What a Great Name!

I finished reading a short biography of Jimmy Carter by Julian E. Zelizer, part of the "American Presidents" series published by Times Books, an offshoot of Henry Holt and Company, and I've moved on to Grover Cleveland by Henry F. Graff. It's likely that all you might know about Cleveland is that he was the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms, as our 22nd and 24th president.

After I transcribe what I need from each book in this series of books (and so far, I'm on the third book, though not in any particular order), I find the "selected bibliography" to be incredibly valuable. I open up a new Word file and save it as, say, "Jimmy Carter - Books" and enter into it whatever books the author used to write that book, those books that would be useful to me. I could use Amazon for the same purpose, but it's better for me this way to get a sense of the books that authors relied on, and also I don't always have to scroll through personally uncharted territory.

Instead of waiting until I'm done with this Grover Cleveland biography to make the "Grover Cleveland - Books" file, I decided to do it now since there's not a lot of books in the "selected bibliography" section, being that Cleveland wasn't as widely written about as, say, Lincoln or Kennedy or Clinton. There's another book titled Grover Cleveland that was published in 1968, and I love the name of the author: Rexford Guy Tugwell. It should be the name of a character in some whimsical novel.

Shoddy Music Choices at Westminster Abbey

I get that "God Save the Queen" is reserved for Queen Elizabeth II. Fine. But I'm disappointed that when Elton John walked into Westminster Abbey, the musicians didn't start playing "The Bitch is Back." There are some moments when decorum should be chucked temporarily, and that was one of them.

Oh, and Prince William for King. Not Charles. Yay.

The Royal Wedding. That Totally Happened.

I know it happened because Mom stayed up through the night to watch it, and is asleep now. I woke up during the night because of the light in the living room and the TV there, but went back to sleep not long after.

You're probably going to read the same thing elsewhere that I'm going to write: I didn't feel that great grasping need to watch it. I wasn't interested in all the proceedings. I needed my sleep like anyone else, particularly so I could continue my book research without falling over on the couch today, pen markings where they probably shouldn't be. I know. Probably not as interesting as the ceremony and all that.

Actually, the really interesting part comes later when Dad and Meridith get home from work and I get to find out who was absent today. Dad says he figures a lot of people will have called in throughout the district on a PNRW: Personal Necessity Royal Wedding. I just want to know if there was anyone who stayed up through the night to watch and then thought it would be a good idea to come to work anyway.

The Horror of a "Just for Men" Commercial

You know that "Just for Men" commercial with the little girls? I like to think that the guy in the commercial wants to say so badly, "Get away, you heinous devils! You're not even mine! You live next door!"

I Hang My Head in Shame for Where I Find Myself

ABC 7 here in Southern Calfornia just ran a story about a Kate Middleton that lives here, and she exclaims, "My Starbucks card says Kate Middleton and I thought I'd get free coffee, but I didn't!"

It's the kind of story that says to the rest of the country, "Please mock us mercilessly."

I'm Comfortable

Late last night, I started reading Gerald R. Ford by Douglas Brinkley. Before that, I had read To America: Personal Reflections of an Historian by Stephen E. Ambrose, and was particularly taken with this passage on page 50, in which Ambrose's editor asked him to write a book on the building of the transcontinental railroad, but not focusing on the shady motives of the bosses involved, but rather how it was built, who built it.

He writes: "I needed six months to read the major items in the literature so I could see if there was a reason for another book on the subject. In the process, I discovered what a fascinating subject the building of the line was and is. I discovered that there was an alternative proposal to having the railroad built by private corporations. The government built wagon roads, dug and maintained harbors and canals, constructed bridges. Why not have the government build and own the railroad?"

Six months. I didn't have that luxury when I wrote my essays for What If They Lived? I didn't need it, because the concept was already laid out. The names were ready for me to choose. There was a deadline and it was time to get to work. I was entirely new at this form of writing, and there was no safety net. I just had to get to work and do it.

Then, I was freaking out inside about the entire project, about the sheer enormity of it, but now I'm grateful for it because I have the confidence to press on with my ideas, to make them real. Now I have the luxury to spend time reading "the major items in the literature," though I'm starting relatively small. Douglas Brinkley's book is one in the "American Presidents Series," with Arthur W. Schlesinger, Jr. as the General Editor, and published by Times Books, a branch of Henry Holt and Company.

From what I can tell, having checked out a good number in this series, the text doesn't go above 200 pages. As Schlesinger puts it in the Editor's Note that appears in all the books, "It is the aim of the American Presidents series to present the grand panorama of our chief executives in volumes compact enough for the busy reader, lucid enough for the student, authoritative enough for the scholar."

These are perfect diving boards for me. Maybe I'll find what I'm looking for here in smaller details. It gives me the background of these men and then I can go for the bigger books later on, many of which I have right now. Plus the "Selected Bibliography" offers up a heap of books that I might read in the months to come.

When I was reading Ambrose's book, I read about World War II, and I read about Vietnam, subjects that don't interest me as much as the presidency. But it also depends on the historian because Ambrose writes about it all so vividly, that I'm glad to learn more about these wars, and since they involved many presidents, I can place it in that context, which Ambrose gives as well.

Most important to me is that I'm excited about this. I see the other library books in my stacks related to this research, and I'm not intimidated. This is where I belong.

Haunting Poetry in History

There are countless moments in history that stop you short of getting through the rest of your day, making you really think about your place in the world in relation to great and terrible political figures, events in various histories, and those small moments that sometimes show that those you would believe to be above you in the annals of government really don't possess anything more special than simply being alive and living through the same emotions and day-to-day decisions that we do, though ours tend to be far less momentous, yet no less important.

What I'm driving at is from Going Home to Glory: A Memoir of Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1961-1969 by David Eisenhower with Julie Nixon Eisenhower. Eisenhower chronicles growing up as the grandson of Dwight D. Eisenhower, and all that entailed for his family, including John, his father, who served him for decades, including his eight years in the White House.

It's a fascinating story, full of those details that show that presidents, even with all that burden, are indeed human. And there's one particular sobering moment in that vein, toward the end of the book, in which news of Eisenhower's forthcoming death has gone through Washington and triggered many preparations, including a eulogy being written for Nixon to deliver at the memorial service in the Capitol Rotunda, and Lyndon Johnson at work as well:

"At the LBJ Ranch in Austin, Texas, a melancholy Lyndon Johnson drafted a statement beginning: "A giant of our age is gone." Four days later, he would stalk Eisenhower's funeral in Abilene like a ghost, barely noticed by many, eyes glistening in sorrow at the passing of a good friend."

During his presidency, Johnson consulted Eisenhower regularly, and also gave standing orders that a helicopter be provided for him to and from his farm in Gettsyburg, Pennsylvania, that he be permitted use of Walter Reed Army Hospital, and also Camp David.

That is indeed sad poetry, and it's also a testament to David Eisenhower's skilled writing that he can convey that and make one stop reading for a few moments to really think about that, between the Johnson that existed in the White House early on and the Johnson that endured such personal carnage as he oversaw a devastating war, such turmoil that extended to that point in his post-presidential life.

That's not meant to diminish the importance of those who fought and died in the Vietnam War, but as my focus for at least three books is the presidents, that's what I emphasize here.

As to my research, this book included, I don't skim the pages looking for keywords that crucial to the books I plan to write. I read each and every book because I love this subject. What better opportunity to go deep into all of this history?