U.S. History

The conduct of contemporary American foreign policy flies in the face of the Constitution and much of our history.

Conor Cruise O'Brien lets the mask drop on of his deplorable new book.

My idea of a great president is one who acts in accordance with his oath of office to "preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States." Not since the presidency of Grover Cleveland has any president achieved greatness by this standard. Worse, the most admired have been those who failed most miserably. Evidently my standard differs from that employed by others who judge presidential greatness.

As usual, my reviews have been too generous. Although Lind's earlier work, The Next American Nation, struck me as fundamentally med to me possessed of an interesting historical imagination.

David Frum's new collection of essays and columns is like the curate's egg good in parts. 

In a truly free society, it wouldn't matter who the president was. We wouldn't have to vote or pay attention to debates. We could ignore campaign commercials. There would be no high stakes for ourselves, our families, or the country. Liberty and property would be so secure that we could curse him, love him, or forget about him.

This is a much more radical book than its title suggests. Criticism of quotas and affirmative action is hardly new. As the authors note, opinion polls show a vast majority of the public opposed to these programs;

The Gold Standard Act of 1890, which officially established the gold standard in America, was the culmination of a twenty-year battle between inflationists, who favored unlimited government purchase of silver (the "Free Silver" movement), and the advocates of sound money based on the gold standard. The inflationists were led by Senator John Sherman, author of the 1890 Sherman Silver Purchase Act (as well as the monopolistic Sherman Antitrust Act), brother of Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman.

To Renew America conveys a vivid sense of its author's unusual personality. But the vital core of the book lies elsewhere.

Michael Lind's book contains one excellent idea, and several well worth discussion.