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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A mini review of Clements' THE PRESIDENCY OF WOODROW WILSON, August 23, 2000
This review is from: The Presidency of Woodrow Wilson (Paperback)
Clements' book is an accessible, well written, though occasionally overly detailed analysis of one of the most important presidents of the twentieth century and possibly of the entire history of the presidency. This book is an investigation of Wilson's presidency, rather than a biography. His beliefs, values and political training is quite brief. Though the information that Clements does provide is insightful and incisive. Throughout the book, its structure is clear and direct. The ending of the book suggests the depth of the author's admiration for Wilson. This admiration does not prevent Clements from seeing the flaws in his subject, but occassionally it causes him to gloss over them too easily, minimizing their seriousness. Aside from key lapses, Clements is able to evaluate Wilson fairly, despite his evident admiration for the president. Overall, the book makes for a very worthwhile reading. It's not only thorough, but lively as well. The historical context of Wilson's rise to power is carfully constucted, providing a clear sense of Wilson's debt to the Progressive movement-as wellas his ocntribution to it. More importantly, he provides a complex, compelling portrayal of a very fascinating man. To read the book is to glimpse a picture of a very flesh-and-blood president, a man who left a remarkable imprint upon the presidency and the shape of our nation as a whole.
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Plenty of details, but quite dry, 2 1/2 stars, November 18, 2008
This review is from: The Presidency of Woodrow Wilson (Paperback)
I was looking for a book that dealt with Woodrow Wilson's handling of World War I and the peace treaty process, without getting into too much of his pre-president life. I gave this book a shot, and I was fairly disappointed.
This book, to me, reads very much like a long research paper. It's not a smooth, flowing narrative by any means. Clements deals briefly with Wilson's career prior to Washington, and then goes right into the 1912 election and the presidency. But he gets so bogged down in details about various legislation and policy matters that, at times, it's hard to read.
I have not read other books from this series, and perhaps the objective is to simply present the facts without the bells and whistles. I learned a great deal about Wilson from this book. But there are no juicy details. In fact, Clements nearly manages to make America's involvement in the war and the fascinating treaty negotiations (in Paris and at home) uninteresting.
What I did find particularly noteworthy -- and I'm not being critical here, but rather complimentary of his objectivity -- was that Clements made an argument in the introduction, and spent much of the book contradicting it. He acknowledged in the intro that he was a fan of Wilson and considered him a special president. But throughout the book, he points out countless mistakes in judgment Wilson made, pre- and post-war, pre- and post-stroke. The negatives, it seemed, outweighed the positives.
If you're looking for a Wilson book, I don't have a good one to suggest, but I'd read reviews of other books about him and choose from those.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Another excellent American Presidency Series presentation, May 29, 2010
In his presentation of "The Presidency of Woodrow Wilson", Kendrick A. Clements has continued the American Presidency series' tradition of bringing history to life in an interesting, satisfying and informative way. As a series (this is the third in the series that I have read, Andrew Jackson and Harry S. Truman being the others) American Presidency histories are usually close to 300 pages in length, and thoroughly present the events and leadership of the subject. Clements has kept the tradition with his writing. President Wilson is presented from beginning to end as a man committed to his faith and determined to lead according to moral principles, often unwilling to compromise, sometimes stubborn almost to a fault, yet desirous of making the best decisions possible. Yet, for all his good intentions, and good ideas, Wilson was often his own worst enemy. He was often naive about the "good intentions" of business, citizens and nations. Yet, he has come to be considered one of our "near great" presidents by historians. How Woodrow Wilson went from his humble beginnings, to college presidency, to U.S. Presidency is a fascinating story, ably presented in this historical biography. How he ultimately fell victim to his own worst traits, due in large part to the massive stroke he suffered on October 2, 1919 is heartbreaking. How the nation continued to consider him at least marginally qualified to handle the job after such a physically devastating stroke, and how his wife Edith successfully fronted for him while he finished out his second term, with the nation largely unaware of his condition, is both controversial and amazing. I found Clements' book satisfying and illuminating on all counts.
If you like to read histories that present the most important stories of history in a reasonable length book, Clements' book will be satisfying and illuminating to you as well. If you like a massive amount of details, you might, like I do, wish to follow this book with a larger and more in depth presentation. I give "The Presidency of Woodrow Wilson" 5 stars.
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