As an avid listener of Pod Save America I was immediately drawn to this when I saw it on the book store shelf(along with the colorful graphics). The book is roughly drawn into different segments. First is a personal memoir of how Dan's political life grew and how he ended up in the Obama administration. Secondly is a look into the inner workings of the Obama Administration. The third is his personal insight into how we ended up going from Obama to Trump and the chaos we have in today's politics. Also thrown in is his directness(curse words and all), workaholicism, neuroticism, and how he met his wife. It isn't your typical droning preachy political book meaning as seriously as subject matter there are lighthearted moments and a bit of self-deprecating humor to let us know he's human and not just another faceless Presidential advisor. For those looking for some insight on what it was like inside the Obama years, this is a good place to start.
Although he only served a short time I’ve found the story of James Garfield and his tragic ending a fascinating story. I first came along the story of his assassination thru “Assassination Vacation” by Sarah Vowell which led me later to a more in depth biography in “Garfield” by Allan Peskin. This book focuses though primarily on his assassination and the events and people involved.
The largest part of the book seems to focus on the archaic medical care that played a large part in his eventual death after being shot. Garfield had been shot on July 2, 1881 but didn’t die until September 19, 1882 from massive infections. The concept of germs was still new although it was widely accepted in Europe was still not accepted in the American medical profession. It didn’t help that he was under the care of an egomaniac, Dr. Willard Bliss, who micromanaged the President’s care that wouldn’t allow for any dissenting or differing opinions. Dr. Bliss and others probed the President with unsterilized fingers and other instruments that only worsened infection. Even when famed inventor, Alexander Graham Bell, tried to locate the bullet with a device he tirelessly worked to create told that Bell he could only look where Bliss thought the bullet was. Later when the autopsy it was done the bullet was nowhere near where Dr. Bliss thought it was.
Meanwhile the assassin Charles Guiteau was sitting a jail cell wondering when General Sherman was going to come rescue him and thank him as he too was a Republican “stalwart”. Obviously that didn’t happen. Charles had been seeking a government job because he felt deserved one because he wrote a speech stumping for Garfield the year before. Those were still the days of the “spoils” system where with each new President was usually barraged with those seeking jobs. Guiteau took his quest to the level of harassment and stalking. After months of this he finally decides to kill the President after he had a dream he believed to be from God. He decided that “If the President was out of the way everything would go better.”
The bulk of the book towards the end tells of the care, if you could call it that, he received in the hands of his doctor who either out of egotistical pressure or ignorance of proper care perhaps contributed to eventual death of the President. Even though the knowledge of dangerous microbes and the practice of sterilization were accepted by the medical community in Europe it had yet to gain much acceptance in the United States.
I was a little disappointed that Charles Guiteau’s afterward seemed to receive lighter coverage by the author in comparison. It would seem the Candice Millard didn’t want to focus too much on the assassin too much. The account of trial she does include makes it sound like a circus rival any in the modern day. Even though Guiteau tried to plead insanity he was still found guilty and hanged nearly a year to the day of him shooting the President.
I do recommend this if you’re looking more about President James Garfield, his assassination and why he didn’t die until months after his shooting. It does give fair amount biographical information about the President but the main focus obviously is about the assassination itself.
Some late night in the early 80's I came across this video(shown above) and was blown away. It was unlike anything I'd heard. The music was intense and graphics high tech(at least at time,lol). It was at the moment I became a Rush fan for life. It was not your normal pop/rock music that was about boy/girl stuff or rocking all night long. It was also intense and took you along a journey you could get lost in the music awhile. It was perfect for stress relief. The album "Moving Pictures" that has this song has always been one of all time favorites.
I later learned Neil was a private and introverted. He often shunned the limelight. He was also very well read was chief songwriter for band. He was an intense perfectionist about his craft and took it very seriously.
Thank you Neil for the many years of music and joy you brought to the world thru your music and life.
As I was born in middle of the Vietnam War I had no firsthand knowledge of the event or Robert McNamara. I did have uncles that served there even one that was severely wounded. Like many in my generation it was a mystery with a controversial outcome that was sometimes just not talked about. In a sense we grew up in the shadows of Watergate and Vietnam War. The recent Ken Burns documentary renewed my interest in this era. I saw this in my local library and thought it would an interesting addition to my reading list on the subject as he was Secretary of Defense during much of conflict he was a central player.
The book is his attempt to explain his side of the story about what happened during his time as Secretary of Defense with two different Presidents. He tries to give insight into the decision making that went on between the two leaders regarding Vietnam and Cold War policy. There seemed a lot of dancing around the subject of sending in troops and the effectiveness of strategic bombing. Even the Gulf of Tonkin incident seems hazy yet it led to congressional approval to widen the war. One question that is debated is to what Kennedy would have done had he not been assassinated. Would he have escalated or eventually stayed out. The picture McNamara paints is that he was doing his best to be loyal to the President and it wasn’t his entire fault. In essence he lays a lot on President Johnson’s feet for the war.
In the end it is a memoir which one has to keep in mind it is just one person’s point of view. Someone writing about themselves will most times try and defend themselves whether purposeful or not. I don’t necessarily hold it against them. It is good book to get an insiders point of view of the Vietnam War at the highest levels of decision making in the White House. McNamara does come off as sincere and intelligent but with a touch of arrogance. The reader would have to be the final judge as to the accuracy of the information.
Yes We (Still) Can: Politics in the Age of Obama, Twitter, and Trump by Dan Pfeiffer
