$19.95
$21.95 Canadian
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Paperback
125 photos/illustrations
320 Pages
Size (in): 7.625 x 9.5

Failures of the Presidents

From the Whiskey Rebellion and War of 1812 to the Bay of Pigs and War in Iraq

Thomas J. Craughwell with M. William Phelps

Review quotes:
"Thomas J. Craughwell has brought us presidents behaving execrably and what a great read it is. From George Washington's misadventure with taxing whiskey to another George W's decision to invade Iraq, this book captures chief executive miscalculation, malfeasance, and maladroitness in all its glory. We learn as much from our failures as our triumphs and we'll all learn a great deal from this enjoyable slice of living history.”—Joseph Cummins, author of The World's Bloodiest History and The War Chronicles: From Flintlocks to Machine Guns

“…a fascinating, level-headed, and insightful look at the pratfalls that marked our leaders' march to destiny. Great stuff.”—Cormac O'Brien, author of The Forgotten History of America and Secret Lives of the U.S. Presidents

Description:
What were they thinking?

• In an effort to put an end to Britain and France's policy of seizing American ships and sailors, Thomas Jefferson calls for an embargo.

The Result: 30,000 sailors put out of work; mercantile families bankrupted overnight; a nationwide economic depression; and the New England states, which depended heavily on international commerce, threaten to secede from the Union.

• To promote the doctrine of popular sovereignty, Franklin Pierce approves the repeal of the Missouri Compromise and permits residents of Kansas and Nebraska to decide whether their territories will admit slavery.

The Result: Dozens of settlers murdered; Lawrence, Kansas, burned and looted; John Brown elevated to the status of national hero among abolitionists; the country moves closer to civil war.

• Convinced the 20,000 men, women, and children of the Bonus Army were Communists and criminals, Herbert Hoover sends 600 crack troops, a detachment of cavalry, and five tanks to drive the protesters out of Washington.

The Result: 4 dead, including two infants; more than 1,000 injured; the Communist Party in America enjoys a public relations field day; Hoover is driven into political exile.

• In an effort to install a capitalist government in the Middle East, stabilize the region, and protect America from a possible Iraqi terrorist assault using weapons of mass destruction, George W. Bush orders the invasion of Iraq.

The Result: More than 4,000 American soldiers and personnel dead; estimated hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians dead; hundreds of billions of dollars spent; the torture of prisoners in the Abu Ghraib prison and the failure to find weapons of mass destruction leave American global credibility in tatters.

About the Author:
Thomas J. Craughwell is the author of a dozen books on history, religion, and popular culture, including The Barbarian Invasions that Changed the World, Stealing Lincoln’s Body (Harvard University Press, March 2007) and Saints Behaving Badly: The Cutthroats, Crooks, Trollops, Con Men, and Devil-Worshippers Who Became Saints (Doubleday, 2006).

News:
Thomas Craughwell, author of Failures of the Presidents, has been asked to write the foreword of the Compton Encyclopedia supplement on the presidents.

Here are the details:
Every year the Compton Encyclopedia--a division of Encyclopedia Britannica--publishes a supplementary volume devoted to a specific theme. A team of scholars contributes the articles, and the introduction is written by an expert in the field. For 2009 Compton will publish a supplement on the Presidents of the United States, they have invited author and independent scholar Thomas J. Craughwell, author of Failures of the Presidents (Fair Winds, 2008) and Stealing Lincoln's Body (Harvard University Press, 2007), to write the introduction to this supplement. The book will be released in Spring 2009. This is an honor and underscores his status as a scholar.

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