Woodrow Wilson (Penguin Lives) (Hardcover)

by Louis Auchincloss (Author) "AT THE END OF SEPTEMBER, in1919, the presidential train bearing Woodrow Wilson on a western tour of speechmaking in his last-ditch, desperate effort to rally..." (more)
Key Phrases: United States, White House, New York (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
This new biography of our 28th president is pithy and intelligent; it is also hurried. As with other titles in the Penguin Lives series, the match up of author and subject is inspired. Auchincloss, the highbrow novelist and biographer of such bluebloods as Edith Wharton and Henry James, is perfectly suited to chronicle the exploits of the most academic and idealistic man ever to have lived in the White House. In 18 breathless pages, Auchincloss covers Wilson's life from birth to his first executive office--president of Princeton University. It was at Princeton that Wilson caught the eye of Democratic Party bosses, who saw in the bookish professor a man they believed they could manipulate. They were wrong. As a political candidate, Wilson proved to be fiercely independent as well as a master orator. His commanding presence got him elected governor of New Jersey and then, after a fortuitous split in the Republican Party, president of the U.S. Auchincloss does a fine job of detailing the successes and failures of the Wilson administration. His only real misstep is a crude resort to pop psychology; Auchincloss invents something very close to a split personality for the president and makes constant reference throughout to the "two Woodrow Wilsons." That is only a minor flaw, however, in what is otherwise an engaging, informative introduction to one of our greatest leaders. (Apr.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
The "Penguin Lives" series matches its subjects with eminent writers whose short biographies are meant to be read in a sitting or two. Larry McMurtry's Crazy Horse (LJ 11/15/98) opened the series, and in two future volumes, Bobbie Ann Mason will address Elvis Presley and Mary Gordon, Joan of Arc. In this book, Auchincloss, the novelist and historian best known for his many works about New York's turn-of-the-century upper class, portrays President Woodrow Wilson. His book is really an extended character sketch, often based upon the interpretations of prior biographers, especially August Hecksher (Woodrow Wilson). Auchincloss visits Wilson's relationships with his two wives, his adviser Colonel House, and his archenemy, Henry Cabot Lodge, while analyzing Wilson's successes and failures at Princeton, as governor of New Jersey, as president, and as world leader. Auchincloss sees Wilson as admirable but flawed, displaying a dual nature that manifested itself in various (usually harmful) ways in his public and private lives. A useful though optional purchase for public libraries and undergraduate collections. [BOMC and History Book Club selections.--Ed.]--Robert F. Nardini, North Chichester, N.
---Robert F. Nardini, North Chichester, NH
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Viking Adult; First Edition edition (March 20, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670889040
• ISBN-13: 978-0670889044
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #45,087 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This item is part of The Penguin Lives Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable introduction and overview, April 12, 2000

By	dcreader (Washington DC area) - See all my reviews

Louis Auchincloss provides an interesting introduction and overview of Wilson's personality and presidency. He touches on the major issues Wilson faced as President of Princton University as well as President of the US and shows how Wilson's intransigence was evident from early on. Auchincloss has reviewed the more recent literature as well, and provides some interesting information as Wilson's health. As a lawyer, Auchincloss also provides interesting analysis of the evidence on various issues still in dispute (was Wilson really signing those documents after he had a stroke and his wife wouldn't let anyone see him?). Finally, he produces a nice little portrait of Wilson's nemesis, Henry Cabot Lodge, as well. I doubt that any real student of the Wilson Presidency could learn much in a volume that barely exceeds 100 pages, but for others who wouldn't mind spending a couple of hours learning something about Wilson and his presidency, it serves its purpose admirably.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Shallow and opinionated essay on Wilson, July 16, 2000

By	Richard E. Hegner (Columbia, MD USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

To begin with, this is really a biographical essay, not a complete biography of Woodrow Wilson in any sense of that word, even discounting the shortness of the book. (In fact, it is only 128 pages long--not 176 pages, as Amazon's listing indicates.) Auchincloss presents at best the highlights of Wilson's life, with hardly any insight or analysis. The essay would have had more merit if published in a larger volume on Wilson or his times; standing alone, it is of questionable merit.

In fact, I cannot imagine what possessed the publisher to select this author or to issue the book after they received it in draft. Auchincloss is primarily a novelist and a man of letters and quite obviously lacks the credentials to write a biography of a major political leader; his product is extremely superficial.

In light of this, his decision to devote an entire chapter--12 pages of digression from the Wilson life story--to Henry Cabot Lodge, Wilson's nemesis at the end of his political career--seems highly questionable. (Had the biography of Wilson itself been more complete, this might have been justifiable.) It would have been better to include more detail on Wilson's two wives--especially his second wife, who essentially took over the Presidency after his major stroke.

The book is replete with the author's opinions of how Wilson should or should not have behaved, with little or no justification for these positions. An example: In discussing American intervention in Mexico prior to World War I, Auchincloss characterizes Mexican leaders Carranza and Pancho Villa as "not too much better" than President Huerta--for whom Wilson showed "moral disapproval"--and in fact notes that Villa was "worse." No rationale whatsoever is given for these comparisons. He notes that "Wilson probably handled a messy situation as well as could be expected," but does not explain why.

Fortunately, there are numerous good biographies of Woodrow Wilson available. It seems difficult to believe that the author really consulted many of them.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Woodrow Wilson, November 24, 2000

By	J. Lindner (Gem Lake, MN United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

In Woodrow Wilson, Louis Auchincloss provides a useful, albeit brief account of our 28th President. The book touches on the highlights, both good and bad, of Wilson's life, and gives the reader insight into the complexity of Wilson's mind.

Readers of Woodrow Wilson will find a man of enormous intellect who viewed himself as somehow ordained by God to lead the world into a higher level of peace and harmony, but who also battled with arrogance that did not allow him to accept gracious defeat. As a history professor he was well liked by students, but as university president he was beset by strife involving administrative decisions. He appealed to Democrats who wished to cleanse the party of William Jennings Bryan's influence, and accepted the nomination for Governor of New Jersey accordingly. He even adopted a Populist position to appeal to the masses. When the Republican Party divided in 1912, he was assured the Presidency. In that office he was forced to balance personal convictions and political realities that culminated over the ratification of the Treaty of Versailles. This ultimately proved to be Wilson's demise.

Auchincloss' portrait explores many of these complexities, but at times appears to gloss them over. The rivalry between Wilson and Henry Cabot Lodge oddly is detailed from Lodge's perspective, but the author does not particularize how Wilson reciprocated. Auchincloss does not describe in depth the differences between Lodge's snobbish Harvard arrogance, Theodore Roosevelt's heroic jingoism of a bygone era, and Wilson's self-righteous purveyance of his own world order, and how each affected the others as well as the world around them. Auchincloss also has difficulty in describing Germany in World War One in that it was fighting a war of delaying defeat by 1916 and not turning the tide towards victory.

In the end, however, readers will find Auchincloss' work useful and poignant. He inserts comparisons to future Presidents in an amusing way while discussing the merits of Wilson's administration. Woodrow Wilson may not be a definitive work but, due in part to its brevity, should be considered appropriate reading for High School level history courses.