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SPECIAL ISSUE How Eisenhower Shaped Our World History WARTIME LEADER, PEACETIME VISIONARY IKE The architect of victory in Europe who built peace, prosperity and equality at home AUGUST 2015 WorldMags.net YOU DEFEND WE REWARD CardHub ranked the PenFed Defender Visa Signature® Card among the “Best Military Credit Cards” in 2014 And, with features like these, we can’t say we’re surprised 1.5% unlimited cash • back on all purchases1 • Absolutely no fees • No penalty APR Available to the courageous men and women of the United States military — Active, Guard, Reserve, Veterans and Retired.2 Easy to apply Visit PenFed.org/DefenderVisaAH or call 866-367-5318 Offers current as of August 1, 2015 and are subject to change 1Cash advances, credit card checks, and balance transfers are excluded from cash rewards.2You must be in an active military service status, a member of the Reserves or National Guard, honorably discharged U.S Military Veterans or retired from such service to qualify for this product PenFed is Federally Insured by NCUA ©2015, Pentagon Federal Credit Union All rights reserved WorldMags.net OUR American History WorldMags.net50 th AUGUST 2015 YEAR Features 30 32 Eisenhower Wartime leader, peacetime visionary ‘I really hit a new world’ West Point—and Eisenhower’s Kansas roots—made the man by Carlo d’Este 38 ‘I’m going to command the whole shebang’ As Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, Eisenhower molded an unparalleled fighting force by Jerry D Morelock 46 ‘The only way to win World War III is to prevent it’ Eisenhower deftly maneuvered through Cold War crises, from the threat of nuclear annihilation to domestic political turmoil by Evan Thomas 56 ‘Unless we progress, we regress’ Shrewd judicial appointments and an unflagging sense of fair play characterized Eisenhower’s contribution to civil rights by David A Nichols 64 Cadet Dwight D Eisenhower during his senior year at the United States Military Academy, West Point ‘I never cease to be grateful’ A granddaughter remembers Eisenhower’s devotion to family by Mary Jean Eisenhower ON THE COVER: General Dwight D Eisenhower, 1943 COURTESY OF EISENHOWER PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY & MUSEUM; COVER: AMERICAN STOCK/GETTY IMAGES; COLORIZATION BY SLINGSHOT STUDIOS, NORTHAMPTON, N.H WorldMags.net AUGUST 2015 70 WorldMags.net EDITOR IN CHIEF Roger L Vance Michael A Reinstein Dionisio Lucchesi William Koneval John James Audubon’s ambitious desire to paint all the birds found in North America left us a trove of data and unmatched beauty CHAIRMAN & PUBLISHER PRESIDENT ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER ® History Vol 50, No AUGUST 2015 Roger L Vance EDITOR Peyton McMann Christine M Kreiser Richard Ernsberger Sarah Richardson Elizabeth G Howard Patty Kelly Departments 18 Letters Encounter We’ve Been Here Before 22 Here Is Where Mired in the Middle East Director Editor Senior Graphic Designer CORPORATE Paul Zimny Greg Ferris David Steinhafel Karen G Johnson Rob Wilkins EVP Digital Game On 29 Letter From the Editor 70 Reviews EVP Strategy Operations & Finance Business Director Military Ambassador and Partnership Marketing Director ADVERTISING Single Copy Sales Director Karen M Bailey Production Manager/Advertising Services KBailey@historynet.com Richard E Vincent National Sales Manager RVincent@historynet.com Building character on the playing field—and off Kim Goddard National Sales Manager KGoddard@historynet.com Rick Gower Georgia rick@rickgower.com Terry Jenkins Tenn., Ky., Miss., Ala., Fla., Mass TJenkins@historynet.com To lead like Ike Kurt Gardner Creative Services Director Eisenhower defrosts Nikita Khrushchev 20 Brian King Gerald Swick Barbara Justice George Clark American Mosaic Hamilton is Broadway bound; Voting Rights Act turns 50; sainthood for California friar raises hackles—and more DIGITAL © FINE ART/ALAMY 25 Art Director Managing Editor Senior Editor Senior Editor Copy Editor Photo Editor 74 Pioneering birdman John James Audubon; World War I flyboys; what made the ’20s roar—and more DIRECT RESPONSE Russell Johns Associates ADVERTISING 800-649-9800 • amh@russelljohns.com Subscription Information 800-435-0715 Yearly subscriptions in U.S.: $39.95 Back Issues : 800-358-6327 © 2015 World History Group, LLC Last Call Rise and shine on the campaign trail An Alabama pilot caught in a Bay of Pigs blunder List Rental Inquiries: Belkys Reyes, Lake Group Media, Inc 914-925-2406; belkys.reyes@lakegroupmedia.com Canada Publications Mail Agreement No 41342519 Canadian GST No 821371408RT0001 AMERICAN HISTORY NOW AVAILABLE ON the iPad® Download the free American History App for the iPad® today Add to a current print subscription or get a digital-only edition Get exciting interactive features and bonus content in every issue Go to www.AmericanHistoryMag.com/subscribe American History (ISSN 1076-8866) is published bimonthly by World History Group, LLC 19300 Promenade Drive Leesburg, VA 20176-6500 703-771-9400 Periodical postage paid at Leesburg, VA and additional mailing offices POSTMASTER, send address changes to American History PO Box 422224 Palm Coast, FL 32142-2224 The contents of this magazine may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the written consent of World History Group FOLLOW US AT PROUDLY MADE IN THE U.S.A facebook.com/AmericanHistoryMag AMERICAN HISTORY WorldMags.net WorldMags.net AVAILABLEWorldMags.net AT VITAMINWAREHOUSE.COM 04.14.15 Letters WorldMags.net Et tu, Antony? “Marking Time in Nevada” (Here Is Where, June 2015), Andrew Carroll’s story about bristlecone pines, had, I believe, a historical error: a reference to Marc Antony as one of Julius Caesar’s assassins Antony was recruited by the conspirators and tried unsuccessfully to warn Caesar of the plot against him He fled Rome disguised as a slave because he was convinced that, as a Caesar loyalist, he too would be killed Is there some new evidence to the contrary? Wiley Newbold via iPad Andrew Carroll responds: I’m embarrassed to say I misread a section of Gordon Kerr’s Time Line: History of the World, and the mistake is entirely mine SUBSCRIBE TO Mountaineer Mix-up “Call the Midwife” (June 2015) incorrectly identifies World War I hero Alvin York as a native of Kentucky In fact, York was born in Tennessee and, after the war, lived the rest of his life in the Volunteer State Today, visitors can tour his farm located at the Alvin C York State Historic Site in Pall Mall Mike Parsons Macomb, Mich Experience the Civil War in Jacksonville Honor or Dishonor? “The First Whistleblower” (April 2015) “honored” Perry Fellwock for “blowing the whistle” on the NSA How can you honor someone who broke an oath taken willingly for personal gain? Both Fellwock and Edward Snowden should be held in the utmost contempt and treated as the traitors they are Visit the Museum of Military History and discover weapons and artifacts used during the Civil War Then relive one of Arkansas’ first stands before the Union Army captured Little Rock with this year's reenactment at the Reed’s Bridge Battle site on October 17th Start your subscription today! www.jacksonvillesoars.com AMERICAN HISTORY www.americanhistorymag.com/subscribe or call: 1-800-435-0715 Karl Hammerle via e-mail American History 19300 Promenade Drive Leesburg, VA 20176-6500 americanhistory@historynet.com WorldMags.net WorldMags.net WorldMags.net E L K I N S , W E S T V I R G I N I A WorldMags.net Mountain Rails & Music t 5SBJOT t VTJD4IPXT t PVOUBJO)JTUPSZ VACATION PACKAGES 275 $ ủựỵữủ 877-497-0581 AmericanMountainTheater.comWorldMags.net ừừỵ 866-820-3217 Mtn-Rail.com WorldMags.net American Mosaic Compiled by Sarah Richardson Hamilton a Hit! Lin-Manuel Miranda stars as Alexander Hamilton in the musical inspired by historian Ron Chernow’s acclaimed 2004 biography A BASTARD SON from the West Indies who went on to become George Washington’s sidekick and secretary of the treasury, Alexander Hamilton gets a fresh, fun handling in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical Hamilton, whose run at the Public Theater in NYC sold out and is headed for Broadway in July According to drama critic Terry Teachout in his Wall Street Journal review: “American exceptionalism meets hip-hop: That’s Hamilton.” To Have and to Hold—History Recognized Same-Sex Unions IN JUNE THE SUPREME COURT is expected to rule on whether bans on same-sex marriage are constitutional The Organization of American Historians submitted a brief highlighting the various bans that have been placed on homosexual activities and cultural expression, as well as evidence stretching back to colonial days that same-sex partnerships were often informally recognized, not vilified As of April 2015, 37 of the 50 states, and the District of Columbia, permit same-sex marriages, and all approvals—some by courts, others by state legislatures and popular votes—have been won in the past decade The brief is posted here: www.oah.org/site/assets/files/5849/obergefell _oah_amicus.pdf TOP: JOAN MARCUS; BOTTOM: © HOCH2WO/ALAMY WorldMags.net AUGUST 2015 WorldMags.net American Mosaic 1855: Beer Brawl Remakes Windy City NEVER HEARD OF Levi Boone or the Lager Riot of 1855? Chicago brewmasters schooled the uninformed with a beer-and-dodgeball fundraiser that marked the 160th anniversary of the pivotal civil disturbance Teams made up from local breweries and other businesses battled with dodgeballs, not bullets, in a playful reenactment of the confrontation between Chicago police and lagerloving Irish and German immigrants While the 1855 riot helped propel immigrants into political participation, the reenactment and beer tasting raised money for Benton House, a longstanding community service center in the Bridgeport neighborhood of Chicago The real Lager Riot changed the face of city politics In 1855 the immigrantfearing Know-Nothing Party engineered the election of strict Baptist and temperance-loving Levi Boone (greatnephew of Daniel) as mayor Once in office, Boone hiked the cost of a liquor license from $50 to $600, shortened its validity from one year to three months and ordered enforcement of a law making it illegal to open a bar on Sunday—the only day of rest and relaxation for most of the city’s workingclass pub patrons Thirsty workers protested en masse, and an armed group of German immigrants attempted to free tavern-keepers who’d been imprisoned for violating the ordinance But Mayor Boone had beefed up the police force in anticipation of trouble, and the two sides squared off on the Clark Street Bridge over the Chicago River Police fired into the crowd; one person was killed and some 60 others wounded in the ensuing brawl In the long term, the violent protest spelled trouble for nativists like the Still a riot: Fun, not mayhem, was on tap at the 2015 beer brawl reenactment Know-Nothings, as Irish and German immigrants got involved in civic affairs, making their voices heard and their votes count Tracks of the Times Honored Sly Stone blurred the lines between pop, funk, rock and soul 10 AMERICAN HISTORY THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS has added 25 recordings to the National Recording Registry, including self-titled debut albums by Joan Baez and the Doors, Steve Martin’s comedy classic A Wild and Crazy Guy, Sly and the Family Stone’s groundbreaking Stand! and Lauryn Hill’s solo effort The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill Older standouts include “Black Snake Moan” by Blind Willie Jefferson and “My Funny Valentine” by the Gerry Mulligan Quartet For a complete list, go to: loc.gov/today/pr/2015/15-041.html The project, which tags culturally significant musical, spoken word, dramatic and other sound recordings for preservation each year, is the result of the National Recording Preservation Act of 2000 Candidate works must be at least 10 years old Another digitizing effort has recorded for archival posterity a far less familiar trove of Americana: Civil War–era pieces transcribed for shape-note singing The collection, housed at the Center for Popular Music at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, pays tribute to a form of community singing in a time when few people were trained to read musical notation WorldMags.net TOP: COURTESY KATHLEEN JUDGE; BOTTOM: © PICTORIAL PRESS LTD/ALAMY WorldMags.net Above: Boeing built B-17s for World War II, but Ike warned against a postwar “military-industrial complex” that closely linked commercial and defense manufacturing Opposite: Selling white suburban bliss in a Ford Customline ad When the first Brown ruling was announced, Eisenhower immediately ordered the District of Columbia commissioners to develop a desegregation plan for the city’s schools; that was accomplished within a week In a press conference, Eisenhower made a soldierly pledge to enforce the decision without commenting on the merits of the case—a move that many have misinterpreted as disagreement with the ruling But in addition to Earl Warren, Ike appointed to the Supreme Court four stalwart supporters of desegregation: John Marshall Harlan II, William Brennan, Charles Evans Whittaker and Potter Stewart Eisenhower also refused to appoint known segregationists to the lower federal courts In an attempt to depoliticize the appointment process, the president and Attorney General Brownell moved it from the White House to the Justice Department and instituted American Bar Association assessment of potential nominees When Brownell left office in 1957, Eisenhower continued to appoint pro-desegregation judges in the South President John F Kennedy, in contrast, returned to appointing segregationists As a result, the civil rights movement migrated from the courts to the streets On September 24, 1957, Eisenhower sent the 101st Airborne Division into Little Rock, Ark., to enforce a federal © CORBIS; OPPOSITE: © INTERFOTO/ALAMY court order by one of his own appointees to desegregate Central High School Governor Orval Faubus had deployed the Arkansas National Guard to bar nine black students from attending the school After meeting with the president and agreeing to change the orders of the Guard to protect the black students, Faubus instead withdrew the troops, leaving the students at the mercy of the mob That is when Eisenhower acted In a televised address to the nation on the night of the 24th, Eisenhower vowed, “The president and the executive branch of government will support and ensure the carrying out of the decisions of the federal courts, even, when necessary, with all the means at the president’s command.” For decades, historians have assumed, thanks to the important legislation passed in 1964-65, that John F Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson were the era’s great civil rights leaders and that Eisenhower failed to “speak out” on the issue But Ike’s record speaks for itself JFK and LBJ did not commit to the cause until 1963, when horrific violence in the South compelled them to It is time, finally, to bury the myth that Ike did nothing on civil rights In the 1950s Dwight Eisenhower was more progressive in advancing African-American civil rights than Harry Truman, John F Kennedy or Lyndon Johnson ■ David A Nichols is the author of A Matter of Justice: Eisenhower and the Beginning of the Civil Rights Revolution He is currently completing a book on Ike and Senator Joe McCarthy WorldMags.net AUGUST 2015 61 WorldMags.net Left to right from top: Sputnik, launched by the Soviets in October 1957 in the midst of the Little Rock integration crisis, panicked Americans who feared the loss of technological ground to the communists ■ The ultra-high altitude reconnaissance craft—better known as the U-2 spy plane—was a primary intelligencegathering tool for Eisenhower’s CIA ■ A 1957 visit to Washington by King Saud (and Prince Mashhur ibn Saud) of Saudi Arabia cemented relations between the United States and the Middle East ■ Fidel Castro’s communist revolution overthrew the government of Cuba in 1959; Ike broke off diplomatic relations with the Castro regime in 1961 ■ The Eisenhower family celebrates its last Christmas in the White House, 1960 From left, son John, daughter-in-law Barbara, the president, the first lady and grandchildren Anne, David, Mary Jean and Susan 62 AMERICAN HISTORY WorldMags.net CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: © ITAR-TASS PHOTO AGENCY/ ALAMY; © ROGER RESSMEYER/CORBIS; © BOB HENRIQUES/MAGNUM PHOTOS; ABBIE ROWE COLLECTION, NATIONAL ARCHIVES; AP WorldMags.net We are apt to resort, as I have, to the trite observation that history will have to make the final judgment; that only time can bring the current scene into perspective But I think it is also true that the judgment of history, to some degree, will always be altered by the events that followed. . . Suppose that South Carolina’s attempt at “nullification” in Jackson’s time had been successful, or the outcome of the war between the states had been reversed With either of these results standing as a precedent it is likely that a number of separate, stagnant, weak, and mutually jealous nations would occupy the territory of what is now a strong, prosperous, and still-growing Union Had this come about, how would we now view George Washington, Jefferson, Hamilton, Tom Paine, or Benjamin Franklin? They would still be known, of course, as gallant men of their time—but instead of revering them as the founders of a wonderful nation…historians would likely classify them as disciples of a strange—possibly laudable—but impractical doctrine of equality of all before the law In like manner writers of the future, concerned with the decade of the fifties, will be conditioned in their thinking to some extent by the events of the years separating those historians from us today. . . We knew what we faced at the time and acted accordingly —Waging Peace, 1956-1961 WorldMags.net WorldMags.net WorldMags.net WorldMags.net At Ease ‘I never cease to be grateful’ G by Mary Jean Eisenhower randdad was utterly devoted to family He grew up in a household of six boys, and it was always utter chaos His mother held everybody together They came from very humble means She actually had a college degree, which is unusual for a woman of that era They were so poor they couldn’t afford doctors and, you can imagine, doctors were frequently needed with all those boys So she kept a medical encyclopedia at the house and treated them herself most of the time All of her sons became millionaires There’s no doubt in my mind that she was the driving force in that She was a pacifist, but when granddad wanted to go to West Point, she didn’t get in his way because she thought that education was the only way he could get out of the pattern the family was in He was very, very devoted to her, to his brothers, to his dad Then he and my grandmother had their first son, Doud—they called him “Icky”—and he died of scarlet fever I remember granddad saying later on that it was the worst thing that happened to him in his entire life He always sent my grandmother flowers on Icky’s birthday He was very sentimental that way When my daddy, John, went on to have four kids, granddad was elated The chaos was back in the family We were included in everything I think sometimes his guests might have been confused He would bring heads of state to his farm in Gettysburg so that their impression of America was not just Washington, New York and Chicago They’d actually be with an American family When I would see these people, I would think, Oh, that’s just another one of granddad’s friends I didn’t realize who they were But he always involved them in family We were part of who he was as far as he was concerned He never let on that he was anybody particularly special I was born during his first term in the White House I knew that it was a fancy house—I thought it was theirs— Ike and Mamie and I knew that he was coming home from the office, but all of Eisenhower, 1956, in the that was a mystery to me He would come off the elevator onto the flower garden of their second floor, the living quarters, of the White House His hat and farm in Gettysburg, Pa During World War I, Ike coat would come off, and he’d be down on the floor playing with trained Tank Corps troops us I never realized he was anybody so special until I got to school, at Camp Colt, an Army and everybody started treating me like I had two heads installation on the field One of the people I remember meeting at Gettysburg is Charles where Pickett’s Charge de Gaulle I was a whopping years old, but I still remember it My took place in 1863 WorldMags.net TITLE QUOTE: WAGING PEACE, 1956-1961; OPPOSITE: ABBIE ROWE COLLECTION, NATIONAL ARCHIVES AUGUST 2015 65 WorldMags.net mother had sent me upstairs to put on my good dress, and all the seats were taken in the living room when I came down I saw de Gaulle and I just thought, Oh, there’s another one of granddad’s friends, so I went over and climbed up on his lap He was fine about it He continued to talk to my grandfather through his interpreter My grandfather handed him something to read, and out of his jacket he pulls these red, hornrimmed glasses, the thickest glasses I’d ever seen before or since I said, “Oh! Why are your glasses so thick?” And in English, he says, “Because I cannot see Poor, poor me!” And the whole room went silent Because he spoke completely through his interpreter, no one thought he spoke English I know people were kind of calculating: OK, he does speak English What have we said? When granddad died, de Gaulle was the first person to arrive He was already over the ocean before the invitations to the funeral went out He went straight to the Capitol One of my favorite pictures is of de Gaulle saluting granddad’s coffin with the flag on it He looked so somber I think, in retrospect, part of granddad’s passion for family was the adversity he’d been through When you’re in the kind of positions he was in, who you trust? You trust your family I’m sure that’s one of the reasons we were so close We lived right next door to them until my grandmother, whom we called “Mimi,” died in 1979 They had an absolutely beautiful marriage They had their tiffs—one I remember very specifically was over the remote control It was the old-fashioned kind that moved the whole dial, and my grandmother would get annoyed with him because he’d channel surf But I can say that they were in love to the last minute of his life, and she never stopped mourning him after he died There was a velvet rocker on the porch that was his favorite chair He’d worn the velvet off in places It was tattered looking, but she would never have it re-covered because that was his mark She just adored him, and he did her, too, all the way to the end She was there because she loved him; she didn’t love him because he was there In the ’50s the woman stayed home and the man went out and worked, so you would think granddad would have been very conservative But when he died, he left my brother, my two sisters and me all equal shares of money He wanted us girls to have our independence and not to have to ask our husbands for every little thing He was kind of liberating us, which I think was progressive, considering the times Mimi told me when I got married, “The first thing you need to is take his checkbook away because you can make a rich man out of him.” She managed the family finances and did it very well She had my grandfather on an allowance I remember that because he bought her a really special gift and he had to save his allowance to it The farm in Gettysburg was the first property they ever owned They were always in military quarters or government quarters When they purchased their homestead, they wanted a farm, they loved the area, and he was also intrigued with the battlefield He was a gentleman farmer He had had several 66 AMERICAN HISTORY ‘I never had any instruction in painting The one thing I could well was to cover hands, clothes, floor, and chair with more paint than ever reached the canvas’ —At Ease: Stories I Tell to Friends heart attacks by the time he retired, so he had a chief and lots of people who worked the farm But he was involved, especially with the Black Angus cattle He had lots of blue ribbons that are still on display in the barn there He would take the Ike and Mamie cart—it looked like a golf cart—and he would go around and talk to everybody about what they were doing He did that daily I firmly believe that if it hadn’t been for the war, he would have lived well into his 90s I heard him talk politics several times, but I never heard him talk about the war Daddy helped him write his memoirs, but they went through the war together, so he wasn’t burdening daddy with anything new Before D-Day, he wrote a note: “In the event of failure, the responsibility for this is mine and mine alone.” The day before, he met with a lot of the paratroopers who would go in ahead of the invasion He was asked later why he did that and he said, “Because I knew that I was sending over half of them to their deaths and I wanted them to see the man who was doing it.” That’s just unthinkable pressure He once said, “I hate war as only a soldier who’s lived it can.” It puts a lump in my throat when I hear that, and I think about the struggle he had with his health He had complained about chest pains—which at the time they labeled as angina—during the war, but he just stuck it out The doctors who declassified his medical records 30 years after his death said that based on his symptoms, he was actually having mini heart attacks all through the war To be honest, I think the war broke his heart He didn’t talk about his losses much to the family He always tried to stay positive, so what we knew more was his charismatic side or his fun side He didn’t dwell He might have made it from a small town to become a world leader, but that was not without cost I think life for all of us is a learning curve on a daily basis, but for him it was pretty major He was a compassionate individual Honest and compassionate Those are the words that describe him best ■ Mary Jean Eisenhower, granddaughter of Dwight and Mamie Eisenhower, is chief development officer for the humanitarian organization Outreach International She is chairman emeritus of People to People, an international exchange program founded by her grandfather in 1956 WorldMags.net OPPOSITE TOP: COURTESY OF EISENHOWER PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY & MUSEUM, BOTTOM: CBS/LANDOV WorldMags.net Left: Deserted Barn, painted in 1959 Eisenhower started painting in 1948 and often joked that he lacked ability But he reveled in the process, which afforded him some quiet time and privacy Below: In 1964 CBS aired the program D-Day Plus 20 Years Walter Cronkite accompanied Ike on a return to Normandy The young men who died there, said the general, “gave us a chance and bought time for us so we could better Every time I come back to these beaches, I say, once more, we must find some way to gain eternal peace for the world.” WorldMags.net WorldMags.net Clockwise from top: A family Thanksgiving, 1953, at “Mamie’s cabin,” the retreat built for the Eisenhowers at Augusta National Golf Club ■ Mamie and Ike with their grandchildren in Gettysburg, 1956 ■ Ike, Mamie and daughterin-law Barbara with all four Eisenhower grandchildren: Mary Jean, Susan, David and Anne, 1957 ■ Eisenhower, the gentleman farmer, shows off his prize-winning Black Angus cattle to West German chancellor Konrad Adenauer during a 1957 visit to the Gettysburg farm ■ Ike partners with golf great Arnold Palmer at an event to benefit the American Heart Association in 1964 “It was supposed to be just a fun day,” Palmer recalled of the exhibition at the Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pa., “but the president really wanted to win, too.” 68 AMERICAN HISTORY WorldMags.net CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: © BETTMANN/CORBIS; ABBIE ROWE COLLECTION, NATIONAL ARCHIVES (2); COURTESY OF EISENHOWER PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY & MUSEUM; AP WorldMags.net History is far more than the excitement of battle, the flags and guns and desperate assaults In a place like Gettysburg, the visitor…may easily become absorbed in the three days of conflict, forgetting that history was also made here in quiet lives, on farm and village street. . . Robert McMurdie’s original deed to the farm my wife and I now own and the survey made of the land [hang near the staircase]. . . .Although Robert McMurdie and his neighbors are unknown to formally written history, they are incalculably important to me. . . .I can see back to that April day more than two hundred years ago when Thomas Armor, the surveyor, sighted through his primitive transit and theodolite. . . Surely, as he went about his work, he must have paused often that day when the trees were turning green and the little brook—now dry—just south of the home where Mamie and I now live, was gurgling with runoff from the land, to think that at long last winter had come to an end, that spring had arrived to stay and that this might very well be the best crop year that Cumberland Township had yet known On that day so long ago, he had reason to stop more than once to gaze westerly at the ridge of South Mountain, clear on the horizon, thinking of the Indians who still walked in the distant forest, wondering about the fertility of the valleys that lay between him and the Ohio, dreaming of surveys in that vast territory to be made by him or, possibly, by a surveyor son In such things, human nature changes little in two centuries —At Ease: Stories I Tell to Friends WorldMags.net Reviews WorldMags.net Edited by Richard Ernsberger Jr A Self-Taught Ornithologist and his Artistic Classic JOHN JAMES AUDUBON was 18 when he arrived in the United States in 1803, the year President Thomas Jefferson doubled the size of the country through the Louisiana Purchase It was perfect timing for a woodsman with an almost obsessive interest in birds, as Nancy Plain explains in her short but engaging biography, This Strange Wilderness: The Life and Art of John James Audubon Plain lets Audubon, a pioneering naturalist and artist, tell much of his own story, quoting extensively from his published journals Born the bastard child of a French sea captain in Haiti, Jean-Jacques Audubon led a charmed early life on his well-to-do father’s estates in France, skipping school to spend time outdoors and trying his hand at painting the local birds “Perhaps not an hour of leisure was spent elsewhere than in woods 70 AMERICAN HISTORY This Strange Wilderness: The Life and Art of John James Audubon by Nancy Plain University of Nebraska Press and fields,” Audubon notes in his book Writings and Drawings That may be why he failed the qualifying test for naval officer training and was bundled off to a family estate in Mill Grove, Pa There, young Audubon Americanized his name (becoming John James), met and married Lucy Bakewell and spent most of his time searching for new birds to study and draw A self-taught ornithologist, Audubon was the first person in America to “band” birds when he tied silver thread to the legs of some baby phoebes He would observe a new bird species in nature for weeks before shooting, dissecting and drawing it Dissatisfied with his early sketches, and aiming to depict a bird’s habitat and habits, as well as its look, Audubon conceived the “position board,” a revolutionary way to pose dead specimens to create live-action drawings After settling in Louisville, Ky., and opening a general store with a friend, Audubon spent months, years, on ornithological junkets in pursuit of his goal—to paint an image of every bird species in North America Lucy, abandoned with two children for long periods, taught school to support the family By his early 40s Audubon had produced more than 400 life-sized bird paintings and was ready to publish John James Audubon in 1826 and, below, his Great Blue Heron from The Birds of America a book He failed to find financial backing in America but had better luck in London, where he met engravers and colorists and began selling $1,000 subscriptions to wealthy patrons for what would become his masterpiece— The Birds of America in 12 volumes George IV of England and Charles X of France were among the buyers Audubon published his work, which comprised 489 full-color prints, over 13 years, starting in 1827 It became the archetype for wildlife illustration Baron Georges Cuvier, the 19th-century French naturalist, said that Audubon’s drawings in The Birds of America are “the greatest monument erected by art to nature.” Audubon also published a separate text, Ornithological Biography, a collection of frontier stories with scientific data about each species in The Birds of America Audubon’s tenacity and talent had paid off This Strange Wilderness is a good introduction to Audubon for young readers and an enthralling, quick read for adults—the story of a man who took an artistic approach to science and produced a classic —Mary Burruss WorldMags.net TOP: © FINE ART/ALAMY; BOTTOM: COURTESY OF UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA PRESS Lafayette Escadrille pilots in Chaudun, France, during World War I The American squadron had a French commander, Georges Thenault, seen here playing with the unit’s mascot, a lion named Whiskey WorldMags.net Flying, and Dying, for France WHEN WORLD WAR I started in August 1914, it had been only 11 years since the Wright brothers had made their first flights And yet the new “machines,” as the contraptions of wood, metal and canvas were called, would play a key role in the military struggle So would a cadre of volunteer U.S pilots who flew, and died, for France—some in an all-U.S squadron called the Lafayette Escadrille, named after the French marquis who fought in the American Revolution In First to Fly: The Story of the Lafayette Escadrille, author Charles Bracelen Flood profiles a handful of the courageous and colorful men who flew in the squadron and were among America’s first combat pilots The United States was staunchly isolationist at the start of the war, but dozens of young men, some well-educated gents from wealthy families, others ruddy adventurers, skirted American neutrality and joined the French Foreign Legion One of them, Bill Thaw, had dropped out of Yale and learned to fly before joining up After some slogs at the front, he entered the French Army’s RUE DE ARCHIVES/GRANGER, NEW YORK First to Fly: The Story of the Lafayette Escadrille, the American Heroes Who Fought for France in World War I by Charles Bracelen Flood Atlantic Monthly Service Aeronautique and became the first American to obtain his brevet militaire Thaw then hatched the idea of creating an all-American squadron Prominent expats, including surgeon Edmund Gros, banker William K Vanderbilt and Norman Prince, a rich Harvard graduate, helped persuade French officials to sanction a U.S squadron, established in April 1916 The unit, with a French commander, would comprise 38 pilots “The resulting enthusiasm,” said a French foreign office official, “could have but one effect: to turn the Americans in the direction of the allies.” The unit got its first action flying French Nieuports above Verdun, where they engaged more experienced German squadrons led by Baron Manfred von Richthofen A FrenchAmerican named Raoul Lufbery, a high altitude “superman,” would become the Lafayette Escadrille’s leading ace The WorldMags.net pilots embraced the risks They wore ladies’ stockings under their leather helmets for good luck, and took slugs from the Bottle of Death (a “precious bottle of very old Bourbon”) after recording kills The unit kept two lion cubs, Whiskey and Soda, as mascots The death of Victor Chapman, one of the seven “founding” volunteers and the first Escadrille fatality, “unleashed a torrent of FrancoAmerican feeling,” writes Flood Lufbery and Prince perished, too, the latter while returning from a mission escorting Allied bombers “whose destruction of the German Mauser rifle factory at Oberndorf show the potential of air power.” In all, 269 U.S pilots flew with various French squadrons Sixty-nine were killed (42 in combat), including 11 from the Lafayette Escadrille The unit was disbanded after America joined the war in 1917, and most of its remaining pilots joined the U.S Army Air Service All of them were lauded for being, as French prime minister Aristide Briand said of Chapman, a “symbol of American idealism.” —Richard Ernsberger Jr AUGUST 2015 71 WorldMags.net A young president no longer trusts the CIA or the Pentagon John Kennedy is trying to end the Cold War His days are numbered Learn what led to that fateful day in Dallas AN HONEST MAN by Patrick Manley July 14, 1881: BILLY THE KID is shot dead under suspicious circumstances The young outlaw may be the most misunderstood character in the history of the Old West A NEW look at his short life CALL ME BILLY by Patrick Manley Now available at Amazon.com Available at Amazon.com BACK ISSUES BUYING! DON’T MISS A CONFEDERATE & SOUTHERN OBSOLETE CURRENCY P.O Box • Franklin, TN 37065 (901) 487-5944 email: GTon1@aol.com SINGLE COPY ORDER TODAY! AH508A www.GregTonCurrency.com HistoryNetShop.com • 1-800-358-6327 GAMES PRESIDENTS PLAYING CARDS All 44 US presidents are represented on these playing cards with interesting facts and quotes Visit: www.presidentsplayingcards.com For information on placing a Direct Response or Marketplace ad in Print and Online contact us today: (800) 649-9800 • Fax: (800) 649-6712 • amh@russelljohns.com • www.russelljohns.com WorldMags.net WorldMags.net Reviews We Also Like Q 1920: The Year That Made the Decade Roar by Eric Burns (Pegasus) It was the year that introduced the “Roaring Twenties,” but, writes Burns, 1920 “was not the happy-go-lucky year of popular myth.” World War I had ended, but there were varied and often contrasting public impulses Terrorists (anarchists) attacked Wall Street, stoking fierce debates about immigration Two constitutional amendments were passed—one giving women the vote, the other a misguided attempt to ban booze It was the year of the original Ponzi scheme, and the birth of both jazz and the “mass media,” the latter documenting all the ructions of a tumultuous year Q Elizabeth Gurley Flynn: Modern American Revolutionary by Lara Vapnek (Westview Press) In 1906, 15-year-old Elizabeth Gurley Flynn mounted a soapbox in Times Square to denounce capitalism and proclaim a new era for women’s freedom Flynn over time would become a formidable speaker and organizer devoted to socialism and an America “free from poverty, exploitation, greed and injustice.” She was the most important female leader of the Industrial Workers of the World and American Communist Party Her remarkable story is part of the Lives of American Women series Q Self-Defense for Gentlemen and Ladies by Colonel Thomas Hoyer Monstery, edited by Ben Miller (Blue Snake Books) Does your idea of self-defense involve something more creative than buying a handgun or taking karate lessons? If so, this 19th-century treatise on boxing, kicking, grappling and fencing with a cane or quarterstaff might be appealing It was written in the late 1800s by a Danish-American fencing master, boxer, marksman, sailor, street fighter and soldier of fortune who participated in numerous wars and at least 52 personal combats Learn about the “rules for a set-to with gloves” in one chapter, “offense and defense by evasions” in another—and “the use of the cane.” The book propounds “a holistic approach to self-defense…and goes so far as to touch upon issues of health, exercise, diet and longevity”—the last certainly worth considering if you like to fight a lot Q President Lincoln Assassinated!: The Firsthand Story of the Murder, Manhunt, Trial, and Mourning compiled by Harold Holzer (Library of America) Here is a fateful chronicle of President Lincoln’s assassination and the aftermath of his death as told through 80 original documents—eyewitness reports, medical records, trial transcripts, newspaper articles, speeches, letters, diary entries and poems, by more than 75 participants and observers Courtroom testimony exposes the plot to kill the president; diary entries by Sarah Morgan and Mary Chesnut, among others, record the conflicted response of Southerners; and poems by Walt Whitman and Herman Melville give eloquent voice to the nation’s fear and grief WorldMags.net SPARTANBURG? MORE LIKE: GATHER-THETROOPS-BURG www.VisitSpartanburg.com AUGUST 2015 73 Last Call WorldMags.net Rise and Shine Dwight and Mamie Eisenhower make an early morning stop in Salisbury, N.C., on their 1952 presidential campaign train Campaigning was grueling, Ike later wrote, but “there were too many unusual happenings along the way…to class the experience as monotonous.” Case in point: Impromptu predawn appearances “on the back platform, tousled, sleepy-eyed, and wearing old bathrobes” to greet expectant crowds Photographers who missed the Salisbury scene asked the Eisenhowers to re-create it Not one to pass up a PR opportunity, Ike obliged—and happily reported that the press pool pledged to vote Republican 74 AMERICAN HISTORY WorldMags.net © BETTMANN/CORBIS WorldMags.net You Work Hard We’ll Work Hard to Save You Money GEICO has been proudly saving Military customers money on their car insurance since 1936, and we want to the same for you We understand the special needs DQGVDFULĆFHVPDGHE\0LOLWDU\PHPEHUVDQGWKHLUIDPLOLHVZKLFKLVZK\ZHRIIHU QXPHURXVGLVFRXQWVćH[LEOHSD\PHQWRSWLRQVRYHUVHDVFRYHUDJHDQGPRUH We stand ready to serve you Get a free quote today JHLFRFRP_0,/,7$5