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Sunday, April 28, 2019

Reagan


I was 11 years old when Reagan was elected in 1980 and was in college when he left office. Of all of the books on the list, this may be the one I was most looking forward to reading.

Barnes and Noble recommends H.W. Brands Reagan, The life. As I continue on this journey, I like to read up on the authors. Brands is a professor at University of Texas here in Austin. 




Reagan was born and raised in Illinois. His father was Catholic. Reagan did not follow his father's religion. If he had, he would have been the second Catholic President after JFK. His father was an alcoholic. This may have contributed to the reason why Reagan did not drink alcohol.


Prior to getting involved in politics:
  • Graduated from Eureka College in Illinois.
  • Got his start in radio before moving to Hollywood to pursue acting.  
    • In those days, actors signed contracts with the studios. He got a deal with Warner Brothers Studios. 
    • Played George Gipp in the famous Knute Rockne movie. Let's win one for the Gipper.
    • Bedtime for Bonzo. Starred in the movie next to a chimp.
    • Interesting unrelated fact I learned, the Warners were four brothers from Youngstown Ohio. All these years I see in movies Warner Brothers made the movie. It never dawned on me that there were actual brothers who started the company.
  • Served in Army in World War II
    • One of many Americans who served in WW II. Joining future Presidents JFK, Nixon, Ford, Carter and Bush 41
  • 1st wife was actress Jane Wyman
    • It was Wyman's 3rd marriage
    • lasted 9 years
    • two kids - Michael and Maureen Reagan
  • Nancy Davis - 2nd wife
    • two kids - Patti and Ron
  • Screen Actors Guild (SAG) President
    • Reagan learned some valuable negotiation skills during this time
  • GE spokesman - nation discovered him as a conservative voice
  • Testified at HUAC hearings
    • Previously discussed in Nixon blog
  • Speech for Goldwater campaign in 1964
    • Goldwater was the Republican nominee for President who lost to LBJ. Reagan gave a televised speech on behalf of Goldwater. The speech launched Reagan's political career
1966: Reagan was elected Governor of California. He would serve as governor from 1967 to 1975. Along the journey of reading the books, I have been searching for common traits among the 44 men who became President. In recent times Governor has been a common prior job. Reagan along with Carter, Clinton and George W. Bush have all been a Governor and President in my lifetime.

1968: Reagan attempted to win the Republican nomination. Nixon won the nomination and ultimately the Presidency. South Carolina Senator Storm Thurmond told Reagan that year, "Young man, you'll be President some day. But not this year."

1976: Reagan tried again to secure the nomination. He challenged incumbent Gerald Ford for the nomination and narrowly lost. Ford would go on and lose the 1976 President race to Jimmy Carter. Ford was President without winning an election. Which poses the question. How many Presidents have not been elected. I hope to find out this answer when I finish all 44 books.
1980: At first if you don't succeed try again. Reagan secured the Republican nomination. He offered the VP spot to Ford which he declined. George H. W. Bush was selected as VP.

I remember the Iran hostage crisis in 1980. What I learned in the book is that the Reagan campaign may have brokered a deal with the Iranians to not release the hostages until after the election. The thought was if the hostages were to be released prior to the November election it would help Carter win reelection. The Iranians would prefer Reagan to be President. Reagan's future CIA Director William Casey is said to have traveled to Iran. There is no proof this occurred. The hostages were released after Reagan was sworn in.

Reagan/Bush defeated Carter/Mondale by carrying 44 states and over 8 1/2 Million more votes. Reagan's promise was smaller government and less taxes. Some of the same conversations we are having today.

Reagan was shot in March 1981 after giving a speech in Washington D.C. He was shot by John Hinkley who was trying to impress actress Jodie Foster. 

It's one event I remember where I was when it occurred. I was in 6th grade when the shooting occurred. We had indoor recess and the principal, Mr. Miranne, came over the loud speaker to announce Reagan had been shoot.

Two other tidbits about the day:
  1. It was the day of the men's basketball Final Four and the last time there was a consolation game as LSU lost to Virginia.
  2. VP George H.W. Bush was traveling in Texas. In confusion, Secretary of State Alexander Haig went on TV to say he was in charge. Haig must not have been paying attention in civics class as the Speaker of the House and Senate Pro Tempore are ahead of the Secretary of State in line for the Presidency.
Twenty: Every President who won election every 20 years starting in 1840 till 1960 died while in office
  • 1840 - William Henry Harrison
  • 1860 - Lincoln
  • 1880 - Garfield
  • 1900 - McKinley
  • 1920 - Harding
  • 1940 - FDR
  • 1960 - Kennedy
Based on the above, Nancy was convinced her husband would die in office. After the shooting, Nancy consulted an astrologer for Reagan's travel arrangements. This fact was not made public until later when a bitter former Chief of Staff and Treasury Secretary Don Regan revealed in a book in 1988 while Reagan was still in office.

It seemed during all eight years in office Reagan was constantly dealing with foreign policy.
    • Middle East
    • Falkland Islands
    • Grenada
    • Poland
    • Russia
Another hotly debated topic is the economy during the 1980's and trickle down economics. I don't claim to be a economic expert. It was interesting reading in the book all of the debate among his staff and Reagan working with a Democratic controlled House of Representatives. Reagan  and Tipp O'Neill were not the best of friends.

Central America
Similar to today, this is a controversial issue on immigration. While most focused on stopping the spreading of Communism, it was more of a humanitarian issue. Reagan was quoted as saying we need to help people in Central America as morally the right thing to do.
1984 Election
  • Reagan/Bush defeated Mondale/Ferraro by 19%
  • From LBJ winning in 1964 by 20%, this is a 39% swing of voters from Democrats to Republicans
Russia and nuclear weapon discussions
  • Russia wanted to rid the world of nuclear weapons
  • Reagan would not budge on Strategic Defense Initiative - SDI
  • After multiple failed attempts Reagan found the right partner in Gorbachev and was able to avoid nuclear war
Iran Contra hearings
  • While I vaguely remember Oliver North and the hearings, it boiled down to selling arms to Iran in exchange for hostages with the profits from the arm sales funding the Contras in Central America
  • North was convicted but was overturned on appeal
  • North's popularity grew among conservatives as Reagan was called to issue a pardon
  • Reagan ultimately decided against a pardon based on how Ford handled Nixon's pardon in 1974 (more to come in my Ford blog post)
Brady Bill: Reagan upset quite a few conservatives when he supported the Brady bill on background checks for handgun purchases. The bill is named after his former press secretary who was severely injured the same time Reagan was injured in 1981. The bill did not become law until President Clinton was in office.

Aids: Reagan is often criticized for not doing enough early for the Aids epidemic in the 1980s. It was painted as a gay disease and from doing drugs. His slow response can be blamed on Nancy's Just say no to drugs campaign and him not wanting to upset his conservative base.

Bitburg, Germany: Reagan visited a Nazi cemetery in 1985 for the 40th anniversary of the end of World War II. This visit was not well received.

Ronald and Nancy both survived cancer while in office. Reagan had Alzheimer's for the last several years he was alive.

Legacy: Reagan's legacy is hotly debated.

  • Timing: he was in the right place at the right time as he was a great public speaker and became the voice of the conservative movement
  • His goal was to shrink government and defeat communism
  • Some critics believe Reagan got others to do the dirty work for him
    • Release of Iranian hostages
    • Iran Contra arms deal
  • Reagan knew how to be popular
  • After leaving office in 1989, Reagan made quite a few speeches with the same theme. Preaching the conservative gospel
  • At the dedication of his library, Reagan told the crowd "I know in my heart that man is good. That what is right will always eventually triumph.
It's the last quote that rings true today.

737 pages in the Reagan book. 8,689 total in 15 books. 29 to go. Next up Ford.


Saturday, April 13, 2019

Hoover


After I finishing my last book (Nixon), the plan was to read Gerald Ford. After some thought, I decided to go visit my local library as it was getting expensive buying all of the books.

A lot has changed since the last time I went to the library. I was looking for the drawer with the cards to look up where a book is located. Wow, there are computers to look up where a book is located. You can even reserve books online.

We moved to Cedar Park, Texas in August 2012. I am embarrassed to admit that I have not gotten a library card since we moved here. It was great to learn that there is no charge to use the library as my taxes cover the cost. There are even streaming services that are free for audio books. Great for commute on the train to work downtown.

Also I can use my card at any Austin library which is huge as I work two blocks from the main library in downtown Austin.




I have to admit I didn't know much about Hoover. I don't remember discussing Hoover in high school or college history classes. I did learn in the FDR book that Hoover was not very friendly to FDR in the transition period of Presidency in 1933 and was an outspoken critic of the New Deal.

A few facts about Hoover:
  • Born in Iowa and orphaned
  • Raised by a relative in California
  • In the first class at Stanford University
  • Made a fortune in mining and kept a substantial portion due to no federal income tax at the time
  • 1st President born west of the Mississippi River

During and after World War I, Hoover led the Food Administration. Hoover made difficult decisions at home and abroad distributing food that prevented starvation for millions of people. He was considered a hero in Europe while some Americans blamed him for the stock market crash and Depression which happened in 1929 while he was President.

Hoover was Commerce Secretary under two Presidents, Harding and Coolidge. He was influential in the development of radio and played a major role in the recovery efforts following the Great Mississippi flood of 1927.

This brings up something interesting I have discovered reading the Presidential books. I discover moments in history and books I want to read. I have heard of Rising Tide. The book covers the 1927 flood. This book will be added to my list to start after I finish books on all 44 Presidents.

Hoover was elected President in 1928. He held no prior elected office. I find this a fascinating fact as I can think of Grant, Eisenhower and Trump as not winning an election prior to being elected President. It will be interesting to find out if there are more that I am missing.

Presidency
  • Executive order created the VA and NIH
  • Stock Market crash
  • June 1932 incident with World War I veterans
Hoover only served one term. He was soundly defeated in 1932 by FDR. The defeat was partly based on his policies (stock market crash and the ensuing Depression) and his handling of the June 1932 incident with the Veterans.

Veterans had descended on Washington D.C. in June 1932 as they had not received their bonuses from serving in the World War I. Thousands had set up camp in and around the city. Hoover supported General MacArthur to disperse the crowds. Two veterans and one infant were killed. Hoover was blamed for these deaths even though the military action did not cause the deaths.

Hoover Dam naming controversary

The Hoover dam was completed in 1930 during Herbert Hoover's Presidency. It was initially called the Hoover Dam. Due to Hoover's unpopularity, it was called the Boulder Dam. It was not until 1947 was the named officially changed to Hoover Dam.

Post Presidency
  • Very cold and standoffish towards FDR during the transition
  • Vocal critic of FDR's New Deal
  • Toured Europe and was hailed a hero for his relief efforts after World War I
  • Died in 1964
    • Lived past the age of 90
    • Joining John Adams as only the 2nd President at the time to live past 90
    • Carter, Ford, Reagan and Bush 41 have also lived past 90

Most historians have Hoover towards the bottom of rankings of best Presidents. I would tend to agree with this assessment.

While the book was the shortest I have read so far at 161 pages and only took three days to read. I 
thoroughly enjoyed the book and learning about Herbert Hoover.
14 down 30 to go. Onto Reagan.

Sunday, April 7, 2019

Nixon

When I ordered the Richard Nixon and found out it was 866 pages, I said to myself, what have I gotten myself into. I know how this story ends. Watergate, "I'm not a crook" and walking onto the helicopter waving the victory sign as his Presidency ended. Two years ago I had read All the President's Men and learned Nixon was a very paranoid individual. Before starting the book, I decided to have an open mind about Richard Nixon.

The Barnes and Noble list recommends Richard Milhous Nixon.... The rise on an American Politician. My main goal in reading this book was trying to understand who Nixon was as a person.






The first thing I learned is that his middle name does not have an e. I knew his middle name was Milhous but I thought it was spelled Milhouse. Continuing the trend of Presidents FDR & JFK, the middle name Milhous is his mother Hannah's maiden name.

The Milhous and Nixon families settled in Southern California with Richard being born in 1913. he was born in Yorba Linda (site of his Presidential library) and grew up in Whittier. He attended regular Quaker services. California over one hundred years ago is not the California we know today.

The Nixon family owned a gas station in Whittier  and eventually added a grocery store. Richard would often rise around 4:00 am to buy produce for his family to sell. He did this while in high school and college. There was hardship for the family as Richard's brother died of tuberculosis
Richard graduated from Whittier College and Duke law school. He served a few years as a lawyer in Whittier and worked in Washington D.C. in the Office of Price Administration in the federal government.
Navy
When I started this journey on reading on book on all 44 Presidents, I wanted to learn if there are common traits among all of the men. One of those traits is military service. We know of Washington, Grant, Kennedy (Famous PT 109 story), Bush 41 and Carter having served in the military. Seven months after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, Nixon joined the US Navy. I did not realize Nixon was in the Navy in World War II. This may be misleading as he was a lawyer and did not see active combat duty. Nonetheless, Nixon would state in future campaign ads he was a World War II vet.

1946 election for US rep
After returning from World War II, Nixon decided to run for the 12th Congressional seat in California. This was the beginning of a group of wealthy business and media members who would finance and advise Nixon the rest of his life. Nixon would defeat Democratic incumbent Jerry Voorhis and in the 80th US Congress join future Presidents JFK and LBJ in the House of Representatives.

Won reelection in 1948 
Nixon won reelection in 1948. With LBJ moving to the Senate and Gerald Ford winning election in the House. JFK also won reelection. That is four future US Presidents serving in the 81st Congress.  We have had it all. Former Generals (Washington, Grant and Eisenhower), Senators (Nixon, Kennedy & Obama) , Governors (Clinton, Bush 43 and Reagan) and reality TV stars (Trump). I find this very interesting that four future Presidents were serving in the same Congress. I may find later, this is not the most ever. I have decided to start working on a timeline for all 44 Presidents looking at where they were in various stages of their lives. More to come in the future.

Communism, HUAC & Alger Hiss
HUAC stands House Un-American Activities committee. Nixon was appointed to this committee as a freshmen rep in 1947. I knew about the McCarthy hearings in the 1950s and the term "McCarthyism". I did not know that prior to these hearings, Richard Nixon as a member of the HUAC committee took an active role in investigating communist activity in the United States. What I learned in the Nixon book, this Nixon was responsible for the investigation into Hiss. It's a very complicated story of  Whitaker Chambers, former State Department employee who served as witness, Father Cronin, a Catholic priest who was in conversations with the FBI and number of leaks from the FBI to Nixon and his committee. The story intertwines religion being involved in politics and the FBI led by J. Edgar Hoover. I first learned about Alger Hiss when I read the book on Truman. Hiss was a high ranking State Department official in the 1940s. He led the conference in 1949 which formed the United Nations. Hiss was convicted and sentenced to jail for being a Russian spy. This was a stain on the Truman Presidency.

1950 Senate election
After serving in two sessions of Congress at the age of 37, Nixon decided he wanted bigger and better things and decided to run for Senate. The democratic incumbent Sheridan Downey decided not to run for reelection. Helen Gahagan Douglas, a former actress, who had served three terms in the House representing California's 14th district secured the Democratic nomination. During the campaign, Douglas gave him the nickname "Tricky Dick".

I am losing count on the number of things I have learned reading the Presidential books. One of the many items in this book, John F. Kennedy on behalf of his father Joe, contributed to the Nixon campaign. Joe, who was a movie producer, did not want Douglas to win as she had some positions against the film industry. The contribution was made in private as the Kennedys did not want it known that they were openly endorsing a Republican.

Ronald Reagan, who at the time was an actor, formally endorsed Douglas. Reagan, at the time was a secret FBI informant into communist activity in Hollywood, would attend a Nixon rally with his future wife Nancy Davis. Attending this rally, converted Reagan to a Nixon supporter.

It was a very nasty campaign with Nixon continuing his anti-communist position and attempting to link Douglas to the communists. This link was not true but was effective as Nixon won the election with close to 60% of the vote.

1952 Presidential election
The Republican primary/convention for the Presidential nomination was a battle between Ohio senator Robert Taft (son for the 27th US President William Howard Taft), Dwight Eisenhower and California Governor Earl Warren (Future Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court). Eisenhower had no prior political experience and was even courted by the Democratic party. Nixon, with the help of his political machine, double crossed Warren and secured the VP spot on the ticket with Eisenhower.

After securing the nomination, the press reported of a Nixon secret fund. It was a fund that wealthy business owners in California contributed to in exchange for political favors from Nixon. He would publicly deny this was the intent of the fund. During a two week span Eisenhower did not communicate with Nixon as some for calling for Nixon to resign from the ticket. Nixon even drafted a resignation letter that he was going to send to Eisenhower. Nixon's campaign manager tore up the letter. After a national TV and radio address, Eisenhower decided to keep Nixon and win the Presidency. This period would have a lasting impact on the Eisenhower/Nixon relationship.

As I moved along in reading the book, I realized the book was not going to cover Nixon's entire life. The book ends with Eisenhower/Nixon ticket winning the 1952 Presidential election. While the book does not cover his time as Vice President and Presidency, the author does a tremendous job of going inside the political machine that elevated Nixon from a small time lawyer in Whittier, California to becoming the 37th President of the United States.

A quote on page 480 of the book there is a quote from Nixon that would come back to haunt him, "not even the immense power of a President (Truman) who has just won reelection could stop the march of truth." 

13 Books down, 7,791 pages complete. 31 to go.

Up next, Gerald Ford.


Millard Fillmore

Millard Fillmore was the 13th President of the United States and became President when Zachary Taylor died in office. He is one of eight...