---------- Forwarded message --------- From: H-Net Staff via H-REVIEW <[email protected]> Date: Wed, Sep 23, 2020 at 11:56 AM Subject: H-Net Review [H-Nationalism]: Wylie on Harmon, 'Presidents by Fate: Nine Who Ascended through Death or Resignation' To: <[email protected]> Cc: H-Net Staff <[email protected]>
F. Martin Harmon. Presidents by Fate: Nine Who Ascended through Death or Resignation. Jefferson McFarland, 2019. Illustrations. 231 pp. $39.95 (paper), ISBN 978-1-4766-7742-2. Reviewed by Roxy Wylie (University of Arkansas - Fort Smith) Published on H-Nationalism (September, 2020) Commissioned by Evan C. Rothera In Presidents by Fate: Nine Who Ascended through Death or Resignation, F. Martin Harmon examines nine US vice presidents who ascended to the presidency: John Tyler, Millard Fillmore, Andrew Johnson, Chester Arthur, Theodore Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge, Harry Truman, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Gerald Ford. Harmon weighs their legacies and their impact on US destiny in times of calamity and crossroads. Presidents by Fate is a thought-provoking introduction to the role of the vice presidency, particularly its direct access to the Oval Office. Furthermore, this short work illustrates how the office of the vice presidency has suffered at the hands of presidents and citizens alike. Some vice presidents were chosen to garner votes, while others were purposely ignored or maligned. The average voter might not necessarily consider the vice president as vital, but nine vice presidents-turned-presidents guided the country through social upheaval, world wars, and political reforms and thus directly shaped the trajectory of the US. These presidents by fate influenced domestic policy and foreign policy in a number of ways. Tyler, Fillmore, and Andrew Johnson had a tremendous impact on debates about slavery, race, and citizenship. Tyler's annexation of Texas put the US on a collision course with Mexico. The resulting war sharpened the question of whether slavery should be allowed to spread into new territory. Harmon applauds Fillmore's efforts to help pass the Compromise of 1850, although he notes that Fillmore antagonized some northerners with his determination to enforce the Fugitive Slave Act. Johnson's staunch racism coupled with his strident unionism put him at odds with many people during his political career. When the South seceded, Johnson, a native Tennessean, remained in the Senate. As the US Civil War concluded, Johnson's lenient program of Reconstruction sparked a confrontation with Radical Republicans. Harmon contends that Johnson's advocacy of states' rights and deeply rooted prejudice drove his opposition to the Freedmen's Bureau, the Civil Rights Bill of 1866, and the Fourteenth Amendment. While one President Johnson proved a disaster when it came to reconstructing the Union, another rose dramatically to the occasion a century later, during the modern civil rights movement. Lyndon B. Johnson made great strides in domestic policy, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which LBJ termed "his 'greatest accomplishment'" (pp. 152-53). Sadly, as Harmon points out, the Vietnam War overshadowed some of Johnson's domestic accomplishments. Presidents by fate also made their mark in other aspects of domestic policy. Arthur was "the classic example of what was known as a political 'spoilsman' and product of the 'Spoils System' then in place throughout American government" (p. 20). President Garfield's assassination convinced many people of the need for civil service reform. The resulting Pendleton Act of 1883 established civil service entrance exams for government appointments. Ever-increasing resentment against the Chinese led Arthur to sign the Chinese Exclusion Act. This legislation, Harmon contends, ushered in "decades of racial violence on the West Coast by severely marginalizing Chinese laborers" (p. 104). Roosevelt attempted to break up the trusts and expand government intervention in commerce and business. His heavy-handed involvement in railroad and coal mine disputes caused Harmon to claim that Roosevelt's "presidency marked the start of America's modern age" (p. 26). In contrast to Roosevelt, Coolidge sought to limit government intervention in domestic affairs and "restrict expansion of government" (p. 124). Ford, the last of the nine, faced a daunting challenge of his own: unifying the nation after Watergate and Richard Nixon's resignation. Faced with a disillusioned public, Ford chose to pardon Nixon and withdraw from Vietnam. These decisions blighted Ford's short administration and likely contributed to his defeat in 1976. Some of the presidents by fate played critical roles in developing foreign policy. Roosevelt and his "Roosevelt Corollary" created considerable tension between the US and the nations of Latin America. Harmon discusses Roosevelt's "steadfast defense of the Monroe Doctrine" as "America's mentorship and near 'landlordial' maintenance of the Western Hemisphere" (p. 115). This "Big Stick" philosophy included the Panama Canal--an accomplishment that produced both praise and condemnation. Franklin Delano Roosevelt died before World War II ended and Harry S. Truman faced an extremely consequential choice--whether or not to drop the atomic bomb. Ultimately, Truman chose to drop the bomb. He also helped define the terms of the Cold War with his Truman Doctrine--"It is the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or outside pressures" (p. 138)--and superintended the reconstruction of Europe with the Marshall Plan and European Recovery Program. Harmon's claim of "no revisionist history here" is somewhat unclear (p. 2). For one, he relies heavily on published biographies of the presidents by fate. Most historical writing tends to be revisionist because historians frequently revise older understandings of the past. Biographers, as much as historians, constantly revise, reinterpret, and reinvent the lives and legacies of their subjects, sometimes based on discoveries of new documents or in response to a particular moment. In addition, basing the bulk of research on secondary sources like biographies, rather than primary sources, means that the author did not always go directly to the source. Harmon outlines his use of two reference books--_The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents_ (2013) by William A. DeGregorio and _Don't Know Much about the American Presidents _(2012) by Kenneth C. Davis--in his preface. He supplemented these volumes and biographies of presidents with documentaries and other published sources but few manuscript collections or other unpublished primary sources. Moreover, augmenting research with book reviews does not enhance the craftmanship of this work. Distance and time can be considerable advantages when discerning a president's legacy. Any fair assessment should consider the pressures these presidents by fate faced. Harmon compares life experiences, personalities, backgrounds, education, political partisanships, and leadership of the nine men, in the end concluding "while all faced the same awesome responsibility,... they approached their presidencies differently ... and ultimately succeeded or failed due to a variety of factors--many beyond their control" (p. 166). In other words, every presidency has its own unique challenges and comparison can be futile. Comparisons, however, are nonetheless useful in understanding society. Harmon looks to the polls as the ultimate factor of success, commenting that "no better gauge of presidential success or failure can probably be found than the ballot box" (p. 166). Five--Tyler, Fillmore, Johnson, Arthur, and Ford--were unable to either establish bipartisanships or create alliances within their party. The other four--Roosevelt, Coolidge, Truman, and LBJ--successfully secured the trust of US voters and won another term. In the end, success is ambiguous. What is considered successful today may be considered unsuccessful tomorrow. Perhaps Harmon might have remained focused on the impact of each man rather than his alleged successes. Presidents by Fate offers one window into the US presidency. Harmon's passionate writing reminds readers of the potential power of the vice presidency. Each of these men rose to power during times of crisis and left, for better or worse, their mark on US history and the world. Citation: Roxy Wylie. Review of Harmon, F. Martin, _Presidents by Fate: Nine Who Ascended through Death or Resignation_. H-Nationalism, H-Net Reviews. September, 2020. URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=55182 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. -- Best regards, Andrew Stewart -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#1865): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/1865 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/77044161/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
