Potus Geeks Looks Back of 2014
2014 was a busy year for potus_geeks. Let's look back on this past year of Potus Geekery:
In January we began a series that looked at Presidents and their closest advisers. Beginning with a look at the relationship between George Washington and Alexander Hamilton, the series continued through to Ulysses Grant and Elihu Washburne. We also reviewed The Bully Pulpit by Doris Kearns Goodwin and looked at the history of Martin Luther King Day.
February featured a look at "First Lovebirds", the Presidents and First Ladies with the strongest relationships, up to Valentine's day. We then continued our look at Presidents and their closest advisers, up to Harry Truman and Clark Clifford. We reviewed A Wicked War: Polk, Clay, Lincoln and the 1846 US Invasion of Mexico by Amy Greenburg.
Since March is named for the Roman god of war, it seemed like an opportune time to look at the theme of Presidents at War. Our conclusions can be found here. We also looked at 10 Women Who Could Be President in 2017 on March 8th (International Women's Day) and also reviewed HRC: State Secrets and the Rebirth of Hillary Clinton by Jonathan Allen.
In April we transitioned from war to peace in our Presidents at Peace series. Here is what we concluded. We also reviewed Blood and Daring - How Canada Fought the American Civil War and Forged a Nation by John Boyko and reviewed the movie Copperhead.
In May we looked at the Civil War Presidents, from Van Buren to McKinley. Here is our wrap-up. We also looked at some upcoming great books and reviewed David Hackett Fisher's wonderful classic Washington's Crossing and on Mother's Day we read about the first mother, Mary Ball Washington.
June's theme was presidents and the economy. Here is our wrap-up. June 12th marked the 90th birthday of George H. W. Bush and we reviewed Todd Purdum's wonderful new book about the 1964 civil rights bill entitled An Idea Whose Time Has Come.
July was a vacation month, and a good time to look at Presidential Places (wrapped up here). In July we also reviewed The Presidents' War - Six American Presidents and the Civil War That Divided Them by Chris DeRose (later selected as potus_geeks' best new book of 2014) and Professor Joel Silbey's wonderful recap of the 1848 election entitled Party Over Section - The Rough and Ready Presidential Election of 1848.
August was a good month to take a vacation, so that meant that it was a month of summer reruns, reposts of some of earlier posts in this community. We reviewed James Madison: A Life Reconsidered by Lynne Cheney, but the highlight of the month was my visit to Springfield!
In September our theme was Presidents and the Law, everything from Aaron Burr's conspiracy trial to Bush v. Gore. We also reviewed The Invisible Bridge by Rick Perlstein.
In October we looked at the Presidents who were diarists and also concluded our series on Presidents and their Advisers. We reviewed John Quincy Adams: American Visionary by Fred Kaplan and Landslide: LBJ and Ronald Reagan at the Dawn of a New America the excellent first book by author Jonathan Darman. But the highlight of the month was my visit to Nashville, where I was able to visit the Hermitage, home of Andrew Jackson, and an especially memorable day at Polk House in Columbia, Tennessee. On that trip I met author James Cotton Jr. and reviewed his wonderful book about the Gettysburg Address entitled The Greatest Speech Ever. The month ended with a Halloween look at Lincoln's Ghost.
November was a mixture of themes, from elections and midterms to speculation about the 2016 election. We also reviewed John Bicknell's wonderful American 1844: Religious Fervor, Western Expansionism and the Presidential Election That Transformed The Nation and some other anniversaries.
In December we once again looked at Presidents and Christmas, and considered some good Christmas gifts that aren't books and turned to poetry with a potus_geeks version of Twas the Night Before Christmas. We also looked at the year in books.
2014 was a great year for potus_geeks! 2015 will bring us closer to another presidential election, with declared candidates and the first debates. Will 2016 result in another Bush vs. Clinton battle? Time will tell. A trip to Atlanta is in the plans for 2015, with its attendant potus_geeks side-trips (the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library is a must!) Here's hoping that 2015 will be every bit as geeky as this past year has been!
In January we began a series that looked at Presidents and their closest advisers. Beginning with a look at the relationship between George Washington and Alexander Hamilton, the series continued through to Ulysses Grant and Elihu Washburne. We also reviewed The Bully Pulpit by Doris Kearns Goodwin and looked at the history of Martin Luther King Day.
February featured a look at "First Lovebirds", the Presidents and First Ladies with the strongest relationships, up to Valentine's day. We then continued our look at Presidents and their closest advisers, up to Harry Truman and Clark Clifford. We reviewed A Wicked War: Polk, Clay, Lincoln and the 1846 US Invasion of Mexico by Amy Greenburg.
Since March is named for the Roman god of war, it seemed like an opportune time to look at the theme of Presidents at War. Our conclusions can be found here. We also looked at 10 Women Who Could Be President in 2017 on March 8th (International Women's Day) and also reviewed HRC: State Secrets and the Rebirth of Hillary Clinton by Jonathan Allen.
In April we transitioned from war to peace in our Presidents at Peace series. Here is what we concluded. We also reviewed Blood and Daring - How Canada Fought the American Civil War and Forged a Nation by John Boyko and reviewed the movie Copperhead.
In May we looked at the Civil War Presidents, from Van Buren to McKinley. Here is our wrap-up. We also looked at some upcoming great books and reviewed David Hackett Fisher's wonderful classic Washington's Crossing and on Mother's Day we read about the first mother, Mary Ball Washington.
June's theme was presidents and the economy. Here is our wrap-up. June 12th marked the 90th birthday of George H. W. Bush and we reviewed Todd Purdum's wonderful new book about the 1964 civil rights bill entitled An Idea Whose Time Has Come.
July was a vacation month, and a good time to look at Presidential Places (wrapped up here). In July we also reviewed The Presidents' War - Six American Presidents and the Civil War That Divided Them by Chris DeRose (later selected as potus_geeks' best new book of 2014) and Professor Joel Silbey's wonderful recap of the 1848 election entitled Party Over Section - The Rough and Ready Presidential Election of 1848.
August was a good month to take a vacation, so that meant that it was a month of summer reruns, reposts of some of earlier posts in this community. We reviewed James Madison: A Life Reconsidered by Lynne Cheney, but the highlight of the month was my visit to Springfield!
In September our theme was Presidents and the Law, everything from Aaron Burr's conspiracy trial to Bush v. Gore. We also reviewed The Invisible Bridge by Rick Perlstein.
In October we looked at the Presidents who were diarists and also concluded our series on Presidents and their Advisers. We reviewed John Quincy Adams: American Visionary by Fred Kaplan and Landslide: LBJ and Ronald Reagan at the Dawn of a New America the excellent first book by author Jonathan Darman. But the highlight of the month was my visit to Nashville, where I was able to visit the Hermitage, home of Andrew Jackson, and an especially memorable day at Polk House in Columbia, Tennessee. On that trip I met author James Cotton Jr. and reviewed his wonderful book about the Gettysburg Address entitled The Greatest Speech Ever. The month ended with a Halloween look at Lincoln's Ghost.
November was a mixture of themes, from elections and midterms to speculation about the 2016 election. We also reviewed John Bicknell's wonderful American 1844: Religious Fervor, Western Expansionism and the Presidential Election That Transformed The Nation and some other anniversaries.
In December we once again looked at Presidents and Christmas, and considered some good Christmas gifts that aren't books and turned to poetry with a potus_geeks version of Twas the Night Before Christmas. We also looked at the year in books.
2014 was a great year for potus_geeks! 2015 will bring us closer to another presidential election, with declared candidates and the first debates. Will 2016 result in another Bush vs. Clinton battle? Time will tell. A trip to Atlanta is in the plans for 2015, with its attendant potus_geeks side-trips (the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library is a must!) Here's hoping that 2015 will be every bit as geeky as this past year has been!