Eisenhower's Secret Campaign Against Joseph McCarthy by David Nichols (reviewed here): This book makes the case that, while President Dwight Eisenhower never directly criticized witch-hunting Senator Joe McCarthy by name, he waged a brilliant and masterfully strategic behind-the-scenes campaign to discredit McCarthy and to neuter him politically. Nichols tells the story of the McCarthy led investigation into allegations of communist infiltration of the United States Army and how Eisenhower covertly orchestrated political efforts to bring about McCarthy's downfall and to protect the integrity of the army officers that McCarthy sought to disgrace. It is the story of McCarthy's alleged misuse of power by his own actions and those of his inner circle. Nichols provides a well researched account both of what went on in the public eye and behind the scenes. He offers a rare window on oval office political strategic machination as well as a fresh perspective on the McCarthy hearings. It is always a pleasure for a reader of history when the historian can provide an account of an event that goes beyond what is common knowledge, while maintaining fidelity to credible historic records. David Nichols succeeds very capably in this pursuit.
6. Washington's Farewell: The Founding Father's Warning to Future Generations by John Avlon (reviewed here): Daily Beast Editor-in-Chief John Avlon looks at the first President's valedictory, tracing the history of its creation and genesis, analyzing and dissecting its message, and examining how its message has been applied and ignored over the course of subsequent American history. Avlon offers a very thoughtful and considered analysis of Washington's enduring message, and especially of how it has weathered the time since its publication in 1796. He explains that Washington's tenets were never meant to create a straight-jacket of absolutes to apply to every situation. As he explains, Washington understood that history was composed of life-cycles unique to their time, but always rooted in human nature. This book is quite academic at times, but as Avlon presents it, that's not a bad thing. Important governing principles should never be confused with fortune cookie logic, and Avlon provides the reader with an appreciation of the complexities involved in Washington's basic tenets, and of how these have weathered the test of time. This is a very careful and interesting examination of the fundamentals of government as Washington saw them, timeless, and at the same time evolving. Avlon invites the reader to accompany him on a thinking person's excursion of them, with a view to understanding their importance today.
7. The Election of 1860: An Election Fraught With Consequences by Michael F. Holt (review to come): If you think that the election of 1860 was all about slavery, think again, says author Michael Holt. The election the split the nation was about much more, including Democratic Party division and corruption. It may have been Stephen Douglas and not Abraham Lincoln, who aroused southern animosities and created a political and geographic polarization that led to civil war. I haven't yet finished this book, the latest in the American Presidential Elections series, but promise a review as soon as I do.
8. I Like Ike-The Presidential Election of 1952 by John Robert Greene (reviewed here): This is another in the US Presidential Election series published by the University of Kansas. In 1985, Professor John Robert Greene published his first book on the 1952 US Presidential Election entitled The Crusade: The Presidential Election of 1952, in which he advanced the proposition that the candidates for the two major political parties were disingenuous in their claims that neither man wanted to be President. Thirty-two years later, in his new post mortem of the first Eisenhower vs. Stevenson presidential battle, entitled I Like Ike: The Presidential Election of 1952, Professor Greene eats some academic crow, and concedes that he may have been two hasty in this conclusion. He retells the story of the 1952 presidential election campaign, arguing that it was always Eisenhower's to win. He asserts that the importance of Nixon's "Checkers" speech has been overestimated and that in reality it had no impact on the outcome of the election. He explains how Eisenhower's popularity and likeability had wider appeal to voters than Stevenson's professorial demeanor and his oratorical style of talking over the heads of his audience. He provides an excellent analysis not only of the election results, but of how they affected subsequent electoral cycles.
9. Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton's Doomed Campaign by Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes (reviewed here): The book is both an insider's recounting of Hillary Clinton's 2015-16 presidential campaign against Donald Trump, and a post mortem analysis of what went wrong, and where the blame for her loss should be placed. Despite all of the apparent advantages that candidate Clinton enjoyed going into the 2016 presidential campaign, the authors point out how the Clinton campaign possessed a magnetic ability to attract bad luck in epic proportions. This included dysfunction and a lack of unity at the upper level of the management of her campaign. The authors argue that Clinton was unable to present a clear vision for her candidacy beyond a personal lust for power. They blame her for not making adjustments in her campaign team, and for pursuing a flawed strategy that was blind to voter anger over the fact that recovery from the 2008 crash came quickly for the rich, but at a glacier's pace for the middle class and for the poor. It is probably the best of a weak selection of retrospectives on the past election.
10. Bill Clinton (American Presidents Series) by Michael Tomasky (reviewed here): In the latest in the American Presidents Series, In the latest volume, Daily Beast editor-in-chief Michael Tomasky tells the story of Bill Clinton, whom he correctly describes as "a president of contradictions". Tomasky rushes through Clinton's early life and antecedents before describing Clinton's odds-defying 1992 victory over incumbent President George H. W. Bush, a man whose record setting approval ratings of 1990 didn't seem to matter two years later. The author covers Clinton's two terms in office, describing how Clinton confronted daunting challenges both on the international front as well as at home on domestic issues. He tells the story of how Clinton governed at a time when control of Congress was ceded to a very partisan opposition party and how the former Arkansas governor was able to achieve extraordinary success in deficit reduction (and eventual surplus budgets), while compromising on social issues such as welfare reform, all by adopting the stance of a centrist middle-of-the-road Democrat. Tomasky describes how Clinton insisted on his relevance as President despite operating with a hostile Republican Congress and how his capable political skills allowed him to achieve much in this environment despite numerous and frequent challenges. Tomasky has strong opinions on Bill Clinton, and even stronger ones on Ken Starr, and on Clinton's critics. Regardless, he does a good job of describing and assessing the many accomplishments of Clinton's presidency, and of how Clinton's negotiating skills and political street smarts enabled him to do so in spite of his opponents in Congress. For him to do so in such a concise volume is an impressive achievement.
Honorable Mention: Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann (reviewed here): Though not strictly about a president or a presidency, the subject matter of thus book is the result of a fallout from a number of failed government policies. Author David Grann describes how a number of wealthy members of the Osage were defrauded and murdered by unscrupulous businessmen and how the murders were covered up through alarming means. It was a time when, in the words of one contemporary indigenous leader, "killing an Indian was more likely to be charged as cruelty to animals than as murder." Local law enforcement were either useless or in the pockets of those responsible for the crimes or both. This was a time when unscrupulous oil men pursued the great wealth that came with the oil rights on Osage land. A naive President Warren Harding had been taken advantage of by oil men in what became known as the Teapot Dome Scandal, and the law had yet to catch up with those whose money trumped the rule of law. Grann tells the story of how one honest federal agent and his team were able to bring some of the killers to justice, confronted by the challenges of corrupt local law enforcement, threats to personal safety, and the constraints of working under the mercurial and self-promoting FBI director J. Edgar Hoover. Grann describes how Agent Tom White was able to uncover the perpetrators of many of these crimes, even though they were living close to their victims undetected, and how White was able to secure sufficient evidence for conviction of some of the offenders, amid a corrupt justice system that repeatedly threatened to push the prosecution's case off the rails. The confluence of Grann's professional integrity as a researcher and author, along with his talent as a wordsmith and the gripping human interest in this story makes this book deserving for consideration as the best non-fiction work of 2017.
Reviewed but not recommended: Avenging the People-Andrew Jackson, The Rule of Law and the American Nation by J. M. Oppal (reviewed here): Professor J. M. Opal selects an interesting subject, appropriate for these times, the controversial Andrew Jackson. Unfortunately, the book's apparent lack of a clear focus and its pedantic and stream of consciousness style of prose makes for a very difficult read and tough slog, even at just 225 pages. If you're a reader who reads history for pleasure and enjoyment, you might want to give this book a miss.
Not reviewed, but of interest to
potus_geeks:1. Grant by Ron Chernow: Because of the recency of two excellent biographies of Ulysses Grant (by H. W. Brands and Ronald White), I haven't tackled this 1000 page doorstop. Most reviews are favorable, aside from criticism of the book's length.
2. Hoover: An Extraordinary Life in Extraordinary Times by Kenneth Whyte: Once again, the recency of two bios of Hoover by Charles Rappleye and Glen Jeansonne have put off my reading this book. Reviews of this book have also been very positive.
3. The Presidency of Ulysses S. Grant by Charles W. Calhoun: This is one of a series of books that analyzes each president's time in office. Calhoun is an excellent biographer, and this is likely a great source for those interested in the technical aspects of Grant's presidency.
4. Franklin D. Roosevelt: A Political Life by Robert Dallek: Robert Dallek is an excellent author. Reviews of this book are generally positive, but most suggest that the subject matter is wider than FDR's political life and include some interesting material on his childhood and early years and on some of his personal matters.
5. The Accidental President: Harry S. Truman and the Four Months That Changed The World by A.J. Baime: This book focuses on Harry Truman's first four months in office, succeeding FDR in the final year of the second world war. I wish this book had arrived in time for my visit the the Truman Library and Museum this year. It will go on the "to read" pile.
2018 promises more good reading to come. I'll touch on this in more detail, but I'm eagerly anticipating David Pietrusza's book on Theodore Roosevelt, entitled TR's Last War: Theodore Roosevelt, The Great War, and a Journey of Triumph and Tragedy as well as The Age of Eisenhower: America and the World in the 1950s by William Hitchcock, and The Moralist: Woodrow Wilson and the World He Made by Patricia O'Toole. Here's to more happy reading in 2018!