Presidents at War: How World War II Shaped a Generation of Presidents, from Eisenhower and JFK through Reagan and Bush (Steven M. Gillon)

In Presidents at War: How World War II Shaped a Generation of Presidents, from Eisenhower and JFK through Reagan and Bush, author Steven M. Gillon traces the experiences of seven presidents. While doing so, he demonstrates how their wartime service influenced their political outlook and subsequent presidencies.

Gillon effectively weaves together individual narratives with broader historical context. Instead of a series of biographical sketches, he skillfully analyzes how the shared experience of World War II forged a common understanding of patriotism, sacrifice, and America's role in the world among these men. The book goes beyond just the battles, and delves into the psychological effects the war had on each man, and how those psychological effects influenced their political views and American foreign policy for the decades following World War II.

Presidents at War is a significant contribution to books on presidential history. It offers a fresh perspective on a pivotal period in American history and sheds light on the enduring legacy of World War II.

MY RATING: 4.5

Woodrow Wilson: The Light Withdrawn (Christopher Cox)

With regard to how historians view his record, Woodrow Wilson is arguably one of the more conflicting presidents in American history. Wilson, known for pursuing a lasting peace in the wake of World War I, was also a fervent segregationist and steadily opposed a constitutional amendment to grant women the right to vote. Wilson’s legacy has arguably gone through more scrutiny in recent decades because of his past and rather light career accomplishments prior to entering politics. Woodrow Wilson: The Light Withdrawn by Christopher Cox focuses on Wilson’s career crossed with the women’s suffrage movement and race relations.

Cox’s biography of Wilson is fair - criticizing him for his racial (er, racist) policies on segregating the federal workforce after several administrations of desegregation. Cox also notes how Wilson’s presidency was very much the result of infighting within Republican circles - in 1912 with the breakaway Bull Moose campaign of Teddy Roosevelt which split Republican votes into two camps, and in 1916 in California, a state that Wilson won by just over 3,000 votes and, had the party been more unified, may have swung the balance of the election to Charles Evans Hughes. Through Wilson’s political career, Cox weaves in the story of the women’s suffrage movement and how the Democratic party fought amongst itself over giving women the right to vote. That right was granted through the 19th Amendment, ultimately ratified in 1920.

Woodrow Wilson: The Light Withdrawn also dives into Wilson’s push for the League of Nations and how his health had deteriorated as a result of his strenuous work in the Paris Peace Conference post-World War I. In Cox’s book, the reader sees Wilson as a conflicting, somewhat controlling persona who vastly changed the relationship of the Presidency and Congress but also set back the country dramatically on race relations and slow-footed the implementation of women’s voting rights.

MY RATING: 4

Tequila Wars: Jose Cuervo and the Bloody Struggle for the Spirit of Mexico (Ted Genoways)

You may recognize Jose Cuervo as the name of Mexico's iconic tequila brand. But Cuervo was also the driving force behind centralizing several tequila producers within his family's growing business empire. In Tequila Wars: Jose Cuervo and the Bloody Struggle for the Spirit of Mexico, author Ted Genoways draws from Cuervo's family records and personal diaries to argue that Cuervo was a shrewd businessman and political player who navigated the tumultuous landscape of late 19th- and early 20th-century Mexico.

The book highlights much of Cuervo's rise through the Mexican tequila business, as well as his role in Mexican politics. Cuervo's efforts to modernize tequila production, establish international trade routes, and form strategic alliances during the Mexican Revolution were pivotal in transforming tequila from a regional spirit that wanted to export more into the United States into a global commodity. A particular focus of the book is Cuervo's role during the Mexican Civil Wars of the 1910's. One story recalls his daring escape on horseback from his Guadalajara mansion in 1914, as Pancho Villa's revolutionary forces closed in.

Tequila Wars incorporates historical events with personal anecdotes from the author to provide a comprehensive view of Cuervo's impact on Mexican industry and political history during a time of profound change and revolution in the country. Genoways not only revives the legacy of Cuervo but also highlights the intertwined histories of Mexico and its most famous export.

MY RATING: 4