John S. D. Eisenhower (1922–2013)

So Far From God is a very well written history of the 1846-1848 U.S. war with Mexico. Author Eisenhower not only provides clear and interesting descriptions of the military action in Mexico (complete with well-drawn maps) but he also provides the reader with an understanding of the close relationship between politics and military proceedings of both the U.S. and Mexico and how these relationships impacted the interactions of both countries with respect to the prosecution of the war.

The cost show more of the war in terms of treasure and lives was appalling for everyone concerned and the fallout with respect to political and military careers as well as the fate of both nations was significant. In the U.S. the nightmare of the Civil War just 13 years later overshadowed the importance of this war in the national conscience, however, as the author notes, the impact of the Mexican-American war still plays a role in the present-day dealings between the two countries.

I learned a great deal from this book and I would recommend it to anyone with an interest in history. show less

Zachary Taylor isn't usually considered one of the most effective US Presidents. But as John Eisenhower points out in his biography of Taylor, greatness requires interesting times, and there just wasn't all that much interesting happening during Taylor's short presidency. And yet, Eisenhower manages to make Taylor interesting - both as a person and a President.

Taylor lived two lives - one as a Southern gentleman farmer and slave owner and the other as a career military man where he became a show more national hero in the Mexican-American war. As President, his main concern was in bringing the territory won from Mexico into the US without upsetting the balance between the regional factions threatening to pull apart the Union. Unfortunately, Taylor died of an unknown gastro-intestinal disease before these issues were resolved.

Eisenhower's Zachary Taylor is a well-written, highly recommended biography of a surprisingly interesting man. show less

Many of the faults of this book are confessed by the author. He states that he did not write about Wilson because he did not have the time or the ambition. He goes on to describe Wilson as a "...man truly dedicated to peace." Yet he goes on to characterize the interventions as "misguided and meddling." He did spend some time in San Antonio, Texas, thanks to his father, and so he says, "I have always felt a personal association with this episode in American history." He says that he "decided show more to study the conditions existing in Mexico during 1914 and 1916 in an effort to justify, or at least explain American actions." He obviously feels the need to justify. Then he insults the reader further by stating that he has left out a lot because "most accounts are not simple enough to be understood by the general reader." I had to keep reading just to see what other inexplicably asinine bits of wisdom he might have to offer. Read it if you must but check out other less "simple," more balanced and better researched accounts of this period. He relies too heavily on secondary and third hand sources and get some facts wrong as a result. I will admit that he tells a good story. show less

Not for the first time, the editors of this series have succumbed to the temptation to assign a military president to a military man and gotten exactly what they deserve: an analysis of their generalship followed by a once-over-lightly on their presidency. This is doubly unfortunate here, as the author relegates to his front matter an intriguing conversation he once fell into at a banquet with "someone who appeared to know a lot about history" who opined that Taylor was the one man who could show more have prevented the War of the Rebellion. Now that would have made a fine anchor, particularly since it fits right into the wheelhouse of the original premise of the series, viz., cut to the chase and dig into the one most significant legacy of the presidency. Instead, what we get is a slapdash account of the Mexican War with a few chapters on the presidency appended. Admittedly, Taylor's presidency wasn't that significant, but better analyses are quite possible and have been done; check out his volume in the University Press of Kansas' presidency series and read one (and find out about the Fillmore administration in the bargain). show less