Review by New York Times Review
THE MOST AGONIZING DECISIONS presidents make are invariably during wartime, especially when battles are lost and body counts pile up. During one of the bloodiest campaigns of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln paced the corridors of the White House, his head bowed, hands behind his back, muttering over and over, "I must have some relief from this terrible anxiety or it will kill me." It practically did. The Korean War was almost equally taxing for Harry Truman, who in a moment of candor admitted that under the strain, "I lost my temper." When the normally unshakable Franklin Roosevelt picked up the phone to get briefed on the start of the North African campaign, his hand was shaking. And as the Vietnam War increasingly went awry, so did Lyndon Johnson, who became a broken man; Richard Nixon called him "unbelievable." How presidents deal with war is the subject of the historian Michael Beschloss's latest work, a sweeping overview of presidents leading the United States through almost two centuries of conflict. "Presidents of War" is a marvelous narrative that opens with James Madison, the father of the Constitution and a reluctant warrior during the War of 1812, desperately fleeing for his life, his table still set for dinner, while British troops torched Washington. From there, Beschloss takes us through the Mexican War, the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, World Wars I and II and Korea. He ends with America's humiliating loss in Vietnam. Along the way, we see presidents plotting strategy, maneuvering with Congress (which plays a large role in this book) and conferring with confidants, while their families weigh in on critical decisions. We see presidents leading great public debates - or failing to. And we see presidents exhibiting a myriad of emotions, depressed or elated, pugnacious or regretful, wise or foolish. Beschloss has a thesis about all this, and it's an important one. Echoing the sentiments of the founders, he posits that the nation should go to war only when there is an "absolute necessity" and only with overwhelming support from Congress and the public. However, even if the framers of the Constitution saw war as a last resort, and the decision was to be made by Congress rather than presidents, seldom has this been the case. True, Madison abided by the Constitution "he had helped to write" when he insisted that Congress start the War of 1812. But by the time of the Civil War, the picture was very different. Little by little, Congress had ceased to exercise its constitutional mandate to declare war, which became the exclusive purview of presidents. As Daniel Webster memorably put it, "presidential war" took over. It effectively began with James Polk and the Mexican-American War. Unlike the more measured Madison, the ambitious Polk shamelessly "lied and connived," fabricating a pretext for war that, despite his public declarations, was designed to allow the United States to seize large portions of territory from Mexico. Eventually, by Truman's day, America was bogged down in a bitter conflict with North Korea without the president even bothering to ask Congress for a war declaration. Truman established a dangerous precedent for future presidents, one that we live with today. As Beschloss notes, marginalizing Congress, even when legislators were eager to pass the buck, has serious pitfalls. Truman, for instance, worried about spreading "war psychosis," but in the process, unlike Franklin Roosevelt, he failed to adequately prepare the American people for the struggle the nation confronted, and the country paid a price. One of the book's more intriguing contributions is in noting that the founders could not have envisioned war in the nuclear age, when the president would have the ability to eviscerate hundreds of millions in less than an hour - all resting on "the whim" of a single person. However, beyond pointing this out, Beschloss says little more. The issue cries out for a treatment of its own. As Beschloss explains, the greatest wartime presidents successfully leaven military actions with moral concerns - a lesson for future presidents. Like Lincoln, who boldly announced the Emancipation Proclamation, Roosevelt elevated his war aims "to a higher moral plane" with his four freedoms speech (although at the same time, Beschloss correctly laments, Roosevelt failed to bomb the Nazi death camps that were working overtime to exterminate the Jews). And invariably, all wartime presidents suffer personally. There was Lincoln with his headaches and depression; William McKinley with his severe physical and mental strain; Truman with his sleeplessness and nausea; Johnson aging; Wilson having a massive stroke; and Roosevelt visibly dying. It is little wonder that presidents look to other presidents for sustenance and support. Truman, for example, admired Lincoln's humble origins, adulated Wilson and approved of Polk's "undaunted use of presidential power" throughout the Mexican War (as Truman put it, Polk regularly "told Congress to go to hell in foreign policy"). Lincoln looked to the founders and Andrew Jackson. And more recently, President George W Bush, thrust by 9/11 into the role of being a wartime president, sought lessons from Lincoln. And so it goes. Beschloss's writing is clean and concise, and he admirably draws upon new documents. Some of the more titillating tidbits of the book are in the footnotes. Polk had urinary stones requiring removal, which left him "perhaps without sexual function." Theodore Roosevelt regretted that he didn't have a crisis dramatic enough "to fully demonstrate his leadership potential." And Lincoln, of all people, may have contracted syphilis in the mid-1830s, which he then passed on to Mary. The book also has some delicious asides, as when President Wilson met King George at Buckingham Palace; after Wilson departed, the king told an aide: "I could not bear him. An entirely cold academical professor - an odious man." Wilson, Beschloss notes, for all his rhetoric about liberal democracy, seized authority as a war president with the "passion of an autocrat," running roughshod over civil liberties. Moreover, he refused to deal with Congress as a constitutional equal. No wonder his League of Nations foundered. Who is the greatest war president? This is a good question. Beschloss evinces the most admiration for Abraham Lincoln, who "made himself by far, the most powerful president" the United States had ever seen. Beschloss talks of his "sublime abilities" as a thinker and his "persuasive eloquence," which no other American president has ever surpassed. I agree. While pointing out that Lincoln at times looked like a despot, Beschloss says that there is no indication that he had a "hunger for personal power." It is noticeable that Beschloss only modestly touches on 9/11, Afghanistan or Iraq, asserting, I think rightly, that they are too recent to be written about as history. Surely, however, there are lessons historians could draw from some of these modern wars. As Truman once said, "the only thing new in the world is the history you don't know." Moreover, Beschloss does not say much about the Cold War, itself a momentous conflict that long held the world hostage to potential nuclear war. But all this is mere quibbling. There are fascinating nuggets on virtually every page of "Presidents of War." It is a superb and important book, superbly rendered. JAY WINIK is the author of "1944" and "April 1865." He was the first historian in residence at the Council on Foreign Relations. The founders could not have imagined nudetu· war, and the deaths of hundreds of millions.
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [January 31, 2019]
Review by Booklist Review
The intensity of combat magnifies the strengths and weaknesses of individual soldiers, and the stress can also bring out unexpected, hidden reserves of courage, calm, and determination. This also pertains to the presidents who manage wars, as celebrated historian Beschloss illustrates. This is a massive but eminently readable effort to gauge the performance of eight presidents who waged major wars and one, Thomas Jefferson, who avoided a major conflict when one seemed likely. Beschloss avoids excessive attacks but clearly has his favorites. He asserts that Madison erred in pursuing an avoidable war with the British and failed to muster support from a divided population. Polk began the Mexican War with a strategy of supreme cynicism, turning a border skirmish into an act of war, then turning that into a war of expansion, leaving the nation embittered. Lincoln was initially tentative yet eventually became politically adept and wise enough to give Grant the support necessary to win the Civil War. Beschloss' fine survey, from the War of 1812 to Vietnam, reveals a great deal about each commander-in-chief.--Jay Freeman Copyright 2018 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Presidential historian Beschloss (Presidential Courage: Brave Leaders and How They Changed America, 1789-1989) offers a sweeping history of American presidents seeking and waging war from the War of 1812-the first major conflict conducted by the executive office under the Constitution-through the conclusion of the Vietnam War. He provides insight into the motivations of American leaders; presidents' battles with other branches of government; their degree of respect for civil liberties; and the role of personality, emotion, and the general political climate as American commanders-in-chief executed the power of the country's military forces. Beschloss reviews the historical record from an American-expansionist yet not necessarily prowar perspective; he writes, for example, that President Polk "deserves credit for adding almost a million square miles to the United States," referring to the U.S. conquest of much of Mexico during the Mexican-American War, but that "a major, bloody war... should have been his last resort," in keeping with the founders' intentions. With ample detail and enticing storytelling, this readable work will be enjoyed by students and American history buffs. Agent: Esther Newberg, Curtis Brown. (Oct.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Beschloss (Presidential Courage), NBC's presidential historian, returns with his ninth book on the American presidency, this time investigating eight presidents who served during wartime and how they interpreted their constitutional authority. The author reveals James Madison, James Polk, Abraham Lincoln, William McKinley, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, and Lyndon Johnson as strong leaders who expanded their command, often resulting in the loss of congressional support and public confidence. All of these presidents-George H.W. Bush and George Bush are not included because the author considers their terms too recent to be judged historically-are thoroughly and skillfully vetted with mixed results. The worst excesses include Polk's lying to ignite the 1848 Mexican War, Roosevelt's incarceration of Japanese Americans, and Johnson's politics that made the Vietnam War fought mostly by the poor and minorities. Notable examples of statesmanship include Lincoln's openness with Congress, Madison's support of civil liberties during the War of 1812, and McKinley's transforming the United States into a world power. VERDICT This spirited account, reminiscent of The Oxford History of the United States, will captivate history buffs and interest scholars of the institutional presidency and the Constitution. [See Prepub Alert, 4/9/18.]-Karl Helicher, formerly with Upper Merion Twp. Lib., King of Prussia, PA © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
The renowned historian explores America's wars through its presidents.In another masterful work of research, NBC News presidential historian Beschloss (Presidential Courage: Brave Leaders and How They Changed America, 1789-1989, 2007, etc.) demonstrates his erudite grasp of the history of the executive branch. The Founders gave Congress the power to "declare" (not make) war; the executive has power only to repel attacks. The author begins with the War of 1812 and notes that it was the most unpopular war ever, including Vietnam. As Beschloss writes, "the 1812 conflict proved to be the first major test of this constitutional system for waging war. The Mexican-American War, under James Polk, began after the Thornton Affair in 1846, when American troops actually provoked an attack. That gave Polk the excuse to pursue Manifest Destiny and seize land all the way to the Pacific Ocean; he also expanded slavery. Again, this went against the Founders' wish to end the monarchical habit of waging war for secret reasons under false pretenses. In all American wars, opponents have been marginalized as unpatriotic, but Lincoln and the Civil War were different. He wouldn't ask Congress for a declaration of war because he would never accept the legality of secession. He did, however, wait patiently for the attack on Fort Sumter, and his extraordinary authority was affirmed by Congress and the courts. The Spanish-American War was triggered by the explosion of the Maine in Havana Harbor. While he didn't necessarily want Cuba, it gave President William McKinley the chance to annex Hawaii and, in a clear case of mission creep, the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico. On another tack, Woodrow Wilson did all he could to avoid war. Beschloss goes on to skillfully cover World War II and Vietnam. As he clearly shows throughout this illuminating narrative, during every war, the president has received extraordinary powers; some used it well, while others abused it.The author's highly readable style and ability to pinpoint the most relevant facts make this a perfect book for any student of American history and its presidents. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
