Nine stars
I have once again decided to embark on a mission to read a number of books on subjects that will be of great importance to the upcoming 2024 US Presidential Election. This was a great success as I prepared for 2020, with an outcome at the polls (and antics by both candidates up to Inauguration Day) that only a fiction writer might have come up with at the time! Many of these will focus on actors and events intricately involved in the US political system over the last few years, in hopes that I can understand them better and, perhaps, educate others with the power to cast a ballot. I am, as always, open to serious recommendations from anyone who has a book I might like to include in the process.
This is Book #12 in my 2024 US Election Preparation Challenge.
I am always looking for authors who are able to push me outside of my way of thinking without being a sycophant to any leader, using them as the standard-bearer of all things that are right. Brion T. McClanahan does well to criticize many US presidents through constitutional analysis, a wonderful basis for discussion. While I may not agree with some of his sentiments, I enjoyed how McClanahan approached the argument and used fact, as well as reference to the US Constitution itself. Exploring the shortcoming of nine men who held the title of POTUS, as well as lauding four more, McClanahan clearly argues that the US Constitution has not been followed and needs better exploration. Gatekeepers are necessary, though McClanahan is unwilling to offer such a role, citing a belief that this could be handled by self-restraint. A well-argued book that opened my mind and kept me eager to learn more.
Brion T. McClanahan effectively presents how there have been nine men who have served as US President and led the country down a path that cannot be deemed acceptable. He places his arguments firmly on the hands of the US Constitution, the founding document used to regulate laws and leadership limits. McClanahan clearly lists the presidents and their shortcomings. He examines Andrew Jackson's excessive push of a national bank, while also exploring that the push by Teddy Roosevelt to regulate the environment was out of hand.
Delving into some of the more constitutionally flimsy presidents, McClanahan cites Wilson and FDR, both of whom led during wartime and used their power to limit the powers of the citizenry. McClanahan argues that pushes to limit authority using the war as an excuse falls short and should not be forgotten by the attentive reader. He cited the US Constitution's infallibility and that these men blatantly reworked it to suit their needs, supported at times by the US Supreme Court. While McClanahan clearly believes that the court cannot be activist, he pushes the constitutional power too far, in my view.
To offer the other side McClanahan offers up found presidents who saved America through their constitutional support and limited power. There is no doubt that Thomas Jefferson would be on the list, which McClanahan. felt was strongly constitutional and made sure to limit his first administration in pushing for the confederate nature of the country, where states could (and should) run their own systems, as clearly listed in the constitution. There were moments of power seeking that could have caused Jefferson trouble, but the third president made sure to step back and permit American expansion only through the rules of the constitution, adding Louisiana but ceding power to Congress to decide the treaty. doing the likes of John Tyler, Grover Cleveland, and Calvin Coolidge to the mix, McClanahan explores how the constitution's power was neither an impediment or hurdle to their successful presidencies, keeping the country running within the parameters the Founding Fathers thought important.
While I am the first to say that I am neither a constitutional originalist, nor do I feel the courts cannot interpret the laws put before them, I can accept the views that Briton T. McClanahan has. He makes his views clear and offers evidence to support the arguments made. His views are primarily related to the US Constitution rather than criticism tied to any other leader. McClanahan provides well-developed chapters and offers clear and concise views, supported with historical facts and moments the reader can enjoy. This is precisely the type of book I seek for alternate views, more worried about the laws and well-founded sentiments that smearing any leader because of their ties to others. In a summer of presidential election preparation, there will surely be a great deal of criticism and attacks, something that I am sure McClanahan would do if he were able to write about either 2024 candidate. But... that's a story for another day!
Kudos, Mr. McClanahan, for a strong book that kept me thinking.
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