American Presidents and Politicians on Memorial Day

Somehow it seems fitting to be looking at two new books that discuss American values and history on this Memorial Day holiday. Both are fairly scholarly in tone and while they focus on past events, their authors’ intent is to instruct, inform and to draw lessons for today.

The Jefferson Rule by David Sehat, an Associate Professor of History at Georgia State University, spans American history and argues that rather than exploiting and blithely quoting the Founders, our contemporary politicians should be engaging in more meaningful evaluation of policy. In an accessible way, he describes the partisanship of the Founders -- actually not a very coherent group and certainly not infallible.  Sehat deplores over-reliance on their writings and cites examples from the Civil War, New Deal, Reagan Revolution and Obama presidency. At one point, Sehat quotes Tony Judt: “The historian’s task is to tell what is almost always an uncomfortable story and [to] explain why the discomfort is part of the truth we need to live well…”

Published by Simon & Schuster, The Jefferson Rule received starred reviews from Library Journal and Kirkus Reviews and has a short video intro here. Although some students may not yet have enough background to fully appreciate Sehat’s many historical references, this title is worth considering as a required summer read for AP US History.

JFK and LBJ: The Last Two Great Presidents is written by Godfrey Hodgson, a British journalist who spent years as a White House correspondent and has authored numerous books about American politics. In this publication from Yale University Press, Hodgson argues that JFK’s reputation has been inflated and that Johnson’s reputation has been downplayed and as I read, I immediately thought of applying a similar argument to the contrast in how Americans tend to view Jefferson and Hamilton.  Although biased in his view, Hodgson nevertheless provides many details and close to 30 pages of footnotes while juxtaposing the strong personalities and many accomplishments of these two twentieth-century Presidents.  

Both of these titles encourage us to actively engage with history, looking through additional perspectives and reflecting this Memorial Day on the proverb: He who tells the story rules the world.

City of Liars and Thieves by Eve Karlin

I found Eve Karlin’s debut historical fiction novel, City of Liars and Thieves, to be fascinating and will recommend it as a possible Junior Theme choice, even though it currently appears to be only available as an eBook. The story is set in 1799 New York City and begins with a young woman, Elma Sands, arriving to help her married cousin run a boardinghouse. Sadly, Elma is later found murdered and questions arise about her romance with a boarder along with speculation about justice and motives when high profile lawyers like Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr become involved in the case. 

The story is based on actual events and includes a description of the courtroom trial for the first recorded murder case in American history. I especially liked the sense of mystery and dread that pervaded City of Liars and Thieves. Mostly, though, I was excited by potential for students to see ties to modern issues like class and income inequality, corruption in politics, corporate greed, and questions related to women’s roles in society.

Just a year or two ago, the New York Times printed a feature story noting how corners were cut in the roughly 200 year old water system described by Eve Karlin. I think that this book will intrigue readers and prompt them to further investigate the rivalry between Hamilton and Burr.