William McKinley by Kevin Phillips
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I read this book because somewhere I read that Karl Rove found MicKinley’s political machine to be of great value, in basing the George W Bush campaign of 2000 against Al Gore… Instead of finding a president who I thought kowtowed to East coast bankers and industry leaders, I found an extremely idealistic man who lived well. He was respectful of others, and let them run their energies against him, rather than carrying a big stick. His policies showed that he fought for the common worker, and that he utilized government for middle class values, values of freedom and liberation rather than corporate or governing dominance.
I did appreciate his analysis of how Teddy Roosevelt’s presidency built off of McKinley’s and how McKinley was able to win against William Jennings Bryan while ducking the leadership of the Republican party and the corporate NorthEasterners who might otherwise have politically hampered his ability to act on his ideals.
Likewise McKinley was shown to be a soft spoken but cautious politician who was able to carve a path for the important role the US was to play in the 20th century. I would have liked to know more about his personal life, but I guess because he didn’t keep notes or letters, that might have been difficult.
Phillip’s writing is clear. He presents political analysis with an eye on past trends and future events in a way that seems unencumbered. I enjoyed reading it. I think what Phillips is best able to do is understand the different points of view of different social bodies, and show how they saw what they saw based on what their interests were. That’s about as objective as anyone can get.
Comments (0)