Shaping History
A Review By Charles King
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Shaping History |
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Tour of Duty | Rise of the Vulcans | 1968| Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation |
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Americans tend to be addicted to “Eureka!” moments; specific points in time that bear the weight of intelligent or even divine design, shaping everything which comes after. But even a short acquaintanceship with history provides a different notion of the way events proceed, along with revealing the actual rarity of such moments. For every philosopher in the bathtub there are thousands of apparently decisive events with humbler origins, and whose import was never discerned until years or even decades after their occurrence. Here are four recent histories and biographies that provide rich context for such world-altering events. |
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As recently as
December, most political pundits considered John Forbes Kerry a dark horse
presidential aspirant on his to pasture. Now the presumptive Democratic
candidate, Kerry’s history and personality are under full review by
supporters and critics alike. Interestingly enough, historian Douglas
Brinkley’s Tour of Duty – John Kerry and the Vietnam War (Morrow,
$25.95) provides a fuller and more candid glimpse into the events that
shaped Kerry that have been available for any presidential candidate in
recent memory. For Kerry, who enjoyed a privileged Boston Brahmin
upbringing, any notions of entitlement were balanced by a greater sense of
duty. Kerry enlisted in the Navy in 1966, a few months prior to graduating
from Yale, and was trained to command Swift boats, armed small craft used
for river patrols in Vietnam. During his tour of duty, Kerry commanded Swift
boats in numerous combat missions, receiving the Bronze Star, the navy
Silver Star, and three Purple hearts. But Kerry’s heroism was tempered by
what the war was doing to America and Vietnam. After returning home, Kerry
joined the Vietnam Veterans Against the War and became so effective a public
speaker that the FBI branded him a subversive and the Nixon White House
attempted to discredit him. Eventually, Kerry sought political office,
becoming Senator from Massachusetts. Tour of Duty offers a compelling
portrait of a thoughtful and complex individual whose adult life was
unalterably changed by his decision to serve his country. Given the effect
Vietnam continues to exact on America nearly three decades after U.S. troops
finally exited the country, and U.S. involvement in similarly politically
murky conflicts today, Tour of Duty provides considerable insights on
how the simple decision to embark on one path can affect every other journey
that follows. Mark Kurlansky has found a good deal of success in
writing what might be called micro-histories; books that focus on tracing
the deep social, economic, and cultural ramifications of common subjects, as
demonstrated by his books Cod and Salt. Kurlansky pushes his
envelope a bit in the new 1968 (Ballantine, $26.95), a year which he
posits was a global tipping point that embodied a host of world-altering
events that affected all that happened afterward. For those with foggy
memories or no first hand experience of that tumultuous year, 1968 witnessed
the assassinations of Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King, the first live
television broadcast from outer space, the disastrous Tet offensive in
Vietnam and the solidification of the U.S. anti-war movement, spontaneous
uprisings across the globe, the riots at the 1968 Democratic National
Convention in Chicago, the disruption of the Miss America pageant by
feminists, and the election of Richard Nixon. Does Kurlansky support his
suppositions? Largely, yes, since it would be easy enough to argue that 1968
inspired a pendulum swing led the world to where it sits in conservative
2004, perhaps ready to begin a return trip. More importantly, how does
Kurlansky’s book work, overall? Curiously enough, while 1968 offers
some interesting insights on the interconnections and juxtapositions of
1968’s events, the scattershot approach Kurlansky honed in his earlier works
too often leaves one wishing for less breadth and more depth. The fact is
that Kurlansky delves into a score of subjects that could inspire (and in
many cases have inspired) successful standalone histories. While tasty
enough, all too often 1968 stands as an appetizer that leaves the
reader hungering for a more satisfying meal.
Abraham Lincoln’s life and presidency were defined by
his actions during the Civil War. Even today Lincoln is still referred to as
the Great Emancipator who ended the practice of slavery with his
Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. But a number of revisionist historians
have suggested that the Proclamation was little more than a shallow gambit
Lincoln used to advance his own political ends, and did not reflect
Lincoln’s true feelings on the issue of slavery. Lincoln scholar Allen C.
Guelzo’s new Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation (Simon & Schuster,
$26.00) offers a balanced response to revisionist musings. Guelzo (whose
Abraham Lincoln: Redeemer President won the 2000 Lincoln Prize) has
ample background to pursue his subject. In essence, Lincoln’s
Emancipation Proclamation focuses on providing an overview of the social
and political milieu that inspired and affected Lincoln’s decision,
puncturing the balloons of those who believe the Proclamation was somehow
written in a vacuum or leapt fully formed from Lincoln’s pen in much the
same way as the Gettysburg Address. But because the Proclamation’s creation
and timing were so premeditated, and its effects so carefully targeted, it
should not suggest that it was a mere political ploy. Lincoln began
advancing a plan for gradual, compensated emancipation in 1861, offering
incentives he hoped would lead the slave states to end slavery on their own
and offer a detour to the march to war. As Guelzo notes, Lincoln’s decision
to issue the Proclamation was complicated by political and judicial
complications, such as Chief Justice Roger B. Taney (who issued the infamous
Dred Scott decision) and the Confederacy’s early battlefield successes. In
the end, Lincoln bided his time, waiting for a moment when the tide of war
had turned and the stars of public and political opinion were aligned in his
favor. Overall, Guelzon has succeeded brilliantly with Lincoln’s
Emancipation Proclamation in lucidly presenting the context for a
document that fundamentally reshaped American history.
Forward to Next Series of Reviews
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