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Tag Archives: Politics-CivicInterest
Ghosting the News
The first time I ever applied for a job, it was at my local newspaper; I remember seeing the iMacs on the desk and thinking that if I really wanted to work in journalism, I might have to learn macOS. … Continue reading
1932: Franklin and Adolf
I’m afraid 1932 won’t get much of a review because frankly, it exhausted me. It’s the story of two men who were rising to national leadership on their respective sides of the pond in the same year – two men … Continue reading
Posted in history, Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews
Tagged 1930s, FDR, Germany, Herbert Hoover, history, Hitler, Nazi, Politics-CivicInterest, The Great Depression
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The Hoover Experience
When I opened this book, I had some faint appreciation of Herbert Hoover as an accomplished engineer and disaster-relief organizer, a man who intervened after Black Thursday far more than is generally known, and who is unfairly blamed for the … Continue reading
Keep Cool with Coolidge!
Calvin Coolidge has long been one of my favorite presidents; I think as a child I was drawn to his nickname of Silent Cal, with its reputation for taciturnity; later on, I respected his approach to government — keep the … Continue reading
Posted in history, Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews
Tagged 1910s, 1920s, Amity Schlaes, biography, Calvin Coolidge, Hail to the Chief, history, Politics-CivicInterest
2 Comments
Benjamin “I’m More than the Guy Between Cleveland Terms” Harrison
What do I know about Benjamin Harrison? Well, he was a core part of the Cleveland Hero Sandwich, the thin bit of meat between two enormous Cleveland halves. And his granddaddy was president for a month before dying and giving … Continue reading
TRUMAN
A new reader to this blog might ask, “SC, after cheerfully dismissing president after president with 200-page biographies from the American Presidents series, why did you decide to read a twelve hundred page treatment of Harry S. Truman?” There are … Continue reading
Posted in history, Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews
Tagged 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1960s, biography, David McCullough, Harry Truman, Politics-CivicInterest
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William Howard “Chief Magistrate” Taft
Early on in the American republic, the office of president was referred to as the chief magistrate; William Howard Taft must have taken that on as a challenge, because after serving as President, he later became the Chief Justice of … Continue reading
Posted in history, Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews
Tagged 1900s, 1910s, biography, law, Politics-CivicInterest, Theodore Roosevelt, William H. Taft
7 Comments
Republic or Empire? The True Flag
I’ve been wanting to read this title for years now after having found Stephen Kinzer’s various books on DC’s overseas adventures, while at the same time stumbling upon Mark Twain’s anti-war writings collected in Weapons of Satire. Coming of age … Continue reading
The Thirty-First of March
I begin the first of presumably several books on LBJ by peering into his office as he made the decision to not run for office again in 1968. The door is opened by Horace Busby, a newspaperman-turned-speechwriter and confidant for … Continue reading
Posted in history, Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews
Tagged 1960s, Eisenhower, Hail to the Chief, Horace Busby, LBJ, memoir, Politics-CivicInterest
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