American History

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I have just finished reading the Second volume or Rick Atkinson’s trilogy on the American Revolution. This post is intent on explaining why I think it is a masterpiece and how I’ve taken it in and taken in history over my lifetime.

Above you see yet another collection of books. At the top you can see a Rush Limbaugh history of Paul Revere which as “history” takes a pixel out of a photograph of the Earth and dumbs it down with lots of self referential “I Rush Limbaugh am the Great Oz.” Its meant to feed starstruck fans. An nourishment its the equivalent of a candy bar. I’d looked for the book for years to buy as cheaply as possible and last year a used bookstore closed and I was delighted to add it to my library like Michael Jackson bought the skeleton of the Elephant Man for his house.

The first history I read of the Revolutionary period was a one volume history of George Washington by a historian named Flexner. He’d also written a three volume history but I didn’t have it in me to tackle that. The one thing that has always stuck with me was the young George as a teen compiling a long list of dos and don’ts of how to become a man of integrity and substance. As near as I can tell he followed those suggestions to the letter all the rest of his life.

Rush is a man who interests me because we born at almost the same time in adjoining states Kansas and Missouri. We both attended integrated elementary schools. Our families both were liberal Eisenhower Republican families. But whereas Rush threw himself into making the Republican Party what it is today, the whore of Donald Trump I only stuck my tongue on its freezing pole. Since then I’ve mostly winced at the thought of ripping off some taste buds as I hope my tongue’s heat can bring Abraham Lincoln back to life in the frozen heart of the beast.

So, How have I taken in history. I will note my reading list which I’ve mostly kept in tack since starting it. By 1987 I mostly bought books that I could freely mark up with notes or more commonly fill with yellow magic marker. I’ve kept the books so that if I wanted a refresher I could skim them quickly. After watching the great four part PBS drama of the assassinated James Garfield I checked it against the wonderful book Destiny of the Republic which I read a few years back.

As I explained to the Duluth News Trib reporter who interviewed me for this story that will require a subscription to read: “I was hoping, certainly for the 250th year of our nation, we would have something to look forward to,” said Welty. “Washington, he was trying to give us a nation with rights and liberties, and what happened to Renee Good seems to be an assault on those liberties of free expression and free passage, and imposing the same kind of heavy-handed government that our founding father was fighting against.”

To that end a year ago I finally read my dusty copy of Ron Chernow’s Alexander Hamilton. I’ve extolled its virtues here in the blog before. There are other posts about our family traveling to Chicago to see the traveling Hamilton Show that was inspired by Lin Manuel Miranda’s reading of the book. But one of the things Rick Atkinson mentioned at the beginning of his volume 2, “Fate of the Day” was that King George was no silly mincing character. That character makes a great theatrical foil but really. Atkinson is too serious minded for that.

I have one other of his books that I have yest to dig into. Its the first of another trilogy on Americas preparation for the European end of World War II.I read rave reviews before finding and shelving it. In the first photo you can see a notebook in which I copied down the history books he’s written. I noticed that each of his 600 page-ish volumes took about five years to write. The exception is a book I vaguely recall being lauded in reviews back when it was published in 1989 at a time when we were looking back and trying to make sense out of the Vietnam War.

The Long Grey Line was pulled from the history of WestPoint Military Academies unending line of military leaders going back to the Founding of the Nation. Each graduating class fits into that line and Atkinson an army brat and a thorough Washington Post reporter for a quarter century looked at the war from WestPoint’s class of 1966 the year I was listening to Don’t Walk Away Renee, mentioned in the previous post.

A review of the book explained that this class lost more of its men in combat than any previous class from WestPoint. It was at about this time that I heard my Dad cuss out Lyndon Johnson for sending our army to the meatgrinder of Vietnam.

Alexander is certainly mentioned in this second volume but the star, but only one of many, is George Washington using his youthful list of proper manners to rope-a-dope the most powerful nation on Earth, upon which “the sun never set,” to create Ronald Reagan’s “shining city upon a hill” that the greedy, preening ignoramus, Donald Trump, is doing his worst to upend.

I should add two more items to my recently consumed histories of the American Revolution. In December my wife and I listened on Audible to the first volume in Atkinson’s series. At 26 hours long we got through most of it on our way home listening non stop from Denver to Duluth. We finished it while I put together our first Christmas jigsaw puzzle at home. I can’t pause over passages and color them with yellow markers. Still, I asked that the first volume be given me as my Christmas gift. Its the paperback. I know I dozed through a few passages but I recall some superlative description of key players in Atkinson’s book.

I am trying to figure out how to win a seat in Congress on what would be a seventh attempt. I’m reminded of the Nebraska Pol Roman Hruska who ran for the Senate seven times until that last time finally got him elected. Hell it took me four elections to get elected to the Duluth School Board. But I could give a damn about just being one of the Congressman who today are pretty much reduced to spending hours a day like a pimply faced call center salesman trying to raise money from well healed people who only want their taxes reduced. That’s the life Pete Stauber is consigned to between his kowtowing visits to the pedophile protector Trump.

Let me also recommend Ken Burns and his series “The American Revolution” which gives a bird’s eye view of the story in five or six one hour episodes.

As for a dramatic series let me suggest TURN (with the N turned backwards) about George Washington’s network of spies in New York and New Jersey. Its a little soap opera’y but I think it gives a pretty good feel for the trying times in Loyalist and British troop saturated Northeast Coast. I think its on Netflix.

About the author

Harry is a ferociously good natured eccentric in Duluth Minnesota who detests traitors dressed up as Uncle Sam. You can find somewhat better edited writings of his at the Duluth Reader "contributors." page. The URL is:

https://duluthreader.com/contributors/h/84/284-harry-welty