books reviewed       

		A STORY OF THE HOUSE  The House The History of the House of Representatives Robert V. Remini     Smithsonian Books    614 pages  $34.95    When the framers of the U. S. Constitution set out to create a new government with three branches, most of the participants envisioned a legislature of the elite, not trusting in the people to make intelligent choices. It was James Madison who led the fight for a democratic House of Representatives elected directly by the people.   During the 1st Congress, Madison was considered the “first man” in the House and he feared any encroachment on its power by the executive branch which actually occurred during Washington’s first term. Little did he know that that battle would continue until the present day.   Indeed, as this review is being written, a battle now looms over that same fear, that the President is assuming too much authority, taking away from the Congress. Dr. Remini¹s history tells the story of that enduring conflict along with vivid descriptions of House leaders and personalities who brought us to the present day under J. Dennis Hastert and this Congress’ relationship with President George W. Bush.   Dr. Remini, a foremost historian, was chosen to write this book for the Library of Congress. His task was formidable. How do you pick and choose in one volume what is notable and important in over 200 years of a body which changes very two years? Which period is more important historically than any other?   It is a tightly written and highly readable narrative in which the author concentrates on the activities of The House against the backdrop of American history. It portrays the bitter and the sweet of American politics, its heroes and its true leaders as well as those characters of incompetence and mediocrity, of bombast and dishonesty.   After Madison we read how Andrew Jackson battled with those giants of legislation: Henry Clay, Daniel Webster and John C. Calhoun. After Jackson the lower house of Congress was thick in the fray in an effort to prevent civil war and after the war when it was dominated by one party.   It describes the impeachment of Andrew Johnson (and later Bill Clinton and the near impeachment of Richard M. Nixon.) The narrative does not stay on any one period too long but it does describe in detail how some leaders managed to make an impact of the House and its role in American history. Notable among these were Joseph G. Cannon, Nicholas Longworth, Sam Rayburn and Newt Gingrich. The account gives attention to the rise of women, such as Shirley Chisolm.    Some parts of the history become exciting, not just when House members became violent or corrupt, but when they displayed marvelous political skills. When President John F. Kennedy wanted to discuss legislation with Rayburn, the speaker cut him off, reminding him that that was Congress’ prerogative. Later, when it looked as though the House would block much of Kennedy’s program, it was Rayburn who, by sheer power of personal persuasion, swayed the Congress to give the young President’s proposals a fair chance.   Also, it describes how Gingrich (with the help of Wyoming Congressman Dick Cheney) changed the whole tenor of House politics by deliberately using the technique of personal attack.    When dealing with contemporary accounts this is one of the most objective political histories published in a long time. Dr. Remini lets the facts speak for themselves. He concludes with a summary of how The House has changed since the days of powdered wigs. It is far more democratic as the present body includes women, minorities and people from all walks of life. During the last half of the 20th century, many members have made it a career, relying on the vast powers of incumbency to perpetuate their stays in office, contradicting the spirit of the framers who set up two-year elections to keep them close to the people. Congressmen aren’t working as hard. Most of them only spend two days and one night in town, campaigning more than doing the people¹s business. They use free TV and spend taxpayer money on getting reelected. Presently, when they leave it is because of their choice (many to become lobbyists) rather than the people’s.   Too, since Gingrich, it has transformed the once civil and respectful fraternity into a vitriolic and bitter bunch. Madison would be appalled. Henry Clay, “the great compromiser” would have had to change his tactics.   Yet, they are not all bad guys. Over the course of history, the House of Representatives has served the country well. This is their story and it is a good one.      - Bryan Harrison      ______________________________________________   ANDREW JACKSON: DRAMATIC HISTORY Andrew Jackson His Life and Times H. W. Brands        Doubleday    620 pages $35   Of all the discoverable details about Andrew Jackson most of them are recounted here, but this is not a book of detailed facts, rather a dramatic story of a pre-teen war veteran who came to power and influence like few Americans ever have, painted on a backdrop of illuminating history.   It is dramatic because of its dramatis personae, especially Jackson, who fought and struggled against life and carved himself a path to fame and glory. His nemeses, John Quincy Adams, John C. Calhoun and Henry Clay loom large in the pages of Jacksonian history as does Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, Sam Houston and Aaron Burr.   What makes this a singular biography is the backdrop, beginning with Jackson’s Scotch-Irish roots, the vivid portrait of early American life, an understanding of the Indians whose battles figured so much in the frontier life and times, and the political canopy which  pictures  America’s rise to democracy.   The revolutionary war came to the Waxhaws on the North Carolina/South Carolina border and 12-year old Andrew was caught up in it and even could have been considered a hero. Orphaned, he blew an inheritance in the saloons and on the gaming tables of Charleston and began a law practice in Salisbury, N. C., where he scandalized the community.   Most of his wild oats were sown by the time he reached middle Tennessee which itself was wild and dangerous as its early inhabitants were always under threat by hostile Indians. He was an astute politician as long as he could make things happen and was considered a good judge despite little legal experience. One of Tennessee’s first Congressmen, he became bored with non-action politics and quit. Although a good businessman he had his ups and downs as a planter and soon developed a pattern for dueling and foolish scrapes.   His great love was the military where his penchant for fighting was expressed in a positive way. Although usually ignored in books about military genius, his tactics and strategy were textbook worthy and more importantly produced the desired results. The battle of New Orleans was one of the most brilliant and successfully fought battles--ever.   Indeed, Jackson’s life was notable because of his fights. He not only fought battles with the Creeks, the Seminoles and the British militarily, but he fought with the Spanish over his right to go into their territory, with civil authorities who interfered with his military rule in New Orleans and with politicians who became threatened  by his rising popularity.   He was not a compromiser but a man of conviction. He carried his convictions to the U.S. Senate where, once again, became frustrated with inaction, and finally to the White House where his great fight with Nicholas Biddle defeated the Bank of the United States and insisted that the federal union would be preserved. Politically he fought with Adams, Calhoun, Clay and others and usually came out on top.   It is all here. Brands’ biography doesn’t gloss over Jackson’s complex personality, but the facts alone permit a great appreciation of the man and his achievements. There was probably never a president more popular with the public, with the possible exception of Franklin Roosevelt, than Andrew Jackson, primarily because he brought the government to the people. The U. S. became a fully democratic nation under Jackson and no other figure in early American history did as much to promote democracy and bring to an end class rule.   After reading this biography, it is hard to say whether one would or would not have personally liked Jackson, but one has to admire him and recognize his great contribution to American history. He was always a forceful American and a  tireless patriot.   This is a big book, full of the life and times, and highly readable. Bryan Harrison ________________________________________________ YOUNG PATRIOTS MAKE A NATION Young Patriots Charles Cerami Sourcebooks, Inc. 354 Pages $24.95    The body politic that waged the American Revolutionary War remained in the years following a loose conjunction of state representatives who looked after local interests rather than seeking a national consensus. The money was no good. There was armed rebellion. There was no strong leadership to guide the path of the nation, even if it could be called a nation.   Although many of the war’s military and political leaders saw the need for a strong central government, it fell on two young patriots, James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, to pave the way for central government to revise, and eventually replace, the ineffective confederation and the “articles” which gave it legality.   This is the story of what, in the beginning and all through the process of creating and ratifying a constitution, seemed a virtual impossibility. The story as it is told here is fast-paced narrative that can be read like a thriller. This is not textbook history.   Clearly Madison is far more the hero than Hamilton, but both men, in their thirties and neither yet household names, had a vision for their country and although differing in details were equally devoted to a strong and effective national government.   Young Madison’s great attributes were careful, detailed planning, shrewd and calculated political maneuvering and, above all, perseverance. Madison had won the respect of George Washington, who in the eyes of Americans could do no wrong. After the first attempt at getting the states together failed, a second try, with Washington¹s blessing, brought the framers of the Constitution together at Philadelphia.   There the great issues of the fledgling country and its politics in disarray began to forge a document that would last until the present day. Madison’s great political skills enabled them to skirt the issue of slavery in order to keep the Convention from splitting up before anything could be done. He also fought for the principle that the common man must decide how to be governed when the prevailing attitude was that the people were too ignorant to govern themselves.   Hamilton was extreme in his views for a near-monarchial type of government but it was, although agreeable, too utopian for possibility. Hamilton was hampered during the convention by New York politics but remained and worked tirelessly for a central government.   Charles Cerami’s book reveals the how the delegates went from enthusiasm to near giving up, how they struggled through the exhausting hot summer days to hammer out compromises.   The familiar heroes are here. Washington, an aging and ailing Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, who kept abreast an ocean away, and a recalcitrant Patrick Henry who opposed the movement from beginning to end.   But it was lesser-known men who put the experiment together. Roger Sherman, John Dickinson, Henry Knox and South Carolina’s John Rutledge and Charles and Charles Cotesworth Pinckney and some who were hardly heard from before or since.   The narrative digresses in places, looking into the future, but the main story line maintains the history of the making of the constitution, with its special emphasis on Madison and Hamilton’s contributions, from Shay’s rebellion to Washington’s first term as President. We learn how Hamilton and Madison, who later became enemies, sacrificed their time to compose the Federalist Papers and how Madison came to produce The Bill of Rights.   Young Patriots is good, readable history.                                                                                Bryan Harrison