Fall Into a Great New Book

By Jeff Burns

My “to-read” list is getting longer and longer.  Sometimes I think it’s too bad that I have to teach for a living; work is getting in the way of the important stuff:  reading.  This fall, there are number of great books about history being released, and I think my list is only going to get longer.  You might also want to be on the lookout for these titles.

The Last of the President’s Men by Bob Woodward is the heretofore untold story of Alexander Butterfield, a top Nixon aide at the heart of the Watergate Scandal.  It promises more shocking details of the goings on within the Nixon administration.



One of my favorite authors, Sarah Vowell, is releasing a new book called Lafayette in the Somewhat United States.  Vowell is an essayist, humorist, and keen observer of life whose previous books have combined history with current events, always in a funny, engaging, and challenging way.  This book is about the Marquis de Lafayette and his relationships with George Washington and the fledgling United States.

War of Two is about the infamous rivalry between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr, a rivalry that led to the most famous, and most tragic, duel in American history.


Bill O’Reilly is following up Killing Kennedy, Killing Lincoln, and Killing Jesus with Killing Reagan, a biography of Reagan through the prism of the assassination attempt made early in his presidency.



Paul Theroux is one of the most famous travel writers working today, and Deep South is his take on the region.

While on the subject of the South, Rick Bragg has published a new collection of essays, never before published.





Finally, three music icons (and three of my favorites) have published autobiographies.  Each one is said to be an unflinching and honest account.

These are just a few.  Are there any new books about history that are on your list?

Unwrapping Madison’s Gift

By Jeff Burns

Quick, name a founding father. (Yes, I know that’s not a PC term, but anyone who knows me would agree that PC is one of the last descriptors that anyone would use for me.)  You probably immediately thought of Washington, Franklin, Adams, and Jefferson for example. And because you are intelligent and interested enough to follow the Histocrats, you probably thought of James Madison too.  However, I’d be willing to bet that he wasn’t the first name that crossed your mind.  What do you know about “Little Jemmy” as he was nicknamed?  Many people know that he was the smallest president to date (hence his nickname), standing at 5 ½ feet or less and barely crossing the 100 pounds threshold.  They know he was the fourth president, and that he led the United States into the War of 1812, becoming the only sitting President to actively command troops in war during the disastrous British invasion and occupation of Washington D.C.  They probably also know that his young and vivacious wife, Dolly, was a social butterfly and society trendsetter who heroically oversaw the rescue of important objects in the White House. 

Some people, though, may not remember as much about his pre-presidential career, his leading role at the Constitutional Convention, not only in the writing of the Constitution, but also in its ratification as advocate and co-writer of The Federalist essays.  In Madison's Gift: Five Partnerships That Built America, historian David O. Stewart seeks to restore Madison to his proper place in the framer/founder pantheon, as one of the most important, if not the most important. 

As Stewart points out, Madison’s contemporaries recognized his importance in the founding of the United States; more cities and counties in the country have been named after Madison than after any other presidents. However, over the years, the soft-spoken, seemingly introverted, bookworm has been overshadowed by other figures.

Stewart accomplishes his goal by exploring Madison’s relationships with 5 important figures, George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, Dolly Madison, and James Monroe, writing about each relationship separately.  He uses letters and documents (plenty of notes and citations) by and about Madison and each of the other figures to create an elaborate picture of the relationship and how that relationship was crucial in shaping the direction of the young country.  According to Stewart,

“Madison’s Gift” was the ability to work with each person, in spite of occasional differences and rivalries, and to make compromises and adjustments on order to reach his ultimate goal of a self-sustaining constitutional republic.

Madison’s relationships were very fluid.  For example, he worked extremely closely with Alexander Hamilton in the development of the Constitution and the ratification struggle, but them found himself a leader of the political party formed specifically in opposition to Hamiltonian ideas.  Through the first years of the Washington administration, Madison was the chief presidential advisor, but he found himself pushed aside as Hamilton became closer.  Madison and Monroe were close friends but also intense political rivals at times.  And of course, Dolly brought a tremendous personal change in the older, stoic Madison, drawing him out of his shell.

Madison’s Gift is a very interesting book that accomplishes the goal of restoring Madison to his rightful place, and the reader gains insights into the personalities of all the characters.  Learning about them through the deep personal and political relationships they shared brings them to life in a way that other histories and biographies might not.

Forgotten Presidents, Unforgettable Books

By Jeff Burns

            Even though I teach American history, it’s sometimes hard to generate a lot of excitement in class when we get to the Gilded and Progressive ages, roughly 1880 to 1910.  Odd, since there was a lot going on during that time, the closing of the frontier, the rise of big business, and the beginnings of American imperialism.  America changed from agricultural to industrial and stepped out onto the world stage like never before.  The face of America itself was changed as waves of new immigrants arrived, making tremendous contributions to the country as they assimilated.

            In spite of all this, the period can be kind of a blur for students.  I sometimes call it the “forgettable president” era, since most of the presidents of this time were rather weak executives, overshadowed by the big business tycoons of the day.  They tend to blend together in a bearded mass, and many Americans today are hard-pressed to remember their names.  Lately, however, I’ve read some really great books that bring a real vibrancy to the era.
            Two of the books are about the two lesser known presidential assassinations:  Garfield and McKinley.  Candice Millard wrote Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President, about James Garfield and his assassin, Charles Guiteau.  Millard’s previous book River of Doubt (reviewed in another blog) tells the story or Theodore Roosevelt’s Amazon expedition.  Destiny of the Republic is, in many ways, every bit as exciting.  She tells the parallel stories of the two men.  I never really knew much about Garfield; after all, he was president for only a few months.  Millard paints a picture of an outstanding man of character, willing to stand up for his principles.  He was one of the most extraordinary men ever elected president. On the other hand, Charles Guiteau was a mentally ill man who, in his mind, was doing God’s will by killing the president.  While the stories of the two men are fascinating in their own right, the story doesn’t end there.  After the shooting, Garfield lingered for months while there was an intense power struggle erupted among the doctors, a power struggle that ultimately cost his life.  Millard tells the story in riveting fashion.

             The President and the Assassin: McKinley, Terror, and Empire at the Dawn of the American Century by Scott Miller is another page-turner, about Leon Czolgosz’ assassination of William McKinley, but it’s much more.  It is a thorough history of the United States at the turn of the century, with full accounts of the Spanish American war, the war in the Philippines, the Haymarket Square Riot, and Emma Goldman and the anarchist movement.
            Pulitzer prize winning historian Doris Kearns Goodwin’s latest book The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism is the typically epic work that we expect from her, nearly 1000 pages researched and written over a decade. Goodwin tells the stories of TR and Taft, two great men with two vastly different approaches to politics and the presidency, who were best of friends until politics drove them apart in 1912. She interweaves their stories with the rise of the muckraking press.