Customer Reviews

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

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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.

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.

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.

This book discusses the federal income tax in the United States from its origins during the Civil War to the ratification of the Sixteenth Amendment in February 1913, and its implementation by the Administration of President Woodrow Wilson. The book also has an Epilogue that briefly discusses the history of the federal income tax after 1920.

The technical aspects of the federal income tax are not the focus of this book. The author writes a lively tale that discusses the arguments for and against the federal income tax that occurred in American politics from 1860 to 1920, and makes interesting observations and asides about the clashing of political personalities and political ideologies during the often contentious debates about the federal income tax.

After reading this book, it is easy to see that many of the arguments made in the current debates about federal taxes, federal spending, and federal deficits are similar to the arguments made in the political debates about those subjects during the period 1860-1920. Anyone interested in getting some historical perspective on the current political debates about federal taxes should consider reading this book. For a book about the history of the national debt that is worth reading, see John Steele Gordon, Hamilton's Blessing: The Extraordinary Life and Times of Our National Debt: Revised Edition.

I give it 4 stars, though it may be me, not the book. I loved reading the history of the income tax and how it was used as leverage in a lot of ways. This does that well and gets pretty name/background heavy. As I said, some folks would love that, I was more into the story of how it was manipulated through time, rather than every single person who played a role, BUT that is what makes this book so thorough so I'd give it 4 1/2 stars. : Get it, it's cheap and enlightening.

I was hoping for more out of this book based on it's description.

It does go through the history of the Income Tax in the US from it's earliest appearance through it's present form - but it glosses over the actual legality of the tax, the underhanded method by which it (and the Federal Reserve) were thrust upon us, and the larger and very unjust distribution of wealth question.

I feel the author is entirely too accepting of the whole income tax idea and almost writes from a position of "loving" the income tax. He tells the story of its life.

He completely ignores the question of whether the 16th amendment was actually ratified by the states, and how such an amendment, were it actually ratified in the first place, could be accepted as law since it contradicts two very specific Constitutional prohibitions of un-apportioned taxes.

It left me more than a little dissapointed - though I suppose he got the names and dates correct - it's hardly a complete history of the Income Tax in the US.

There are better, more comprehensive, and more lively books on the topic available. Unless you want to read them all, I'd go for another one before this one.

This book was weak. Mr. Weisman's account of the income tax in America is elementary. This book is more a story of the major players then an account of the facts and events. Moreover this book does not tell the complete story (Weisman omits the very ownerous tax levied during WWI on the upper tax brackets). If you are interested in reading a book about economic history in the United States avoid this.