A lucid, often witty account of a remarkably assertive leader whom historians, when polled, consider one of our near-great...
A spirited biography of one of the most effective single-term presidents (1845–1849) who promoted war against Mexico and left office having vastly expanded both American borders and the powers of the executive office.
Veteran American historian Borneman (1812: The War that Forged a Nation, 2004, etc.) draws no parallels with the present administration but makes a convincing case that James K. Polk (1795–1849) deserves high marks as a hands-on leader who laid the groundwork for an American empire. Born near the birthplace of his mentor, Andrew Jackson, Polk made his mark in Tennessee politics as his fellow Tennessean rocketed to national prominence. He ran successfully for Congress in 1825, supported Jackson enthusiastically during his presidency (1829–37) and rose to the position of Speaker of the House. Borneman rejects the traditional view of Polk as a dark horse who emerged from obscurity to win the deadlocked 1844 Democratic convention. In fact, he was nationally known, a fiercely ambitious man with an eye on the presidency who enjoyed vigorous support from Jackson. Once in office he conducted himself with Jacksonian energy. After welcoming Texas into the Union and settling the boundaries of Oregon, he sent provocative orders to troops along the Southwest border, using the inevitable skirmish to demand that Congress declare war. The Mexican War (1846–48) was popular in the South and West, less so in the North despite his proclamation that America was fighting to defend freedom. Once again, Borneman draws no parallels with present wars, pointing out that Polk made no secret of his intention to annex Mexican territory. At the end of a single term, he had achieved all his announced goals, domestic and foreign, often against fierce opposition. Polk’s single-minded, jingoistic, workaholic personality would charm few readers today, but Borneman’s admiration for his subject shines through.
A lucid, often witty account of a remarkably assertive leader whom historians, when polled, consider one of our near-great presidents.Pub Date: April 15, 2008
ISBN: 978-1-4000-6560-8
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2008
The author's youthfulness helps to assure the inevitable comparison with the Anne Frank diary although over and above the...
Elie Wiesel spent his early years in a small Transylvanian town as one of four children.
He was the only one of the family to survive what Francois Maurois, in his introduction, calls the "human holocaust" of the persecution of the Jews, which began with the restrictions, the singularization of the yellow star, the enclosure within the ghetto, and went on to the mass deportations to the ovens of Auschwitz and Buchenwald. There are unforgettable and horrifying scenes here in this spare and sombre memoir of this experience of the hanging of a child, of his first farewell with his father who leaves him an inheritance of a knife and a spoon, and of his last goodbye at Buchenwald his father's corpse is already cold let alone the long months of survival under unconscionable conditions.
Pub Date: Jan. 16, 2006
ISBN: 0374500010
Page Count: 120
Publisher: Hill & Wang
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2006
Well-told and admonitory.
Young-rags-to-mature-riches memoir by broker and motivational speaker Gardner.
Born and raised in the Milwaukee ghetto, the author pulled himself up from considerable disadvantage. He was fatherless, and his adored mother wasn’t always around; once, as a child, he spied her at a family funeral accompanied by a prison guard. When beautiful, evanescent Moms was there, Chris also had to deal with Freddie “I ain’t your goddamn daddy!” Triplett, one of the meanest stepfathers in recent literature. Chris did “the dozens” with the homies, boosted a bit and in the course of youthful adventure was raped. His heroes were Miles Davis, James Brown and Muhammad Ali. Meanwhile, at the behest of Moms, he developed a fondness for reading. He joined the Navy and became a medic (preparing badass Marines for proctology), and a proficient lab technician. Moving up in San Francisco, married and then divorced, he sold medical supplies. He was recruited as a trainee at Dean Witter just around the time he became a homeless single father. All his belongings in a shopping cart, Gardner sometimes slept with his young son at the office (apparently undiscovered by the night cleaning crew). The two also frequently bedded down in a public restroom. After Gardner’s talents were finally appreciated by the firm of Bear Stearns, his American Dream became real. He got the cool duds, hot car and fine ladies so coveted from afar back in the day. He even had a meeting with Nelson Mandela. Through it all, he remained a prideful parent. His own no-daddy blues are gone now.
Well-told and admonitory.Pub Date: June 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-06-074486-3
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Amistad/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2006
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