Failures of the Presidents
From the Whiskey Rebellion and War of 1812 to the Bay of Pigs and War in Iraq...This book walks you through American history exploring the presidents decision making process and answering questions on what went wrong.
By Thomas J. Craughwell with M. William Phelps
Published by Fair Winds Press
September 2008;$19.95US/$21.95CAN; 978-1-59233-299-1
Description
THE NATIONAL TREASURY CRIPPLED.
COUNTLESS LIVES RUINED.
WHOLE NATIONS DESTROYED.
Everybody makes mistakes, but when an American president blunders the result can be catastrophic.
This in-depth look at presidential decision-making processes gone wrong reveals the policies and courses of action that seemed promising at the time, but turned out to be the worst decisions American presidents have made. The stories featured here altered the course of the nation’s history, and in some cases changed the history of the world for the worse.
Every chapter takes the reader inside the White House as the president confronts troubles at home and threats from abroad and explains the problems and choices the president faced, what he hoped to achieve, and why his decision went horribly wrong, including:
• The war that cost 20,000 American lives, reduced the U.S. Capitol and the White House to smoking ruins, and achieved none of the president’s goals.
• The relocation plan that sent a clear message to former Confederates that the federal government had abandoned the millions of newly freed slaves.
• The half-hearted invasion that led the world to the brink of nuclear war.
• The failed burglary and the bungled cover-up that forced a president from office.
Failures of the Presidents is a gripping and horrifying history of presidential directives—most well intended but some arguably not—resulting in terrible disaster.
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.
Reviews
"What a great read! We learn as much from our failures as our triumphs and we’ll all learn a great deal from this disturbing slice of living history."
-Joseph Cummins, author of The War Chronicles from Chariots to Flintlocks and History’s Great Untold Stories
Praise for Stealing Lincoln’s Body by Thomas J. Craughwell
"A marvelous look into Gilded Age America and the wellsprings of many of our modern vexations."
-The Times (London)
"Thomas J. Craughwell has given us a richly detailed, highly entertaining, and broad slice of our history."
-The American Spectator
"There is no end of fascinating context and detail in this engrossing, often zany, yet poignant tale."
-Chicago Tribune
"…a fascinating, level-headed, and insightful look at the pratfalls that marked our leaders’ march to destiny. Great stuff."
-Cormac O’Brien, author of Secret Lives of the U.S. Presidents and Secret Lives of the Civil War
Author Bio
Thomas J. Craughwell is the author of several books, most recently How the Barbarian Invasions Shaped the Modern World (Fair Winds Press, 2008) and Stealing Lincoln's Body (Harvard University Press, 2007). He has written articles on history, religion, politics, and popular culture for the Wall Street Journal, American Spectator, and U.S. News & World Report. He lives in Bethel, Connecticut.
Journalist, lecturer, and historian M. William Phelps is the author of eleven books, including his most recent, Nathan Hale: The Life and Death of America’s First Spy (Thomas Dunne Books, 2008). He lives in Vernon, Connecticut.
Published by Fair Winds Press
September 2008;$19.95US/$21.95CAN; 978-1-59233-299-1
Description
THE NATIONAL TREASURY CRIPPLED.
COUNTLESS LIVES RUINED.
WHOLE NATIONS DESTROYED.
Everybody makes mistakes, but when an American president blunders the result can be catastrophic.
This in-depth look at presidential decision-making processes gone wrong reveals the policies and courses of action that seemed promising at the time, but turned out to be the worst decisions American presidents have made. The stories featured here altered the course of the nation’s history, and in some cases changed the history of the world for the worse.
Every chapter takes the reader inside the White House as the president confronts troubles at home and threats from abroad and explains the problems and choices the president faced, what he hoped to achieve, and why his decision went horribly wrong, including:
• The war that cost 20,000 American lives, reduced the U.S. Capitol and the White House to smoking ruins, and achieved none of the president’s goals.
• The relocation plan that sent a clear message to former Confederates that the federal government had abandoned the millions of newly freed slaves.
• The half-hearted invasion that led the world to the brink of nuclear war.
• The failed burglary and the bungled cover-up that forced a president from office.
Failures of the Presidents is a gripping and horrifying history of presidential directives—most well intended but some arguably not—resulting in terrible disaster.
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.
Reviews
"What a great read! We learn as much from our failures as our triumphs and we’ll all learn a great deal from this disturbing slice of living history."
-Joseph Cummins, author of The War Chronicles from Chariots to Flintlocks and History’s Great Untold Stories
Praise for Stealing Lincoln’s Body by Thomas J. Craughwell
"A marvelous look into Gilded Age America and the wellsprings of many of our modern vexations."
-The Times (London)
"Thomas J. Craughwell has given us a richly detailed, highly entertaining, and broad slice of our history."
-The American Spectator
"There is no end of fascinating context and detail in this engrossing, often zany, yet poignant tale."
-Chicago Tribune
"…a fascinating, level-headed, and insightful look at the pratfalls that marked our leaders’ march to destiny. Great stuff."
-Cormac O’Brien, author of Secret Lives of the U.S. Presidents and Secret Lives of the Civil War
Author Bio
Thomas J. Craughwell is the author of several books, most recently How the Barbarian Invasions Shaped the Modern World (Fair Winds Press, 2008) and Stealing Lincoln's Body (Harvard University Press, 2007). He has written articles on history, religion, politics, and popular culture for the Wall Street Journal, American Spectator, and U.S. News & World Report. He lives in Bethel, Connecticut.
Journalist, lecturer, and historian M. William Phelps is the author of eleven books, including his most recent, Nathan Hale: The Life and Death of America’s First Spy (Thomas Dunne Books, 2008). He lives in Vernon, Connecticut.
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