DEAR FRIENDS, HAVE YOU BEEN AS STUNNED as I have been since SEPTEMBER 11, 2001? ANOTHER DATE THAT WILL LIVE IN INFAMY!!! I have not had the time to play any wargames on the computer since this terrible evenfl!! I have just worked and watched the TV coverage which has horrified me! My wife and I were just in Manhattan in late June for theater and my favorite food. If you go to New York City, try the Oyster Bar in Grand Central Station (wonderful, go for lunch early @ 1130 or late about 1pm if you like seafood! Next go to the Stage Deli for great Pastrami, no one else does it like these two if you like fish/seafood and/or pastrami in a style that even Zingerman's in Ann Arbor can't match! I did my postgraduate work at Columbia University School of Dental and Oral Surgery in New York City and lived in Manhattan for 3 years while there after my first year commuting from Tarrytown. I also lived in the suburbs (Tarrytown, Yonkers, Dobbs Ferry, Valhalla (no kidding there really is such a place), Briarcliff and Brooklyn) from 7th grade to age 34.
I was four years old when the attack on Pearl Harbor took place. I can remember sitting in my dad and mom's living room on December 7, 1941 and listening to my family's big console, cabinet radio which was a big piece of furniture in those days. I used one of our old gutted cabinet radios as a display case for my toy soldiers when my kids were small. There was no TV in those days for you young peoples' information.
Then FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT came on the radio and delivered his speech and his message to Congress!!! Franklin Delano Roosevelt would never have survived politically in today's world. He was crippled by Polio which the press hid from the public. My father whom I loved deeply did not like him at all as the Republicans' hated his guts but they still kept his secret for the good of the country! Most people did not really know of his affliction with the exception of the reporters of that era who helped our nation rather than trying to destroy it. Can you imagine this type of forbearance today? By the way, if you haven't seen the recent movie Pearl Harbor, rent it!!! I loved it but remember that this is how life really was in the early to mid 20th century. Our modern critics ignored this fact and dumped on the film. The special effects are GREAT!
I just finished "JOHN ADAMS" by David McCollough. A really superb boo0 It really brought home to me how FRAGILE the fledgling United States was and how lucky we were to have men of exceptional moral character and honesty who chose to put the needs of the young republic before their own personal interests.
This is an amazing contrast to the young Napoleon Bonaparte who did just the opposite. I never knew the true extent of John Adam's incredible contributions to our country. He was Jefferson's mouthpiece in the Continental Congress supporting the Declaration of Independence ( Rent the musical video " 1776" to get a glimpse of this collaboration )and he was responsible for the appointment of George Washington as commander of the Continental Army This was done without regard to sectional rivalry which he never in his whole life seems to have paid any attention to, despite many strong political pressures to do so. The selection of Washington was A GREAT Choice and he later submitted himself to Washington as his vice president with 100% support as he rightly believed that George was the only man who could hold the young nation together.
I mentioned in my review of AGE OF SAIL that I didn't think we had such an extensive Navy in the period 1775-1820. 1 was wrong about that! Mr. John Adams was the early champion of our U.S. Navy and our first Secretary of the Navy as well. He believed in the wooden walls that saved Athens at Salamis as prophesied by the Oracle at Delphi. He was a classical scholar who read Latin and Greek and thus knew ancient history well. He was directly involved in the development of our early Navy and really should be called the FATHER OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY!!! He expanded the US Navy immensely during his presidency (1800-1804) and commissioned the building of our great Frigates ( USS Constitution and many others which were the best in the world at the time, perhaps our first military technological advantage as a nation! Despite Jefferson's scaling down of this program (was this the first time the Democrats have destroyed the defense budget?) and selling off some of the ships, Adam's expansion of our navy saved our ASS in the War of 1812 not to mention that he spent most of his presidency negotiating to avoid war with France and England.
In the interim period between the end of the AWI and 1804, Mr. Adams kept us OFFICIALLY out of an undeclared war with France whose revolutionary government was preying big time on our shipping , not to mention the depredations of the British who were also grabbing our ships and sailors. This was a bad time for our shipping industry with thousands of our merchant vessels seized and their sailors impressed into British or French service! This was despite the fact that had he followed the popular sentiment and gone to war with France, he would probably have been elected to a second term. He was successful in his efforts to make peace with France but the news did not arrive in time to prevent his close loss to Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr among others in the election of 1804 , a very interesting election by the way which is covered very well in the book. However, I doubt that Jefferson would have had the opportunity to make the Louisiana Purchase had Adams chosen war rather than peace with Napoleon's France!
The French ceased and desisted after their treaty with us but the Brits continued to impress our sailors which was one of the causes of the War of 1812 in which we were once again allied with the French. The War was a disaster for the United States economy. Our capital was burned and we really didn't do very well except at the Battle of New Orleans which made Andrew Jackson' career but was actually fought after the Peace Treaty was signed
Thomas Jefferson, whom I also admire, comes off in this book in his TRUE? Colors. A great and intelligent man who was one of the true founders of our republic but also had his faults. Despite his wonderful accomplishments, he seems to have been a Do As I Say Rather Than Do As I Do person. The relationship between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson is here in this book in great detail! It is very interesting and unusual. Close friends early on when both were diplomats in Europe and collaborated on bringing France into the AWI. They became political enemies with very different views after the war. There is something to be said for both their views of our future. Then they reconciled after their terms of office and conducted a correspondence that is truly amazing until they both died on the same day, JULY 4 1829! How appropriate for these two giants in our history!
Mr. Adams arranged loans with the Dutch that kept our young republic afloat during the AWI and was a great diplomat in our foreign service for many sad years apart from his beloved wife whom he loved deeply. She had a great influence on him their entire lives! He was also are first ambassador to England after the AWI and was really responsible for the Peace Treaty after the AWI despite many humiliating experiences at the hands of the Brits who really treated him like crap!!
All this experience he shared with his son John Quincy Adams as a young man who accompanied him to Europe on behalf of our early republic. It culminated in John Quincy becoming one of our most effective diplomats in his own right. Both he and his father spoke multiple European languages fluently (a HUGE ADVANTAGE for any diplomat). John and John Quincy are little appreciated today but their efforts on our Nation's fragile relationships with the great European nations of the time are incredible. They were our best representatives!! They obtained money, allies and recognition of the young United States and I REALLY don't think anyone else could have done ifl!
Have you seen "Band of Brothers"? If not, you have really missing a GREAT SHOW! It's the story of Easy Company of the 506 th Regiment, 101st Airborne Screaming Eagles from July 1942 to the end of the war. This miniseries, produced by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, is based on the book by the same name written by Stephen E. Ambrose. It is currently running on HBO and will probably be repeated. You can buy the book in hard or soft cover at Amazon.com or your local bookstore. I really like Stephen Ambrose's works and highly recommend "Citizen Soldiers" (the U.S. Army from D-Day to the end of the war in Europe) and "Undaunted Courage" (the story of the Lewis and Clark expedition to explore the Louisiana Purchase and find a route to the Pacific) which I found utterly fascinating. Those people had incredible courage and fortitude. Thank God we still have people like these because we need them again.
Please remember how fragile our republic was in the beginning and still is to the present day. Current historians estimate that the people of the fledgling republic were divided with about 1/3 for the Revolution, 1/3 neutral and 1/3 against the idea who wished to remain British subjects! Actually thousands of our people, perhaps as many as 100,00 left the country after the War for Independence was over and emigrated back to the United Kingdom. The great experiment in government of the people, by the people and for the people has been tested severely many times and has always risen to the occasion although sometimes by very thin margins!! Also remember that many signers of the Declaration of Independence lost their fortunes, properties and even their lives in our Glorious Revolution. Would you take such a RISK? I honestly don't know if I would! Reread the Gettysburg Address and consider Abraham Lincoln's words yet again!! I have been there and will review a Gettysburg game or two, walk the ground with you and recommend some books and videos to study. Keep your chin up, we shall endeavor to persevere! Where's that quote from? Email me if you don't know.
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© Copyright 2002 Hal Thinglum
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