Notes from Neil

Summer offered one last bit of 90-degree flirtation this week before she stepped aside for the arrival of her cooler sister, Autumn. I'll be spending a little more time this week on a single title. I found it to be not only a great read, but a significant book of American history. Here's what we're reading:

Wilson - A. Scott Berg.
As I'm the product of a pretty typical public school system, I experienced the same glancing blow approach to the study of American history as everybody else. The half-defined and vague image I'd always had of President Woodrow Wilson was that of a slender man who favored top hats and happened to be in office when World War One broke out. There was also a dim memory of a second wife and some sort of illness while he was President, but after all these years, that was about it. Mr. Berg's new deeply researched and beautifully written biography of our 28th President reveals the man at the center of profound national and international upheaval and change.

There were a lot of firsts associated with Wilson's time in office - he was the first (and last) President to rise to the office from the world of academics, rather than politics. A generous part of the story is given to his rise to the presidency of Princeton, including the appearance of health issues that would play such a dramatic role later. The first President to speak to a crowd through a public address system, the first sitting President to travel overseas, and the first to mobilize our nation's military and industrial forces to fight a war far removed from our own shores.

Our entry into the war turned a four-year stalemate into an Allied victory. Wilson's arrival in Europe to negotiate the peace treaty led to a level of adulation from governments and their people such as the world has rarely, if ever, seen. That an opposition Senate, led by the towering personality of Henry Cabot Lodge, refused to ratify the Treaty of Versailles upon his return was a devastating setback, and led directly to the stroke that incapacitated him for much of his second term.

Wilson the man is revealed as clearly as Wilson the President. A son of the South, he was profoundly religious, and yet his views on racism and segregation were typical for his background. He was deeply intellectual, well read, a brilliant public speaker and the author of several bestselling books on history and political thought. He was indifferent to the cause of women's suffrage until the newly-established female vote in the Western states carried him back into office for a second term (the 19th Amendment was passed during that term). Driven, complex and supremely confident, he was certain he could succeed in his role as President by speaking directly to the American people and, rather than talk down to them, raise the intellectual level of public debate to his own. That strategy proved repeatedly successful during his time in office. I kept thinking as I read that someone should try it now.

Thank you all once again for the excellent emails - the best part of writing this newsletter. What's the upcoming Fall title you're looking forward to the most? It's going to be a great season for readers.  

Until next week,
Neil 

NeilNeil Rajala is Currently Director of Community & Business Services for Schuler Books, Neil's decade with the company has included the wearing of many different hats - and lots and lots of reading.