"A Country of Vast Designs: James Polk" by Robert Merry is an excellent book and not before it was due. At least a dozen folks, when asked about James Polk, responded that they knew nothing about James Polk, except that he had once been the President of the United States. I was in the same boat of ignorance, so when I read the review about this new book, I down loaded it onto my Kindle. He was an interesting man, in that he came into the Presidency with four tasks he wished to accomplish. In his first letter to the Congress, the precursor to the State of the Union speech , he listed the four items on his agenda. Of course, many folks thought he was daft. In addition, he stated that he would only serve one term. Sure enough, four years later, those four deeds were done, and four months after he left the high office, he died. It is an interesting read.
Now and at the same time I am reading the "Autobiography of Theodore Roosevelt" obviously by Theodore Roosevelt, and "The Wilderness Warrior" by Douglas Brinkley, also obviously about Theodore Roosevelt. He was an interesting and energetic man, which I already knew, but now I am getting all the details. Corruption was a big issue with him. It reads well even now. Two chapters from each, one after the other, makes you keep your wits about you.
When we first arrived here I was finishing up "Louis Brandeis: A Life", by Melvin Urofsky, a book I started before Christmas but kept until we were here. Sustained reading is necessary to keep the players in their proper place so at home and even at the farm I read my periodicals. I still have a new biography of General Grant in my Kindle and as we leave on Saturday, I must keep diligent!
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