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A review by librarianonparade
The War Lovers: Roosevelt, Lodge, Hearst, and the Rush to Empire, 1898 by Evan Thomas
4.0
Teddy Roosevelt is totally one of my historical boyfriends, but even I have to admit, the man was a bit war-mad. I wouldn't go so far as to argue that the Spain-American War wouldn't have happened without his involvement and role in encouraging the tensions, but he did nothing to prevent that war, indeed did everything he could do encourage it.
That he wasn't alone in this is the subject of this book. America has a somewhat dubious track-record of 'inventing' causes for war or manipulating situations to create a cause - 'Remember the Maine!' can sit quite comfortably alongside the Gulf of Tonkin Incident, or indeed September 11th if one wants to be truly controversial. There were definitely parties in America that wanted Spain out of Cuba; whether because they truly desired freedom for Cuba or freedom for America to operate in Cuba is almost immaterial. Certain individuals in America, the American press and a large portion of the American public wanted a war - one almost gets the sense that almost any war would have done.
This admirable book concerns the activities of three individuals in encouraging the declaration of war - Teddy Roosevelt, for one, in his role of Assistant Secretary of the Navy; Henry Cabot Lodge, TR's great friend and Senator for Massachusetts; William Randolph Hearst, editor of the New York Journal and one of the fathers of 'yellow journalism', or what we might today think of as the tabloid press; and three who fought across the war-fever sweeping the country - President McKinley, who was easily influenced and gave into pressure to declare war after the explosion of the Maine in Havana Harbour, blamed on the Spanish but almost certainly an accident; William James, brother of Henry James, a lecturer at Harvard and influential philosopher and psychologist; and William Reed, Speaker of the House.
The Spanish-American War wasn't quite the start of America as an imperial power (arguably that came with a similarly trumped up war against Mexico in the 1840s) but it brought with it Guam, the Philippines and Puerto Rico as American possessions, and it paved the way for the expansion of America's armed forces and served as a demonstration of its armed might, which came in handy roughly a decade later with WW1. It was a small war, 'a splendid little war', as a friend of TR's put it, but it served as an important point in America's history and deserves to be remembered for more than the making of Teddy Roosevelt, with his Rough Riders and charge up San Juan Hill.
This is a thoroughly enjoyable book - although I'd argue any book featuring Teddy Roosevelt is enjoyable, simply he was such a larger than life figure - but it doesn't go into a huge amount of depth on the politics or historical legacy. The latter is a particular shame, given this war's influence on America's position regarding Cuba and its latter angst over imperialism, expansionism, not to mention the parallels with the Iraq war.
That he wasn't alone in this is the subject of this book. America has a somewhat dubious track-record of 'inventing' causes for war or manipulating situations to create a cause - 'Remember the Maine!' can sit quite comfortably alongside the Gulf of Tonkin Incident, or indeed September 11th if one wants to be truly controversial. There were definitely parties in America that wanted Spain out of Cuba; whether because they truly desired freedom for Cuba or freedom for America to operate in Cuba is almost immaterial. Certain individuals in America, the American press and a large portion of the American public wanted a war - one almost gets the sense that almost any war would have done.
This admirable book concerns the activities of three individuals in encouraging the declaration of war - Teddy Roosevelt, for one, in his role of Assistant Secretary of the Navy; Henry Cabot Lodge, TR's great friend and Senator for Massachusetts; William Randolph Hearst, editor of the New York Journal and one of the fathers of 'yellow journalism', or what we might today think of as the tabloid press; and three who fought across the war-fever sweeping the country - President McKinley, who was easily influenced and gave into pressure to declare war after the explosion of the Maine in Havana Harbour, blamed on the Spanish but almost certainly an accident; William James, brother of Henry James, a lecturer at Harvard and influential philosopher and psychologist; and William Reed, Speaker of the House.
The Spanish-American War wasn't quite the start of America as an imperial power (arguably that came with a similarly trumped up war against Mexico in the 1840s) but it brought with it Guam, the Philippines and Puerto Rico as American possessions, and it paved the way for the expansion of America's armed forces and served as a demonstration of its armed might, which came in handy roughly a decade later with WW1. It was a small war, 'a splendid little war', as a friend of TR's put it, but it served as an important point in America's history and deserves to be remembered for more than the making of Teddy Roosevelt, with his Rough Riders and charge up San Juan Hill.
This is a thoroughly enjoyable book - although I'd argue any book featuring Teddy Roosevelt is enjoyable, simply he was such a larger than life figure - but it doesn't go into a huge amount of depth on the politics or historical legacy. The latter is a particular shame, given this war's influence on America's position regarding Cuba and its latter angst over imperialism, expansionism, not to mention the parallels with the Iraq war.