First Great Triumph

Back in November, I finally finished the Warren Zimmermann's Magnum Opus - First Great Triumph.

Some background: At the tail end of 2004 I went to the Museum of History and Industry and saw a fantastic "period piece" exhibit which talked about the politics and issues of turn of the century America. It explored all the different pressure points in politics, society, and the economy. What amazed me about the exhibit was how the headlines from the 1900s could have been torn out of a modern paper. The issues seemed identical, the personalities darn similar, and the uncertainty of the nation just as real.

Over the Christmas break I took some time at a big bookstore in Boston and looked through all the 1890-1910 history books. Warren Zimmermann's was the thickest, so, therefore, by my rude count, it had to be the best. Once again, judging a book by its external factors reigns supreme. The book is excellent - extremely even-handed, very well written, and unbelievably relevant.

At the time, America was a bit of a nothing little nation that had been holding on with a death gripe to the twin policies of the Monroe Doctrine and isolationsism. In steps a group of five men to change that and launch America as a dominant global super-power: Teddy Roosevelt, Henry Cabot Lodge, Alfred Mahan, Elihu Root, and John Hay. Out of their five year "reign," the US emerged on the international scene as an imperial nation, with a bit of a bang. You can see some of the lasting consequences of how we entered the world of imperialism (specifically the Phillippines, Cuba, and Haiti) with the current situation in Cuba, and the parallels with how we approached the Iraq war.

I just recently finished Sarah Vowell's Assassination Vacation (another excellent book by Ms Vowell), where she talks about the McKinley assassination (among others). It was fun to read her shorter recap of the same time period and realize that she left with the same impressions that I did - that the mirror of history is being held up to the 1900s and it's amazing what you can see coming forward from the past.

You can find an excellent transcript of a speech given by Warren Zimmermann here.