Don't Know Much About American Presidents

This book, Don't Know Much About American Presidents by Kenneth C. Davis makes me mad.  I'm mad at the history teachers I had in school that led me to think I didn't like history.  I do.  I do like history.  I just didn't like the way they taught it. Why did I have to memorize dates when fascinating human drama is so much more interesting? I learned a lot in this book.  I did not know much about American Presidents.  It starts out talking about the writing of the United States constitution.  This makes me wonder what John Hancock and Benjamin Franklin would say if they could step into 2015 for a half hour or so.  I had no idea how big the topic of slavery was at that time.  At that time our leaders tabled the issue instead of risking the southern states wouldn't join the union.  The southern states would continue to push their influence even after the Civil War by insisting on segregation and allowing the KKK to flourish.  After that the book goes through all 43 US presidents, one by one.  I learned about their entire lives, their parents, sibling, spouses and children plus the significant events in their presidency.  Ken Davis also gives them a grade on their performance.   I tried to read this book with an open mind.  I tried to read this book not as a Democrat and not as a Republican.  Yeah, that proved impossible.  The Democratic party must be in my blood because I know it's deep in my brain.  I hear Tea Party propaganda and my reaction comes on a visceral level.   Sometimes I agreed with the grades.  Of course George Washington and Abe Lincoln get A's.  On the other hand I think earlier presidents who advocated breaking Indian treaties and actually kept slaves to serve them while acting as US President don't deserve A's. Maybe I put more emphasis on social issues than most people. If our Presidents had the courage to express anti-slavery sentiments maybe we could have avoided the Civil War.  I was a little bummed when he gave Clinton a B (that is fair considering his sex addiction) but perked right up again when Dubya (George W. Bush) got an F.  Then he talked about the process of selecting presidents.  Four times now, like in the election Dubya won, the President elected did not get the most popular votes.  What a crazy system we have!  I know more facts when I buy a new appliance than when I vote for President.  If only there was a Consumer Report on politicians. People thought Lincoln wasn't prepared to be a US President.  How are we to know?  There is no standards to check off on a list.  Does a good President need a law degree?  Franklin Pierce was a lawyer and he got a F grade which makes me sad because everyday on my walk at lunch time at work I walk across Pierce Street which is named after him.  Should the next President be a member of the Freemasons? What is a good job to have before being a president?  A military leader like Grant or Eisenhower?  A drifter and hitchhiker like LBJ?  A peanut farmer like Carter?   Instead we make our decisions on sound bites and razzmatazz.  The next leader of the United States of America is an important decision to make on razzmatazz!  Lucky for us citizens, the authors of the constitution put in enough safe guards that our country has been able to weather our good presidents and our not so good presidents.  I learned so much in this book and much of it was things I felt I should already have known.  I already knew about the British burning down the White House and how Dolly Madison cut the portrait of George Washington and saved it from the fire.  But did you know the reason the British burned down the White House?  We invaded Canada and tried to take over Montreal! Hello!  The United States invaded Canada? How did I not know that before?  Why was my education about my country so sanitized?  I also realized, more than ever before, that graduating from high school in 1972 was a pivotal time.  People were realizing and coming to terms with Vietnam which reminds me of the story of the Emperor who wore no clothes.  Our country did not belong in that nation but we were too proud to admit it. That plus Watergate, the Munich Olympics terrorist attack,  bombs exploding in Belfast, George Wallace is shot, student demonstrations at the University of Minnesota and Mark Spitz won 7 gold medals all added up to a big year in the news.  People were marching in the streets and shutting down Washington Avenue in front of Coffman Union where I intended to go to college in the fall.  I remember seeing that violence on the television made me nervous. 1972 was a year of turmoil in our nation and becoming an adult in that year has made me who I am today.  I could read this book again and learn even more the second time around.  Not only was it an interesting book to read, it is an important book to read.  Oh, and by the way, in case you were interested in what grade Obama got, it was an I for incomplete.