Thomas Jefferson - The Art of Power

Thomas Jefferson – The Art of Power by Jon Meacham

Thomas Jefferson is one of those historical figures that many authors have already written about, and will probably have more books written about him in the future.  So one almost has to ask, “Is this book really necessary?”  I would have to answer both yes and no.

This book is really a “bird’s eye” view of the man.  We get an overall picture of the man and his life without going into too much detail.  Critics claim that this book doesn’t focus enough on his many achievements, and they would be right.  However, this really isn’t the intention.  Note the subtitle “The Art of Power”.  That’s really what the focus of this book is, and how such a description relates to Thomas Jefferson.  Yes, this biography covers his entire life, it’s just a bit thin in some areas, and other facets of his life might get more attention than some readers desire.

Of course, I always maintain that it’s always quite difficult to compile such a volume about people that lived over 200 years ago.  Oh, sure, we have plenty of correspondence and valuable resources, but in the age before television and other forms of mass media, you always have to treat some areas with caution when people claim they know the “real” story.

The biggest area of focus in this book is Thomas Jefferson the politician. From his days in the Second Continental Congress, all the way to President of the United States, we get a good picture of the man, but an even better picture of the political climate of the day.  What we must remember about our young nation during, and immediately after, the American Revolution, is that no one really knew for sure what kind of government we would have.  Yes, we wanted to escape British authoritarian control, but once that happens, then what?  The biggest struggles in the book seems to revolve around the Federalist party that desired more centralized control (similar to the British monarchy), and the Democrat-Republican party that argued for more individual rights and claimed that all men were created equal, and everyone should have fair representation and a fair shot.  Jefferson was a big proponent of the latter.  There’s a lot of political bantering here.  Anyone who thinks partisan politics is a recent creation needs to read this book for a different perspective.

There’s a fair amount of his personal life here as well, including his relationship with slave Sally Hemings.  Jefferson was definitely a creature of his culture when it came to American slavery.  He claimed that he favored emancipation and manumissions, yet he seemed to always own a fair share of slaves, including Ms. Hemings.  Although there are many interpretations of this part of his life, this book led me to speculate that he actually loved, or at least deeply cared for Sally Hemings.  After his wife died several years earlier, she made him promise that he would never marry again.  Well, he kept that promise, but seemed to turn to Sally Hemings more and more for comfort and companionship.

Despite this incident, I found that I generally liked Thomas Jefferson.  He impressed me as someone who didn’t allow anyone to do his thinking for him, and always had intelligent things to say about current goings-on.  I would add Thomas Jefferson to my list of historical figures that I would love to meet and spend a few hours conversing. 

As mentioned, this book doesn’t dive too deep.  If you’re wanting a lot of insights on his writing the Declaration of Independence, The Louisiana Purchase, or his workings with the conflicts of the Tripoli Pirates, I would advise you to look elsewhere.  If, however, you want an overall understanding of who the man was, and his contributions to the early times of American History, I would highly recommend. 

Gerald R. Ford - An Honorable Life

Gerald R. Ford - An Honorable Life by James Canon

I mainly picked this book up because I’m trying to read biographies of every American president.  Although it’s a fairly new book, I recall absolutely no fanfare when the book was released.  Maybe because Ford wasn’t that exciting of a guy?  Maybe because he was president for such a short time?  Well, it didn’t help that the Kindle version of this book was over $20 (!!) either.  Fortunately, I found a copy at my local library.  I was very surprised at how well this book was written.  I enjoyed it immensely.

Well, what exactly do we remember about Gerald Ford?  It seems that we know more about HOW and WHY he became president as opposed to anything the man actually did – either before or during his presidency.  Not surprisingly, a big chunk of this book deals with his predecessor, Richard Nixon, and the Watergate scandal.  Although I’ve read an awful lot of retrospectives about Watergate, I didn’t mind hearing about it again here.  When one really thinks about it, most Watergate books don’t talk much about Gerald Ford.  He’s almost mentioned as a footnote or an afterthought.  So it’s interesting to see the tragedy through his eyes as it unfolds.

I found it fascinating, yet at the same time depressing, as to how he ascended to become Commander in Chief.  For those that don’t know, Nixon’s Vice-President, Spiro Agnew, was having problems of his own and was actually forced out of office a year before Nixon’s resignation.  Most on the inside knew that it was only a matter of time before Nixon would be forced out as well, so Congress decided they needed to pick the “best person” to become the new Vice-President – as this individual would, almost surely, become the next president as well.  Think about that for a minute.  Never in our country’s history have we “chosen” a president by this process.  I mention that this factor was fascinating, yet also depressing.  This is because, well, Ford was actually a great candidate for the particular job, and both Republicans and Democrats felt he was the best.  Yet, at the same time, Gerald Ford had one of those personalities that would never allow himself to get elected for the office by the people.  Forget the fact that he was well qualified, he simply wasn’t “sexy” enough to be a President.  The American people place far too much emphasis on style, and not enough on substance.

This book does cover Ford’s entire life, but it wisely doesn’t spend that much time on his early years.  We learn just enough about the man to understand his character and how he acts once he’s elected to the House of Representatives.  He’s very smart, very calm, has a strong local constituent base, and doesn’t need to do a lot of preening for the camera.  Some would say his lack of charisma should be a deterrent for a “leader”, but the current political climate (2016 as I write) has me believing otherwise.

Once he takes over as President in August of 1974, his main job – heal the nation. Not only is the country reeling from Watergate and the first ever resignation of a President, but there are other problems as well – inflation, unemployment, Mid-East tensions, and many other normal things that president’s deal with every day.   Ford’s most notable decision was a pardon for Richard Nixon.  There are those that argue that this was his worst mistake, and those arguments have plenty of validity.  However Ford makes a strong argument.  He states that the country has had enough of Watergate and needs to move on.  Had he not pardoned Nixon, the spotlight would have remained on Nixon and his travails for several more years.  So I agree with Ford.  Enough was enough.

The shadow of Watergate can’t escape Ford as he runs for President in 1976.  He does an o.k. job during his campaign, but when an unknown governor of Georgia starts smiling a lot and charming the socks off everyone with his enduring southern accent, it proves to be just the antidote that the country needs to forget about Watergate and Vietnam.  Hindsight being 20-20, I’m actually surprised how well Ford did – it’s not like he got whooped a la Barry Goldwater or Walter Mondale.  The popular vote was rather close.

Of course, we read about his post-presidential life, but there really isn’t anything that exciting, so the author doesn’t devote too much time to that phase of his life either.

You really have to wonder just what type of leader Gerald Ford would have been had he been president for a normal length of time. His entire tenure lasted less than 1000 days, and the majority of that time was either spent cleaning up Nixon’s mess and/or campaigning for the 1976 election.  Although, again, he was very smart and even tempered (and not as far right as, say, Ronald Reagan), you have to wonder if his lack of chutzpah may have hindered a four year term.

A great book.  Don’t pass up just because you think his presidency was somewhat inconsequential.  Dare I say – we could use more men and women like Gerald Ford in leadership these days.

Bound for the Promised Land: Harriet Tubman: Portrait of an American Hero

Bound for the Promised Land: Harriet Tubman: Portrait of an American Hero by Kate Clifford Larson

What do we really know about the woman who will soon grace the twenty-dollar bill?  Sadly, we really don’t know much at all.  One of the many heartbreaking consequences of slavery is not only the fact that human beings spent their entire lives in bondage, but that history tells us almost nothing about these people.  As the author so crudely (yet accurately) tells us, slaves were basically treated like horses.  No records of birth nor death in many instances.  Individuals were loaned out when others needed them and/or finances were particularly tough for an owner, and thought was rarely given to splitting up families.  Just like horses or other livestock.

So it shouldn’t really be surprising that Harriet Tubman’s life has been passed down as more myth than accurate history.  We simply don’t know many details.  The author is very forthright in these matters.  She takes meticulous care in explaining to the reader that one must do a lot of speculating when writing about such a person as Harriet Tubman.  In fact, one could argue that she is forced to “fill many of the pages” with what we <I>do</I> know around slavery in order to get a more accurate picture.  There were times when I forgot I was reading a book about Harriet Tubman and thought that I was reading about the institution of slavery as it existed in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.  None of this really bothered me, however, other than the fact that such a travesty in any country’s history is always difficult to stomach.  I have a hard time reading books about oppressed people.  It’s so hard for me to comprehend how cruel people can be to one another.

So Tubman’s life probably mirrors many other lives of slaves.  Her early life has her constantly being “loaned out” to temporary masters.  Some are kinder than others, but the cruel ones are particularly ruthless. At one point, a “master” gets angry at a particular slave and throws an anvil at him. He misses, yet manages to hit Tubman instead and severely wound her.  She survives, yet harbors the wound for her entire life.  I mention this because Tubman believes she has an epiphany after the accident, goes into trances from time to time, and is convinced that God has chosen her to help redeem her people and help end slavery.  Whether this revelation was truly divine, a result of an overactive imagination, or the consequence of a nasty head wound is debatable.  Whatever the case, history now tells us that, celestial or accidental, this incident turned out to be a great thing.

The remarkable thing about Tubman is that once she escapes, she elects not to run further away, yet run <I>back</I> and rescue more and more slaves.  This is obviously incredibly perilous. She never seems apprehensive, seems completely in control, and has incredible wits to manage such escapades with daring brilliance.  She knows God will keep her safe.  The book is filled with such dramatic escape tales, and if a movie is ever made about her, you can bet that some of these adventures would take up the bulk of the film.  Again, when you don’t know much history, such dramatic events tend to stand out.

At the outbreak of the U.S. Civil War, Tubman continues to work strongly for the cause, aiding the Union army however possible.  The book doesn’t really dwell too much on this area of her life, probably because much simply isn’t known.  We then briefly read about her post Civil War days as she continues to be an activist – campaigning for universal suffrage.  The book is also intertwined with many famous figures of U.S. History including Frederick Douglass, Susan B. Anthony and John Brown.  All of these individuals Tubman works with in some capacity during her lifelong plight.

The biggest weakness of the book is that the author feels compelled to list every single individual by name that happens to be related to any of the incidents that occur in Tubman’s life.  Example: If Tubman hides in a particular “safe house” during one of her escapes, the author will proceed to tell us the name of every individual that resided at the particular house, along with (what seemed like) an intense lengthy genealogy.  This wouldn’t be a bad idea if such individuals had a more major role in the story, but when we never visit the particular safe house again, we wonder “what’s the point??”.  My advice is to skip over most of the names and not try to catalog them in your brain as you read.  Otherwise, your brain will soon become overloaded.

Overall a very good, powerful, necessary read.  One really wishes, however, that we could know so much more about this true heroine.

The Judge

The Judge by Steve Martini

One of those books that I found in my garage that I obtained somehow, somewhere, a couple of decades ago.  Giving this book a try, I came to the conclusion that it was overall well written, yet I honestly don’t have any urge to read anything else by this author anytime soon.

This is one of those legal thrillers written by an author who is also, obviously, a lawyer.  This description immediately makes everyone first think of “John Grisham”.  Well, Steve Martini is no John Grisham, but to be fair, neither is anyone else.  Reading this book, it’s very obvious, however, that Martini is an expert in legal matters.  Such qualities don’t necessary translate to a well written story, but just because Martini might not be the best at what he does, this is still an overall satisfying read.

The hero in this book is lawyer Paul Madriani.  A widower with a young daughter.  Having a main, or in this case, recurring character with such a background allows the author to stretch the pages a bit further since it allows our hero to have romantic interests as well as coping with the hard life of being single parent.  A task that is portrayed as somewhat more difficult for a man than a woman in this story.

Initially in the story, Madriani is approached by a female friend (also single, also a lawyer) that Madriani happens to have a wee crush on.  She needs his help, as her police officer cousin has become a suspect is some foul, police corruption goings on.  As our hero starts his investigation, we begin to see the legal profession with all of the exposed seams – including a less than helpful judge.  It seems Madriani and this judge have never really gotten along too well during their careers.  So Madriani has to double much of his work efforts that seem to only yield about half of the desired results.

Well, lo and behold, the Judge soon gets arrested for a crime!  Madriani first breathes a sigh of relief.  However, as we turn the pages, it seems as though Madriani will now end up defending the Judge in a murder trial.  So, yes, it’s a predictable twist of fate, and from this point on, the story is basically an intricate view of the judge’s trial.  We meet other lawyers, the prosecuting attorney, the “new” judge, and a lot of witnesses.  It’s all done very well, yet to be honest, I found the details too meticulous.  I feel the author could have told a better story with fewer words.

Speaking of “fewer words”, this leads to another criticism I have with this book.  The book is told in first person, and the author feels it necessary to tell us what the character is thinking every time he utters a sentence.  So when the protagonist says something randomly inconsequential such as “I enjoyed a piece of toast”, the author will then spend a paragraph or two on his character explaining what makes a really good piece of toast.  This wears on the reader in a hurry.  (Such an event didn’t actually happen in this book, but I’m trying to make an analogy.)  I found that in instances where the author did NOT bog us down with Madriani’s thoughts, made the book much more enjoyable as the story progressed on a much more digestible level.  The author should give his readers a bit more credit in the imagination department.

I’ll also say that the book did get better as it went on.  The second half was much better than the first once the trial “got going”.  This was a pretty good read, and I imagine the more that one really loves to read and study the law, the more that they would enjoy this book since it was so thoroughly detailed.