Rating: 
Summary: a triumph of a book
Review: Zimmermann has written an excellent book about the roots and beginnings of the "American Century." Influenced by Walter Isaacson's The Wise Men (a "group biography" of the Cold War), he devotes the first (and strongest) part to five leading figures, who formed a sort of network: John Hay, Alfred Thayer Mahan, Elihu Root, Henry Cabot Lodge, and Theodore Roosevelt. Hay, who began his career as Lincoln's secretary, was a diplomat, a businessman, and a sometime writer and poet who eventually rose to become ambassador to Great Britain and Secretary of State to McKinley and Roosevelt. His Open Door notes paved the way for an Asian strategy that would play out, at least indirectly, with Japan, Korea, and Vietnam in the century that followed, and he helped establish the special relationship with Great Britain that did much to shape world politics (many overlook the fact that throughout the 1800s, US-GB relations were icy, and many Americans viewed the British either as an enemy or rival). Alfred Thayer Mahan was and is well known as the author of The Influence of Sea Power upon History. He drew heavily from the lessons of the Napoleonic wars-Bonaparte lost because of his losses at sea, and Mahan also applied Napoleonic land warfare to the sea (he even named his dog "Jomini," after the French military strategist). Interestingly, he began as an anti-imperialist, but as he studied naval history and strategy, he realized, for example, that coaling stations and bases were necessary, thus necessitating an imperial policy. Mahan, Zimmermann argues, set the framework for the debate of the 1890s, as the US built up its navy and developed its foreign policies. Traces of Mahan can be found in the modern concepts of deterrence, détente, sufficiency, and globalism. Elihu Root was a New York lawyer and son and brother of mathematicians/engineers (who, within the family, were called "Cube Root" and "Square Root"). Root was a man of apparent contradictions. He was a Republican reformer, and yet he served on the defense team for Boss Tweed. He served under McKinley and Roosevelt as Secretary of War, and then Secretary of State under Roosevelt. Root was involved in the famous Platt Amendment regarding Cuba and also in several agreements with Japan, including the Root-Takahira Agreement. He is also supposed to have played a key role in the formation of the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine. Henry Cabot Lodge was born into the Boston aristocracy and at first pursued a career as a historian. In the 1884 election, he and Roosevelt, both reformers, opposed the nomination of Blaine as the Republican candidate, but in the end, they refused to split with the party (and join the Mugwumps) and endorsed Blaine, who eventually lost to Cleveland. Following that, Lodge and TR became close, with Lodge serving as Roosevelt's advocate with national leaders and helping to secure him jobs on the Civil Service Commission and in the Navy Department. Lodge also supported policies of imperialism and would gain notoriety in his opposition to Wilson in 1919-1920 over the Versailles Treaty and the League of Nations, for which he is sometimes mistaken as an isolationist. Theodore Roosevelt, of course, needs no introduction. An asthmatic child, born into wealth, he pursued "the strenuous life" of intense activity. Zimmermann describes him particularly aptly: TR "crackled with kinetic energy." Roosevelt's glorification and pursuit of war are well known, as are his activist foreign policy and support for imperialism (which he usually called "Americanism"). Zimmermann offers a particularly intriguing argument about why TR wanted to go to war and participate in it himself. During the Civil War, perhaps because his in-laws fought for the South, TR's New Yorker father hired a substitute to serve for him, and Zimmermann suggests TR did not want to have to explain to his children why he himself did not serve (as his father had to do). It is an interesting argument and quite convincing. In the second part of the book, Zimmermann traces the interactions of these individuals in shaping American policy and world events in, roughly, the 1890 to 1910 period. The topics are familiar-the Spanish-American War, the Philippine Insurrection, the Panama Canal, the Great White Fleet. Much of this is already well-covered ground, but through the lens of the five men, Zimmermann offers interesting new perspectives. The impact of these years on the twentieth century, and even through today, is huge, and many of the same issues, debates, and problems continue to exist. Though Zimmermann does not note the parallels (perhaps the book was published too soon), I could not help drawing comparisons between the State-War divide then and the State-Defense divide now. (The Spanish-American War was primarily a War Department-driven conflict, not least because the State Department was led by a senile John Sherman.) Nor could I help finding echoes, for better or worse, of today's Richard Perle and the Defense Policy Board in Alfred Thayer Mahan and his Naval War Board in 1898. The legacies of these five men no doubt have lingered and will continue to endure as the US seeks to define its role in an ever-changing world.
Rating:
Summary: a triumph of a book
Review: Zimmermann has written an excellent book about the roots and beginnings of the "American Century." Influenced by Walter Isaacson's The Wise Men (a "group biography" of the Cold War), he devotes the first (and strongest) part to five leading figures, who formed a sort of network: John Hay, Alfred Thayer Mahan, Elihu Root, Henry Cabot Lodge, and Theodore Roosevelt. Hay, who began his career as Lincoln's secretary, was a diplomat, a businessman, and a sometime writer and poet who eventually rose to become ambassador to Great Britain and Secretary of State to McKinley and Roosevelt. His Open Door notes paved the way for an Asian strategy that would play out, at least indirectly, with Japan, Korea, and Vietnam in the century that followed, and he helped establish the special relationship with Great Britain that did much to shape world politics (many overlook the fact that throughout the 1800s, US-GB relations were icy, and many Americans viewed the British either as an enemy or rival). Alfred Thayer Mahan was and is well known as the author of The Influence of Sea Power upon History. He drew heavily from the lessons of the Napoleonic wars-Bonaparte lost because of his losses at sea, and Mahan also applied Napoleonic land warfare to the sea (he even named his dog "Jomini," after the French military strategist). Interestingly, he began as an anti-imperialist, but as he studied naval history and strategy, he realized, for example, that coaling stations and bases were necessary, thus necessitating an imperial policy. Mahan, Zimmermann argues, set the framework for the debate of the 1890s, as the US built up its navy and developed its foreign policies. Traces of Mahan can be found in the modern concepts of deterrence, détente, sufficiency, and globalism. Elihu Root was a New York lawyer and son and brother of mathematicians/engineers (who, within the family, were called "Cube Root" and "Square Root"). Root was a man of apparent contradictions. He was a Republican reformer, and yet he served on the defense team for Boss Tweed. He served under McKinley and Roosevelt as Secretary of War, and then Secretary of State under Roosevelt. Root was involved in the famous Platt Amendment regarding Cuba and also in several agreements with Japan, including the Root-Takahira Agreement. He is also supposed to have played a key role in the formation of the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine. Henry Cabot Lodge was born into the Boston aristocracy and at first pursued a career as a historian. In the 1884 election, he and Roosevelt, both reformers, opposed the nomination of Blaine as the Republican candidate, but in the end, they refused to split with the party (and join the Mugwumps) and endorsed Blaine, who eventually lost to Cleveland. Following that, Lodge and TR became close, with Lodge serving as Roosevelt's advocate with national leaders and helping to secure him jobs on the Civil Service Commission and in the Navy Department. Lodge also supported policies of imperialism and would gain notoriety in his opposition to Wilson in 1919-1920 over the Versailles Treaty and the League of Nations, for which he is sometimes mistaken as an isolationist. Theodore Roosevelt, of course, needs no introduction. An asthmatic child, born into wealth, he pursued "the strenuous life" of intense activity. Zimmermann describes him particularly aptly: TR "crackled with kinetic energy." Roosevelt's glorification and pursuit of war are well known, as are his activist foreign policy and support for imperialism (which he usually called "Americanism"). Zimmermann offers a particularly intriguing argument about why TR wanted to go to war and participate in it himself. During the Civil War, perhaps because his in-laws fought for the South, TR's New Yorker father hired a substitute to serve for him, and Zimmermann suggests TR did not want to have to explain to his children why he himself did not serve (as his father had to do). It is an interesting argument and quite convincing. In the second part of the book, Zimmermann traces the interactions of these individuals in shaping American policy and world events in, roughly, the 1890 to 1910 period. The topics are familiar-the Spanish-American War, the Philippine Insurrection, the Panama Canal, the Great White Fleet. Much of this is already well-covered ground, but through the lens of the five men, Zimmermann offers interesting new perspectives. The impact of these years on the twentieth century, and even through today, is huge, and many of the same issues, debates, and problems continue to exist. Though Zimmermann does not note the parallels (perhaps the book was published too soon), I could not help drawing comparisons between the State-War divide then and the State-Defense divide now. (The Spanish-American War was primarily a War Department-driven conflict, not least because the State Department was led by a senile John Sherman.) Nor could I help finding echoes, for better or worse, of today's Richard Perle and the Defense Policy Board in Alfred Thayer Mahan and his Naval War Board in 1898. The legacies of these five men no doubt have lingered and will continue to endure as the US seeks to define its role in an ever-changing world.
Rating:
Summary: Expedient, Inspired, or Both?
Review: Zimmermann has written six separate but related books and then combined them in a single volume. The first five comprise Part One and are brief but exceptionally informative biographies of John Hay, Alfred T. Mahan, Elihu Root. Henry Cabot Lodge, and Theodore Roosevelt; the sixth is a brilliant analysis of how these five men, together, achieved achieved for the United States "the first great triumph" of its global expansion or as Zimmermann describes it, "the birth of American imperialism." As he explains in the Introduction, "These five men were remarkable by any measure. Two of them, Roosevelt and Root, won the Nobel Peace Prize. All were intellectuals and thought of themselves as such. All except Root were notable authors. Roosevelt wrote thirty-eight books, and Lodge twenty-seven, mostly on themes of American history....Mahan produced an analysis of the influence of seas power that profoundly affected American policy and became required reading in the British, German, and Japanese navies. Root, who had been one of the most talented corporate lawyers of his time, became after his government service a forceful advocate of the rule of law in international relations." Remarkable indeed by any measure. In Part Two, Zimmermann shifts his reader's attention to a period extending from 1898 until 1909 when, through the collective and coordinated efforts of the five men and their associates, the United States acquired Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, and Panama. When explaining the legacies of this brief but productive period, Zimmermann observes; "First, they created an authentic American imperialism that was confident in its objectives but modest in its application....The second legacy of the founders of American imperialism was their preparation of the United States to be a great power. Pragmatic as they were, Roosevelt and his friends understood that they were embarked on a grand adventure. The 'first great triumph' that Roosevelt fore-saw on the troopship to Cuba did indeed become a 'world movement.'...Third, these five imperialists produced the first comprehensive assertion of U.S. security interests abroad....The fourth legacy of the founders was the creation of two foreign policy priorities, human rights and stability, that have remained in tension with each other ever since....The fifth consequence of the work done by the men who launched America as a great power was to strengthen the American presidency. All five were followers of Alexander Hamilton and believers in activist government." I was fascinated to learn how all this was accomplished, especially during such a brief period of time. Of course, as Zimmermann explains, "the five imperialists" encountered staunch and formidable opposition. However, they wholly agreed with an opinion expressed by journalist John O'Sullivan that during the "era of American greatness" their nation was "destined to manifest to mankind the excellence of divine principles." (1839) Hence the origin of what has since been known as the concept of Manifest Destiny. Those seeking to understand the current state of our nation's relations with other countries throughout the world will find Zimmermann's book especially informative.
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