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12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A historical reminder that Presidents can make stupid decisions, November 29, 2008
This review is from: Failures of the Presidents: From the Whiskey Rebellion and War of 1812 to the Bay of Pigs and War in Iraq (Paperback)
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This book examines a number of presidential failures, decisions that simply did not pan out well. The book notes that it sometimes takes quite awhile to weigh successes and failures of presidents. Also, each decision is placed in its context and (Page 9) "Our goal has been to 'get inside [the Presidents'] heads,' to review the circumstances they faced, consider their options, and understand their motives for acting as they did."
20 case studies are considered, from George Washington's effort to put down the Whiskey Rebellion to George W. Bush's decision to go to war in Iraq. Here some questions can be raised. Has there been time for history to judge Bush's Iraq policy? Selecting this example seems to go against one of their statements that time has to pass to assess decisions.
Sometimes, the authors appear to exaggerate the negative consequences of decisions. Washington's efforts to quell the Whiskey Rebellion certainly can be questioned. But to suggest that this was a debacle that helped to lead to the decline and fall of the Federalist Party seems to me to go over the top, as does the suggestion that the decline of this Party "hamstrung the national government for sixty years" (Page 23).
Nonetheless, the book does illustrate the making of and consequences of major decisions. Among those examined here (each decision takes up 12-15 pages of text and photos): Adams' The Alien and Sedition Acts, Jefferson's Embargo Acts, Madison's War of 1812, Cleveland and the Pullman Strike, FDR and the internment of Japanese-Americans, Kennedy's Bay of Pigs invasion. Johnson's Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, Nixon's Watergate, and Carter's 'Malaise" speech and energy proposal. There are others as well, but this listing illustrates what the authors focus upon.
Some of these decisions led to genuine debacles, such as the Bay of Pigs fiasco and the Watergate burglary and its aftermath. Other decisions don't seem to me to rise to that same level of policy disaster. Was Carter's energy policy and 'malaise' theme at nearly the same level of disaster as the Bay of Pigs? Was Iran-Contra under Reagan as disastrous as the US getting into the War of 1812? Even those questions, though, indicate one of the features of this book. It gets one to thinking about the import of decisions and what can go wrong.
To conclude, this is a useful volume, reminding us that leaders need to be questioned, that we should never simply say "Our leaders know what's best." As all of us, leaders are fallible, and these poor decisions should remind us of that. While I have reservations about this book, in the end it makes its own useful contribution.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Overall interesting perspective to learn some history, January 8, 2009
This review is from: Failures of the Presidents: From the Whiskey Rebellion and War of 1812 to the Bay of Pigs and War in Iraq (Paperback)
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Timely product, as we have been focusing so much lately on elections, presidential politics, and an upcoming inauguration. I expected this to be less "little blurbs" on each president or "failure", and, instead, a more flowing text, but, nevertheless, I thought it was interesting. This book is more like a "Don't Know Much About Presidential History" with a particular slant to criticizing presidents than it is a more serious history book analyzing American history. But, for people who like to learn in smaller chunks, this could be fun and informing. I think it would be a good reference book for teachers to use in classrooms, for lesson plans, or for the students to look at, as long as it wasn't the only information made available about some of these events. Alone, this is incomplete and a little biased, but as an introduction to discussing them further, it's very good.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good Light History, December 14, 2008
This review is from: Failures of the Presidents: From the Whiskey Rebellion and War of 1812 to the Bay of Pigs and War in Iraq (Paperback)
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Failures of the Presidents: From the Whiskey Rebellion and War of 1812 to the Bay of Pigs and War in Iraq
I categorize light history as anything where the writers compile information from secondary sources and organize it into an easy-to-read format with a theme. In this book the author(s) (I'm not quite sure who did what here as there are several co-authors listed in the acknowledgments who aren't listed on the cover) review what they consider to be the greatest failures of certain--not all--of the presidents from Washington to George W. Bush. (Interestingly, Bush the Father doesn't have a chapter but was included in the Iran-Contra chapter). There are no footnotes and no bibliography, only "additional reading" for each chapter, which, I assume, comprised their source material unless these authors knew it all of the top of their heads.
Of course, anything of this sort will be extremely subjective, but, in this case, I was at a loss to determine the authors' method of choice. In the introduction it is noted that the Monica Lewinsky scandal and Clinton's impeachment are not included because the co-authors "...could not agree definitively that the ...scandals...actually inflicted damage on the United States at the time." In fact, there is no chapter on Clinton, implying, I suppose, that he had no major failures. However, (and I'm a Democrat), if Carter's botched attempt at rescuing the Iranian hostages was included, why not the Battle of Mogadishu (Black Hawk Down)?
There are also some inclusions I question. For example, what has become known as "The Trail of Tears," the relocation of the Cherokee under Andrew Jackson. A qualifier here. I am a huge advocate for American Indian rights and know more about America's treatment of the Indians than most professional historians. However, I can't say I see how it falls under the rubric noted above re: the absence of the Lewinsky scandal. While it was certainly a moral shame, I don't see how it could be seen as "inflicting damage on the US at the time." More significant would be the taking of the Black Hills in the 1870s leading to a rallying of Plains Indian Tribes and Custer's defeat at The Little Bighorn.
I would also question the inclusion of the Energy Crisis under Jimmy Carter as a presidential failure. Too bad if it caused some economic woes at the time. In retrospect we'd have done better to stick with gas rationing and lowering our thermostats.
I did appreciate the inclusion of Iran-Contra, the now all but forgotten illegal dealings of the Reagan administration which are far too complicated to outline here. At a time when both Republicans and Democrats feel the need to pay lip service to the late president, it's good to remember what that administration got away with and how it began the line of thinking that the president is above the law and all things are allowable as commander-in-chief. However, I would have liked to see other inclusions under Reagan, like the firing of the Air Traffic Controllers and the banking deregulation that led to the Keating scandal (of which John McCain was a part).
Then again, you can't include everything or it would be a tome. All-in-all a good read, especially for those who avoid history because they think it is too boring. This is an easy read, covers a lot of important history, and, at its best, may entice people to read more about these events.
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