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<![CDATA[new comment from Elizabeth S]]>
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/244156-6-no-ordinary-time-chapter-8-9-190-240-11-23-09-11-29-09
Elizabeth S made a comment in the The History Book Club group:
Just read this week's chapters, and read through the comments up to now. Haven't had a chance to look through any of Liz's wonderful links, though. So more thoughts may come later after I peruse them.
As I read the chapters, the biggest thing that struck me about lend-lease was its marketability to the American public. FDR didn't pitch it to Congress, he pitched it to the Nation and then approached Congress. Goodwin says FDR used examples, like loaning your garden hose to your neighbor whose house is on fire, that really made sense to people (see page 194). Part of the advantage of the neighbor's-house-on-fire scenario is that people can imagine what might happen if you don't help your neighbor--your own house might catch fire. I think that is a point FDR wanted to carefully get across. The scenario also reinforced the concept of being neighborly friends with Britain. It also didn't waste any time debating the possibility of lasting peace with the Third Reich, which evidently some of the isolationists wanted.
The biggest strengths of Lend-lease is that it did the job, it gave Britain what it needed with the support of the American public. (And what a price, wow that figure is staggering.) As we see by the end of Chapter 9, though, it really put FDR and America in a tight position as far as delivering the lent items. You keep loaning your neighbor more and more hoses, and they keep getting burnt and half of them don't even make it to the fire. Tough, tough decisions to make. For all the weaknesses of the program, is there anything else that might have worked at all?
As far as FDR coming up with it unilaterally, I guess it depends on how one thinks he came up with it. If he was tossing it around in his mind for a month and just hiding it from people, I think it would have been good to toss it around with the great minds he had surrounded himself with. But I think it was more inspiration that came quickly, as he let his mind relax. Sure, he probably thought it through for a couple of days before letting it out. But that makes more sense to me.
Which leads to what Liz has been saying, let's let our Presidents take breaks! They need vacations, too. Maybe we should require them! Well, not necessarily require. But let's not lay on the guilt trips for every well-earned rest.
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<![CDATA[new comment from Elizabeth S]]>
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/239125-hf-the-agony-and-the-ecstasy
Elizabeth S made a comment in the The History Book Club group:
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<![CDATA[new comment from Elizabeth S]]>
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/150285-community-room-off-topic-cafe-for-conversation
Elizabeth S made a comment in the The History Book Club group:
Happy Eid to Harvey and others. Thanks for sharing, and to Bentley for the link to help me learn.
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<![CDATA[new comment from Elizabeth S]]>
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/123537-the-federalist-papers
Elizabeth S made a comment in the The History Book Club group:
Federalist #6 took a lot longer to read than its 6 pages would suggest, because there were so many notes in the back of the book to help me understand the references (10 pages of notes). But I was really grateful for them. Does everyone else have those same notes?
The one that caught my interest the most was in reference to the section that says, "the revolt of a part of the State of North Carolina, the late menacing disturbances in Pennsylvania." Here's the note:
In 1784, the inhabitants of four western counties of North Carolina proclaimed their sucession as a separate state called Franklin. By late 1787, North Carolina's implacable opposition, combined with internal strains within Franklin, led to the seceding counties' reunification with North Carolina. Meanwhile, in Pennsylvania, discontented inhabitants of the Wyoming Valley (in northeastern Pennsylvania near New York) attempted a similar secession in 1787. By the time of Federalist No. 6's appearance in the newspapers (November 14, 1787), the Pennsylvania legislature had approved the governor's request to call out the militia in order to suppress the revolt.
Indeed, these times were much less Golden Age than I would have thought. For three years there was an extra state. Weird.
I think all the examples from the ancient world, Europe, and the then-recent North Carolina/Pennsylvania situations really supported the thesis of this Paper, that next-door neighbors don't stay friends unless they are united.
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<![CDATA[new comment from Elizabeth S]]>
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/193240-for-all-other-members
Elizabeth S made a comment in the The History Book Club group: