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Lewis L. Gould
The Spanish-American War and President McKinley Lawrence. University Press Of Kansas (October 1, 1982) Paperback, 168 pp *ISBN-10: 0700602275 ISBN-13: 978-0700602278 Reviewed by Patrick Killough I. for alibris title of this review: Wiliam McKinley: America's first modern President By abuatticus, black mountain, NC Rating of this book: * * * * * Lewis L. Gould is University of Texas Professor Emeritus of history. In THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR AND PRESIDENT MCKINLEY, Gould makes a convincing case that our 25th President created the modern American presidency. In his assassination-shortened administration, the United States freed Cuba from Spain, annexed Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Phiippines and intervened without Congressional approval to put down the Boxer Rebellion in China. Through patronage, persuasion, kindliness and masking of his intentions he bent Congress to his will as had few chief executives before him. -OOO- http://www.alibris.com/booksearch?qwork=6244758& matches=14&wquery=lewis+l.+gould&cm_sp=works*listing*title ==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= II. for biblio.com Thanks to William McKinley in one year -- 1898 -- the USA came into possession of Hawaii, the Philippines and Guam in the Pacific and Cuba and Puerto Rico in the Caribbean. Cuba it soon gave up. The rest it kept. McKinley played a hostile Senate faction of anti-imperialists like a violin and pushed through early 1899 ratification of the Paris Treaty of Peace with Spain with one vote to spare. He greatly enlarged the powers of the Presidency. His successes in 1898 also allowed him to send troops to Peking without Congressional authority to fight the Boxers. It also paved the way to later building the Panama Canal under U.S. sole ownership. Until Professor Gould's revisionist looks at McKinley, the former Governor of Ohio had sunk to the status of a fourth-magnitude President, accused by some of genocide in the Philippines. -OOO- http://www.biblio.com/books/123926725.html =-=-=-=-=-=- for epinions Title of Review: "The United States is not a nation to which peace is a necessity" Reviewer's rating of THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR AND PRESIDENT McKINLEY * * * * * FIVE STARS Pros: Revises upward McKinley as enlarger of the American presidency and man of peace. Excellent maps. Cons: Fights hard uphill battle improving McKinley's traditional image as stooge of Mark Hanna and indecisive. The Bottom Line: The author makes us grasp Spain's poor judgment in fighting to retain an abused, unwilling Cuba. We see President McKinley as a man of peace reluctantly good at making war. aohcapablanca's Full Review: Lewis L. Gould - The Spanish-American War and Pres... William McKinley, Jr. (1843 - 1901) was 25th President of the United States of America. He died in office of gangrene and infection eight days after being shot in the stomach at close range by an assassin. Three years earlier he had freed Cuba from Spanish rule while creating an American empire that included Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines. He had then created the Open Door Policy toward China, sent troops to fight in Peking without Congressional authorization and laid the foundation for building the future Panama Canal. McKinley had risen from private to major in the Civil War. He hated the sight of men killing men and prayed that he would be spared another war. But then, like President Grover Cleveland before him, McKinley was confronted by a bloody war for independence in nearby Cuba -- together with Puerto Rico virtually all that was still left of Spain's once mighty American empire. Spain's army had already suffered 50,000 casualties in Cuba. Having convinced himself that it was in Spain's objective self-interest to grant Cuba independence, he waited as long as he dared for Spain to draw the same conclusion. The Spanish army, however, dug in its heels, flexed its political muscle and compelled the Queen Regent and her government to bob and weave and try one delaying tactic after another with the USA. Finally, President McKinley growled back: Spain "will end the contest, either alone and in
her own way, or with our friendly cooperation. ... the United States is
not a nation to which peace is a necessity" (Ch. 2, p.
26)
He then led America to victory in the shortest declared war in its history. In it the professional U. S. navy covered itself with glory, destroying one Spanish fleet at Manila bay and a second at Santiago de Cuba. The professional army and the volunteer regiments (200,000 enlistees) led by men as diverse as Theodore Roosevelt and William Jennings Bryan, performed less well. But the ground forces did well enough, with local insurgent assistance, to defeat Spain on land as well. There was also another, invisible enemy in Cuba: tropical disease. Only 281 Americans died in battle; 2,500 succumbed to typhus. Regarding the subsequent peace treaty, McKinley innovated to assure Senate ratification by two-thirds vote. He had added three senators and one newspaperman to the five-man delegation sent to Paris in September 1898. As anti-imperialist sentiment grew, it took patronage promises right up to the very last moment to assure McKinley's treaty passage with only one vote to spare. Acquiring the Philipines for $20 million and then retaining the islands as a Pacific Ocean territory that would never be eligible for Statehood was a bone in the Senate's throat. All of this and more is lucidly laid out in THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR AND PRESIDENT MCKINLEY. It is the work of University of Texas Professor Emeritus of history, Lewis L. Gould. Gould sets out to destroy many myths about McKinley, including one popular during the Viet-Nam war: that the 25th President had engaged in genocide in the Philippines. By and large he argues his case well for re-evaluation upward of the President's reputation. Gould sees McKinley as the first modern American President. Using his war powers, William McKinley ended the deepening post-Civil War trend toward weak men in the White House, men increasingly ceding executive power to Congress. He was also a powerful orator in an age that appreciated good talk. In one two week Midwestern swing in late 1898, he made 57 speeches. McKinley was also the first President to keep in touch with his field commanders via telegraph from a White House war room (20 minute message turnarounds for Cuba). He also used the telegraph to fine tune instructions to his Peace Commission in Paris. William McKinley, Jr. was a short man, only 5'6" tall. He was pleasant, agreeable and completely at peace with himself about masking his true intentions. He used patronage like a master, bestowing here a Federal judgeship, dangling there an ambassadorship. Deftly, quietly, he enlarged the powers of his great office. What he wanted, he got. McKinley saw it America's duty to bring justice, civilization, freedom of religion and vigorous trade to underdeveloped natives long oppressed by Spain. Imperialism was America's duty. And, McKinley said, "Duty determines destiny" (Ch. 4). Professor Gould is a prolific writer on many aspects of American history. This is the only book of his which I have read (and I did so entirely to gather details of his dipomacy innovations). But if the other books are this good, then let me at them! Especially, I would like to take a look into AMERICAN FIRST LADIES; THE MOST EXCLUSIVE CLUB: A HISTORY OF THE MODERN UNITED STATES SENATE; and LADY BIRD JOHNSON AND THE ENVIRONMENT. -OOO- http://www.epinions.com/reviews/The_Spanish_American_War_and_President_McKinley _by_Lewis_L_Gould/skp_~1/search_string_~lewis%2520l.%2520gould%253A%2520 the%2520spanish-american%2520war%2520and%2520president%2520mckinley -==-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-= for amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/Spanish-American-War-President-McKinley/ dp/0700602275/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1239369238&sr=1-1 file: gould_mckinley http://www.patrickkillough.com/history/gould_mckinley.html |