Illinois Review

Brinkman Review: Grant's humanity, decency shines in Ron Chernow's tome

Grant By Ron Chernow

Penguin - 2017 - 1104p

Reviewed by Daniel Brinkman - 

At a rally in Ohio a month ago, President Trump called upon the memory of Ulysses S. Grant to make a point about how the unlikeliest of people are sometimes called upon to change the course of history. Paraphrasing Lincoln, Trump said, “They said to Lincoln, you can’t use him anymore, he’s an alcoholic.’ and Lincoln said, ‘I don’t care if he’s an alcoholic, frankly give me six or seven more just like him.’ And he went in and knocked the hell out of everyone… and he’s finally being recognized as a great general.’”

That’s the Cliffs Notes version of Grant’s life. For the fuller and richer tale, you can do no better than Ron Chernow’s thick tome. There are maybe only one or two authors of American History that have so thoroughly and justifiably dominated the scene as has Chernow over the last two decades. From the financial titans of the gilded age to the founders of the American Republic, Chernow has cast an exacting lens over the lives of those whose names evoke legend: Rockefeller, Morgan, Washington, Hamilton, and now Grant.

Brinkman Review: The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill

The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill: Visions of Glory, 1874-1932 - By William Manchester

Little Brown and Company - 1984 - 992p

Reviewed by Daniel Brinkman -

It was election night 2008 and this reviewer, aged 21, found himself by strange fortune seated opposite the retired President of the Illinois Senate chatting about history as the former oft-present-voting member of that body was elected President of the United States. The next day at my office, his marvelous wife presented me with a gift from him, the boxed-set two volume William Manchester biography of Winston Churchill. I’ve since read through those first two volumes at least three times and eagerly awaited the release of the third and final volume only a few short years ago.

Brinkman reviews Jeffers' book "An Honest President"

By Daniel Brinkman - 

An Honest President: The Life and Presidencies of Grover Cleveland By H. Paul Jeffers

Controversy over confederate flags, supporters loving him because of the enemies he made, a brutal campaign marked by accusations involving women, a president preferring regular street food rather than the French food prepared by the White House Chef, a vicious press putting forth ridiculous lies because of their hatred for him, a man who made his name in New York then won the presidency against long odds.

You might think this is a tale of recent vintage, but these are stories from the life and presidency of Grover Cleveland. Mark Twain is reported to have said, “history doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” Cleveland comes from the line of now mostly forgotten presidents between Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt, but stories of honest and decent men are always worth telling.  

Brinkman's Reviews: A Different Drummer: My Thirty Years With Ronald Reagan

A Different Drummer: My Thirty Years With Ronald Reagan

By Michael K. Deaver, Forward by Nancy Reagan

Harper Collins, 2001, 290p

Reviewed by Daniel Brinkman - 

Watching the honor guards and troops file by on Inauguration Day 1981, Reagan, hand on his heart, was tersely told by the General to his right that it is not appropriate for the president to return the salute unless his head is covered. Turning to his longtime aide and friend, Mike Deaver, Reagan said, “I feel very uncomfortable just standing here, not acknowledging their salutes.” Deaver, whispering into the new president’s ear said, “You can do whatever the hell you want – you’re the commander in chief!” Reagan’s eyes lit up. After a deliberate pause, Reagan raised his hand slowly to his forehead, and completed a salute with such perfection that many military men would blush with envy. “He did it with such zeal, I think he even made the attending general proud,” Deaver recalled.