The Great Tax Wars: Lincoln--Teddy Roosevelt--Wilson How the Income Tax Transformed America [Paperback]

Steven R. Weisman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 26, 2004

A major work of history, The Great Tax Wars is the gripping, epic story of six decades of often violent conflict over wealth, power, and fairness that gave America the income tax. It's the story of a tumultuous period of radical change, from Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War through the progressive era under Theodore Roosevelt and ending with Woodrow Wilson and World War I. During these years of upheaval, America was transformed from an agrarian society into a mighty industrial nation, great fortunes were amassed, farmers and workers rebelled, class war was narrowly averted, and America emerged as a global power.

The Great Tax Wars features an extraordinary cast of characters, including the men who built the nation's industries and the politicians and reformers who battled them -- from J. P. Morgan and Andrew Carnegie to Lincoln, T.R., Wilson, William Jennings Bryan, and Eugene Debs. From their ferocious battles emerged a more flexible definition of democracy, economic justice, and free enterprise largely framed by a more progressive tax system. In this groundbreaking book, Weisman shows how the ever controversial income tax transformed America and how today's debates about the tax echo those of the past.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Robert Samuelson The New York Times Book Review [An] engaging reconstruction...of largely forgotten history....Weisman's account is crisply written, highly readable, and informative. The fascinating cast of characters...illuminates the social upheavals and political conflicts of another era.

The Washington Post Weisman lays bare the early history of the progressive income tax in America, and in the process makes present-day fracases over taxation echo a much longer debate over wealth and its proper uses in the American republic.

The Boston Globe A great book...Readers who snoozed during economics class will find here prose in plain English, sweetened with intriguing cultural observations and personal tidbits about the leaders who shaped the tax debate.

The New Yorker A riveting story, peopled by extraordinary characters...Weisman illuminates American political and economic history from Abraham Lincoln's administration through Woodrow Wilson's.

Anthony Lewis author of Make No Law "Masterful" is too tame a word for this exciting book. Through the tale of struggles over taxes, Steven Weisman illuminates war, politics, law, and presidential character in American history. You find yourself with Abraham Lincoln, unable to pay for the Civil War -- and with a Supreme Court determined to outlaw the income tax.

Daniel Patrick Moynihan If you have ever paid income tax, this epic work will show you why. I wish I had read this book when I became chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.

Donald L. Miller author of City of the Century This is history written on a grand scale, a fresh and arresting account of the half century of turmoil and insurgency that shaped our modern tax system and modern America itself.

About the Author

Steven R. Weisman is the chief diplomatic correspondent of The New York Times. An award-winning journalist, he has covered politics, economics, and international affairs for more than thirty years. He lives in the Washington, D.C., area with his wife, Elisabeth Bumiller, and two children.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (October 26, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743243811
• ISBN-13: 978-0743243810
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #249,274 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic economic & political history - Civil War to WWI, July 23, 2005

By 

Eric Hobart (La Center, WA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Great Tax Wars: Lincoln--Teddy Roosevelt--Wilson How the Income Tax Transformed America (Paperback)

Steven Weisman has provided us with a history of how the income tax transformed American politics and economics starting with the Civil War and running up through the Woodrow Wilson administration.

Although the history of taxation is not a well known or well loved subject, Weisman does a very good job of integrating the history of income taxes, tarrifs, and corporate taxes with the economic, political, and social history of America.

Weisman starts with the introduction of the income tax during the Civil War, exploring taxation in both the Union and the Confederacy (a topic which I have never seen explored before). As part of his study, he explains why the income tax, although partially successful in paying for the war, should have been expanded further during the conflict to prevent the economic misfortunes that beset the government at the conclusion of the war.

Minimal attention is given to taxation or economic policies during the Grant administration, and Presidents Hayes, Garfield and Arthur are hardly mentioned at all. McKinley & Roosevelt are the topics of the next major section of the book, where Weisman does a great job of explaining how McKinley's programs transitioned into the Progressive income tax reforms introduced by Theodore Roosevelt.

The congressional battles over the tax, along with the involvement of the Supreme Court (in fact, the court invalidated the income tax in 1895), makes the book very interesting reading, as the author gives the reader a comprehensive picture of the relationship between the three branches of government as related to taxation.

Weisman continues to provide a comprehensive picture of taxation up through the first world war and the Wilson administration, with an epilogue that takes us up to the current day.

Overall, I would highly recommend this book to anyone that has the slightest interest in economic, political, or taxation history of America.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Useful history of the income tax, May 31, 2008

By 

Grover Hartt, III (Dallas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Great Tax Wars: Lincoln--Teddy Roosevelt--Wilson How the Income Tax Transformed America (Paperback)

The author has done a nice job of collecting and distilling what will be to some familiar history in order to provide a highly readable account of the adoption and implementation of the graduated income tax. I thought he struck a good balance between general information and illuminating vignettes. The history of the battle in the Supreme Court that preceded that the Sixteenth Amendment was a little diffuse, and young Congressman Cordell Hull would have been quoting Chancellor of the Exchequer -- not Prime Minister -- Lloyd George in 1913 since LG had not yet succeeded Asquith (p. 277).

However, these are just quibbles; the story is well-presented and very worthwhile. The reader cannot avoid being struck by the parallels between the popular reaction to the astounding wealth of a few that propelled the adoption of the income tax almost a century ago to the similar reaction to hedge-fund billionaires today. Perhaps the pendulum is beginning to swing again, and the need for revenue may rein in some of these excesses.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting and well written, December 18, 2007

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Jack Lechelt "Jackyred" (Virginia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Great Tax Wars: Lincoln--Teddy Roosevelt--Wilson How the Income Tax Transformed America (Paperback)

A really helpful book on the history of the income tax in America (and in learning about tariffs and estate taxes too - it's all related).
Weisman leans to the left, so it's more of a "how the income tax is good for America," but I think at it's most basic level, the income tax is good for America and most Americans of most ideologies recognize that. Of course, that's not to say we like paying it. If we voluntarily paid our taxes, well, then we would have to call it something else. Anyway, the book covers the period from the Civil War to the end of Wilson's Administration. Clearly, to fight wars and maintain a strong defense, we need to tax ourselves. And to make it far for regular Americans, we need to have a progressive income tax. Weisman believes that the income tax helps balance justice and fairness as best as is humanly possible.

The book really should be just the first volume in a two volume work because the income tax as we know - a source of revenue that many Americans had to pay - with the arrival of the FDR Administration, and it grew since then. Some minor decreases under JFK, Reagan, and GW Bush, but the changes those three made were minor compared to what was there before and after they came along. Anyway, that second book would probably be more interesting.

The greatest strengths of Weisman's books, I thought, were his discussions of populism, progressivism, and the changing economic arguments from the Democrats and Republicans. Also, the character sketches of Lincoln, TR, Wilson, and the financial folks were most interesting. Finally, Weisman's look at the confederate economic system was fascinating. So it goes.