John S. D. Eisenhower (1922–2013)

Zachary Taylor ranks among that small group of presidents who was more famous for what they did before they became president than for their achievements once they occupied the office. A career army officer, he shot to fame when he led his troops to victory over Mexican forces in the Mexican War. Basking in the adulation of a grateful nation, his parlayed his triumph into a victory as the Whig candidate in the 1848 presidential election, only to have his presidency cut short by his death less show more than a year and a half after taking office.

Given Taylor’s background and claim to fame, John S. D. Eisenhower would seem to be the ideal candidate to write a biography of America’s 12th president. The son of a former president, he was a career army officer himself before retiring to become a prolific author of military histories. Yet the end result is disappointing. Eisenhower’s slim book is a sketchy account of Taylor’s life, one that provides only the barest of details about the man and little real understanding of his role in American history. The first quarter-century of Taylor’s life are covered in a scant eight paragraphs, reflecting the lack of effort in understanding the role these early years played in shaping his personality. Much of his early military career is also glossed over in a rush to get to the critical years of the Mexican War. These chapters play to Eisenhower’s strengths, allowing him to draw upon his previous work on the conflict, . Yet even here precious space is wasted providing unnecessary or superfluous background to events, diminishing the book’s value as a biography of Taylor even further.

Though Eisenhower’s final chapters dealing with Taylor’s time as president provide more in the way of detail and analysis, they cannot make up for the overall deficiencies of this book. Overall Eisenhower’s biography is a disappointing entry in “The American Presidents” series, one that fails to reflect the considerable strengths the author brought to the project. Readers seeking more than the barest details of Taylor’s life would be better off picking up K. Jack Bauer’s far more substantial [b:Zachary Taylor: Soldier, Planter, Statesman of the Old Southwest|1551823|Zachary Taylor Soldier, Planter, Statesman of the Old Southwest|K. Jack Bauer|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348868729s/1551823.jpg|1544202] instead of this book, with fails to satisfy any real appetite to learn about Taylor or his role in American 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

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

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