Gene Smith (1) (1929–2012)

Read as an abridged version. Somewhat tedious, somewhat interesting, but about Wilson's final 3 years, which never gets taught in high schools (or earlier). There is something very familiar, writing this review in 2024, about a president whose party wants him to step down instead of running for a 2nd term. Wilson refused, because he was strongly set on getting the League of Nations accepted by the US. As it turns out, Congress would not vote for his negotiated terms, Wilson had a number of cranial thromboses, almost died, and spent the remaining years of his life barely doing anything. The Congress and his Cabinet did what they could, but there was no leadership...or, worse, his few comments hampered them from doing work that needed doing. He even wanted to try for a 3rd term. Instead, the US got Harding who, according to this book, gave all his appointments to friends who pilfered public funds.
I would not want anyone to infer my preferred presidential candidate. In this current election, I think we have 2 candidates who should both be asked to step down.… (more)

In American Gothic, Gene Smith recounts the history of the 19th century Booth family, which spawned Abraham Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth. Although John and the assassination are the author's focus, he also tells of John's brother Edwin and his father Junius, both of whom (like John) were famous actors in their day. Smith adopts a dramatic approach that sometimes borders on melodrama.

"There was a streak of madness in the family. In some, it took the form of an uncanny gift for the stage that made the theatrical Booths the toast of Europe and America. But it had a dark side as well: alcoholism, violence, melancholia -- and in John Wilkes Booth, the capacity to turn his frightening obsessions into terrifying reality."

In the volume that contained the abridged Reader's Digest version, the dust jacket takes the melodrama to an extreme -- tantalizing the prospective reader with the possibility that JW Booth eluded his pursuers and survived into the 20th century. This is, of course, a highly dubious claim for which no real evidence exists.

The events surrounding Lincoln's assassination and John Booth's flight and capture have been told many times, and I am sure that much better sources are available. In particular, I would recommend James Swanson's thrilling Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer. However, Gene Smith's American Gothic is a passable and entertaining account, one that has the benefit of portraying John Booth in the context of his famous family.… (more)