A Man of Iron: The Turbulent Life and Improbable Presidency of Grover Cleveland

Reviews

1. 

   StinkFoot – July 29, 2024

   Important and educational – read it!
   Troy Senik has written an important and interesting book, filled with facts and anecdotes, in economical, dynamic prose. He is unquestionably a talented writer. His subject is an important one: Grover Cleveland, a great man and POTUS, unfortunately lost to the dustbins of History, if not reviled in some quarters.Mr. Senik is a Jeopardy! winner and it shows – the quantity of information and details packed into this fairly short book is astounding, particularly in the footnotes, which give important context and historical background to Cleveland’s story.I’d give this book five stars but for two reasons:- Mr. Senik seems to have gone through a list of unusual words which he wanted to use in this book, IMO not always to good effect.- Mr. Senik’s grasp of economics seems excellent (I am not an economist) , but his interpretation of Cleveland’s legalist and minimalist understanding of the office of POTUS seems slanted, to the point that he criticizes Cleveland for being legalistic and constitutional at the expense of being ‘humanitarian’, and attributes this to Cleveland’s ‘inflexibility’, missing the point which he himself makes, quite adroitly: Cleveland had a deep seated belief in the principles of limited national government outlined in the US Constitution, and great faith in the ability of the American people to govern themselves, without governmental intrusion.If Cleveland appeared stubborn and inflexible, it was because of his deep seated personal convictions.IMO that is no knock on Grover Cleveland, but a positive attribute.Granted, the American presidency has changed over last century, and today we look for a more active, dynamic POTUS than in Cleveland’s time. Arguably that change began with Theodore Roosevelt and his ‘bully pulpit’, and was greatly expanded by FDR and LBJ, among the most noteworthy. Mr. Senik appears to use the modern presidency as his metric when evaluating Grover Cleveland – a great mistake IMO: Any historical figure must be discussed and evaluated in the context of their own times. Moreover, there are many today who doubt the benefit, and even the constitutionality of the modern presidency. Had Grover Cleveland lived today, he would be among the most vocal of such doubters, IMO.Regardless, read this book – “You just might learn something”, or more than just ‘something’, but a great deal.

2. 

   Key Perspective – July 29, 2024

   Interesting life of a forgotten president.