Monday Mix: President’s Day - The Men From Mt. Rushmore
--by Hanje Richards
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What do George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt ha
ve in common, aside from the fact that they were all Presidents of the United States? They have all been carved into the rocks that form Mt. Rushmore. Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a sculpture carved into the granite face of Mt. Rushmore near Keystone, South Dakota, in the United States. Sculpted by Gutzon Borglum and later by his son Lincoln Borglum, Mt. Rushmore features 60-foot (18m) sculptures of the heads of former United States presidents.
After securing Federal funding, construction on the memorial began in 1927, and the presidents' faces were completed between 1934 and 1939. Upon Gutzon Borglum's death in March 1941, his son Lincoln Borglum took over construction. Though the initial concept called for each president to be depicted from head to waist, lack of funding forced construction to end in October 1941.
The U.S. National Park Service took control of the memorial in 1933, while it was still under construction and manages the memorial to the present day. It attracts approximately two million visitors annually.
George Washington
The First of
Men: A Life of George Washington (John E. Ferling). This book is an illuminating portrait of Washington's life, with emphasis on his military and political career. Ferling shows that Washington had to overcome many negative traits as he matured into a leader. Ferling concludes that Washington's personality and temperament were those of "a self-centered and self-absorbed man, one who since youth had exhibited a fragile self-esteem." And yet, he managed to realize virtually every grand design he ever conceived. Ferling's Washington is driven – fired by ambition, envy, and dreams of fame and fortune. But, his leadership and character galvanized the American Revolution – probably no one else could have kept the war going until the master stroke at Yorktown – and helped the fledgling nation take, and survive, its first unsteady steps.
His Excelle
ncy: George Washington (Joseph Ellis). As commander of the Continental Army, George Washington united the American colonies, defeated the British army, and became the world's most famous man. But, how much do Americans really know about their first president? Today, as Pulitzer Prize-winner Joseph J. Ellis says in this crackling biography, Americans see their first president on dollar bills, quarters, and Mt. Rushmore, but only as "an icon – distant, cold, intimidating." In truth, Washington was a deeply emotional man, but one who prized and practiced self-control (an attribute reinforced during his years on the battlefield).
ve in common, aside from the fact that they were all Presidents of the United States? They have all been carved into the rocks that form Mt. Rushmore. Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a sculpture carved into the granite face of Mt. Rushmore near Keystone, South Dakota, in the United States. Sculpted by Gutzon Borglum and later by his son Lincoln Borglum, Mt. Rushmore features 60-foot (18m) sculptures of the heads of former United States presidents.After securing Federal funding, construction on the memorial began in 1927, and the presidents' faces were completed between 1934 and 1939. Upon Gutzon Borglum's death in March 1941, his son Lincoln Borglum took over construction. Though the initial concept called for each president to be depicted from head to waist, lack of funding forced construction to end in October 1941.
The U.S. National Park Service took control of the memorial in 1933, while it was still under construction and manages the memorial to the present day. It attracts approximately two million visitors annually.
George Washington
The First of
Men: A Life of George Washington (John E. Ferling). This book is an illuminating portrait of Washington's life, with emphasis on his military and political career. Ferling shows that Washington had to overcome many negative traits as he matured into a leader. Ferling concludes that Washington's personality and temperament were those of "a self-centered and self-absorbed man, one who since youth had exhibited a fragile self-esteem." And yet, he managed to realize virtually every grand design he ever conceived. Ferling's Washington is driven – fired by ambition, envy, and dreams of fame and fortune. But, his leadership and character galvanized the American Revolution – probably no one else could have kept the war going until the master stroke at Yorktown – and helped the fledgling nation take, and survive, its first unsteady steps.His Excelle
ncy: George Washington (Joseph Ellis). As commander of the Continental Army, George Washington united the American colonies, defeated the British army, and became the world's most famous man. But, how much do Americans really know about their first president? Today, as Pulitzer Prize-winner Joseph J. Ellis says in this crackling biography, Americans see their first president on dollar bills, quarters, and Mt. Rushmore, but only as "an icon – distant, cold, intimidating." In truth, Washington was a deeply emotional man, but one who prized and practiced self-control (an attribute reinforced during his years on the battlefield).Inve
nting a Nation: Washington, Adams, Jefferson (Gore Vidal). Vidal transports the reader into the minds, the living rooms (and bedrooms), the convention halls, and the salons of Washington, Jefferson, Adams, and others. We come to know these men, through Vidal's splendid and percipient prose, in ways we have not up to now – their opinions of each other, their worries about money, their concerns about creating a viable democracy. Vidal brings them to life at the key moments of decision in the birthing of our nation. He also illuminates the force and weight of the documents they wrote, the speeches they delivered, and the institutions of government by which we still live. More than two centuries later, America is still largely governed by the ideas championed by this triumvirate..
In Pursuit of Reason: The Life of Thomas Jefferson (Noble E. Cunningham). Thomas Jefferson was a complex and compelling man: a fervent advocate of democracy who enjoyed the life of a southern aristocrat and owned slaves, a revolutionary who became president, a believer in states' rights who did much to further the power of the Ffederal government. For material, Cunningham draws on the recent explosion of Jeffersonian scholarship and fresh readings of original sources. .
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In Pursuit of Reason: The Life of Thomas Jefferson (Noble E. Cunningham). Thomas Jefferson was a complex and compelling man: a fervent advocate of democracy who enjoyed the life of a southern aristocrat and owned slaves, a revolutionary who became president, a believer in states' rights who did much to further the power of the Ffederal government. For material, Cunningham draws on the recent explosion of Jeffersonian scholarship and fresh readings of original sources. ..
.
Thomas Jeffers
on (Ken Burns). Historians and writers (including Joseph Ellis, Daniel Boorstin, Garry Wills, and Gore Vidal) appear on camera to speak about Jefferson, and a cast of actors reads the words of Jefferson and others. The visuals include beautifully photographed shots of Jefferson's famed estate, Monticello, other locations where Jefferson lived and worked, and a vast number of period drawings and paintings. Jefferson, who was born into a prosperous Virginia family but lost his father when he was young, became a skilled lawyer despite his natural shyness. And the story of how he became a public figure and rose to prominence during the American Revolution is told intelligently.
Thomas Jeffers
on (Ken Burns). Historians and writers (including Joseph Ellis, Daniel Boorstin, Garry Wills, and Gore Vidal) appear on camera to speak about Jefferson, and a cast of actors reads the words of Jefferson and others. The visuals include beautifully photographed shots of Jefferson's famed estate, Monticello, other locations where Jefferson lived and worked, and a vast number of period drawings and paintings. Jefferson, who was born into a prosperous Virginia family but lost his father when he was young, became a skilled lawyer despite his natural shyness. And the story of how he became a public figure and rose to prominence during the American Revolution is told intelligently. .
Commentators, including the noted African American historian John Hope Franklin, grapple with the peculiar inconsistencies of Jefferson's life. The man who wrote the Declaration of Independence owned slaves, and some of what he wrote about race is both troubling and puzzling. This film (which covers Jefferson's entire life, including his two terms as the young country's president and his later years in Virginia) doesn't sidestep controversy but provides a balanced account of one of the most fascinating of all Americans. [DVD]
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Th
omas Jefferson, An Intimate History (Fawn McKay Brodie). With a novelist’s skill and a scholar’s meticulous detail, Brodie portrays Thomas Jefferson as he wrestled with the great issues of his time: revolution, religion, power, race, and love – ambivalences that exerted a subtle but powerful influence on his political ideas and his presidency. Far advanced for its time, Brodie’s biography was the first to set forth a convincing case that Thomas Jefferson was the father of children by his slave Sally Hemings.
...
Th
omas Jefferson, An Intimate History (Fawn McKay Brodie). With a novelist’s skill and a scholar’s meticulous detail, Brodie portrays Thomas Jefferson as he wrestled with the great issues of his time: revolution, religion, power, race, and love – ambivalences that exerted a subtle but powerful influence on his political ideas and his presidency. Far advanced for its time, Brodie’s biography was the first to set forth a convincing case that Thomas Jefferson was the father of children by his slave Sally Hemings....
Abraham Lincoln
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Abraham and Mary Lincoln: A House Divided (David G. McCullough). From award-winning film-maker David Grubin, this mini-series weaves together the troubled lives of a dirt-farmer's son and a wealthy Southern slave-owner's daughter. Together, Abraham and Mary Lincoln ascended to the pinnacle of power at the most difficult time in the nation's history, the Civil War. Abraham Lincoln's legacy as the Great Emancipator reshaped the nation, while his tragic death left Mary reclusive and forgotten. [DVD]
.
Blood on the
Moon: The Assasination of Abraham Lincoln (Edward Steers). According to Steers, John Wilkes Booth was neither mad nor alone in his act of murder. He received the help of many, not the least of whom was Dr. Samuel Alexander Mudd, the Charles County physician who has been portrayed as the innocent victim of a vengeful government. Booth was also aided by the Confederate leadership in Richmond. As he made his plans to strike at Lincoln, Booth was in contact with key members of the Confederate underground and, after the assassination, these same forces used all of their resources to abet his escape. As Steers introduces the cast of characters in this ill-fated drama, he explores why they were so willing to help pull the trigger and corrects the many misconceptions surrounding this defining moment that changed American history.
Lincoln:
A Novel (Gore Vidal). In Vidal's Lincoln, we meet Lincoln the man and Lincoln the political animal, the president who entered a besieged capital where most of the population supported the South and where even those favoring the Union had serious doubts that the man from Illinois could save it. Far from steadfast in his abhorrence of slavery, Lincoln agonizes over the best course of action and comes to his great decision only when all else seems to fail. As the Civil War ravages his nation, Lincoln must face deep personal turmoil, the loss of his dearest son, and the harangues of a wife seen as a traitor for her Southern connections. Brilliantly conceived, masterfully executed, Gore Vidal's Lincoln allows the man to breathe again.
Abraham and Mary Lincoln: A House Divided (David G. McCullough). From award-winning film-maker David Grubin, this mini-series weaves together the troubled lives of a dirt-farmer's son and a wealthy Southern slave-owner's daughter. Together, Abraham and Mary Lincoln ascended to the pinnacle of power at the most difficult time in the nation's history, the Civil War. Abraham Lincoln's legacy as the Great Emancipator reshaped the nation, while his tragic death left Mary reclusive and forgotten. [DVD].
Blood on the
Moon: The Assasination of Abraham Lincoln (Edward Steers). According to Steers, John Wilkes Booth was neither mad nor alone in his act of murder. He received the help of many, not the least of whom was Dr. Samuel Alexander Mudd, the Charles County physician who has been portrayed as the innocent victim of a vengeful government. Booth was also aided by the Confederate leadership in Richmond. As he made his plans to strike at Lincoln, Booth was in contact with key members of the Confederate underground and, after the assassination, these same forces used all of their resources to abet his escape. As Steers introduces the cast of characters in this ill-fated drama, he explores why they were so willing to help pull the trigger and corrects the many misconceptions surrounding this defining moment that changed American history.Lincoln:
A Novel (Gore Vidal). In Vidal's Lincoln, we meet Lincoln the man and Lincoln the political animal, the president who entered a besieged capital where most of the population supported the South and where even those favoring the Union had serious doubts that the man from Illinois could save it. Far from steadfast in his abhorrence of slavery, Lincoln agonizes over the best course of action and comes to his great decision only when all else seems to fail. As the Civil War ravages his nation, Lincoln must face deep personal turmoil, the loss of his dearest son, and the harangues of a wife seen as a traitor for her Southern connections. Brilliantly conceived, masterfully executed, Gore Vidal's Lincoln allows the man to breathe again.
.
Team of Rivals (Doris Kearns Goodwin). This brilliant multiple biography is centered on Lincoln's mastery of men and how it shaped the most significant presidency in the nation's history.
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Team of Rivals (Doris Kearns Goodwin). This brilliant multiple biography is centered on Lincoln's mastery of men and how it shaped the most significant presidency in the nation's history.
.
..
.Theodore Roosevelt
.
Mornings on Horseback: The Story of an Extraordinary Family, a Vanished Way of Life and the Unique C
hild Who Became Theodore Roosevelt (David G. McCullough). This is the story of a remarkable little boy, seriously handicapped by recurrent and almost fatal asthma attacks, and his struggle to manhood: an amazing metamorphosis seen in the context of the very uncommon household in which he was raised. The father is the first Theodore Roosevelt, a figure of unbounded energy, enormously attractive and selfless, a god in the eyes of his small, frail namesake. The mother, Mittie Bulloch Roosevelt, is a Southerner and a celebrated beauty, but also considerably more, which the book makes clear as never before. There are sisters Anna and Corinne, brother Elliott (who becomes the father of Eleanor Roosevelt), and the lovely, tragic Alice Lee, TR's first love.
.
The Rise of
Theodore Roosevelt (Edmund Morris). The book begins with a brilliant Prologue describing the President at the apex of his international prestige. That was on New Year’s Day, 1907, when TR, who had just won the Nobel Peace Prize, threw open the doors of the White House to the American people and shook 8,150 hands, more than any man before him. Morris re-creates the reception with such authentic detail that the reader gets almost as vivid an impression of TR as those who attended.
The rest of this book tells the story of TR’s irresistible rise to power. (He himself compared his trajectory to that of a rocket.) It is, in effect, the biography of seven men – a naturalist, a writer, a lover, a hunter, a ranchman, a soldier, and a politician – who merged at age forty-two to become the youngest President in our history. Rarely has any public figure exercised such a charismatic hold on the popular imagination.
.
Mornings on Horseback: The Story of an Extraordinary Family, a Vanished Way of Life and the Unique C
hild Who Became Theodore Roosevelt (David G. McCullough). This is the story of a remarkable little boy, seriously handicapped by recurrent and almost fatal asthma attacks, and his struggle to manhood: an amazing metamorphosis seen in the context of the very uncommon household in which he was raised. The father is the first Theodore Roosevelt, a figure of unbounded energy, enormously attractive and selfless, a god in the eyes of his small, frail namesake. The mother, Mittie Bulloch Roosevelt, is a Southerner and a celebrated beauty, but also considerably more, which the book makes clear as never before. There are sisters Anna and Corinne, brother Elliott (who becomes the father of Eleanor Roosevelt), and the lovely, tragic Alice Lee, TR's first love..
The Rise of
Theodore Roosevelt (Edmund Morris). The book begins with a brilliant Prologue describing the President at the apex of his international prestige. That was on New Year’s Day, 1907, when TR, who had just won the Nobel Peace Prize, threw open the doors of the White House to the American people and shook 8,150 hands, more than any man before him. Morris re-creates the reception with such authentic detail that the reader gets almost as vivid an impression of TR as those who attended.The rest of this book tells the story of TR’s irresistible rise to power. (He himself compared his trajectory to that of a rocket.) It is, in effect, the biography of seven men – a naturalist, a writer, a lover, a hunter, a ranchman, a soldier, and a politician – who merged at age forty-two to become the youngest President in our history. Rarely has any public figure exercised such a charismatic hold on the popular imagination.
. 
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T.R.: The Last Romantic (H. W. Brands). In his time, there was no more popular national figure than Theodore Roosevelt. Based on years of research, including new-found letters from his adult sons, here is a complete biography of "T.R.," exploring both the public figure and the private man. Beautifully written, this is a presidential biography certain to take its place among the classics of the genre.
.T.R.: The Last Romantic (H. W. Brands). In his time, there was no more popular national figure than Theodore Roosevelt. Based on years of research, including new-found letters from his adult sons, here is a complete biography of "T.R.," exploring both the public figure and the private man. Beautifully written, this is a presidential biography certain to take its place among the classics of the genre.
posted by msbw @ 3:02 PM
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