Good history. ( )

Fairly solid account of the 1920 presidential campaign that saw Warren Harding defeat James Cox, in a quasi-referendum on Woodrow Wilson's policies. A lot of the material in this book, of course, is covered in other places, though the author springs a few surprises with respect to Franklin D. Roosevelt, and the assorted scandals he was involved in (including a hairy sex scandal, and his treatment of Haiti as Assistant Secretary of the Navy). Not many individuals come out well in this account; even the quasi-martyred Eugene Debs comes across as crabby and irritable. Altogether, 1920's election was not a high point. ( )

This a fun book by one of my favorite authors, David Pietrusza.

It was 1920, when six men who had been, were or would be president ran for the highest office.

Ex-president Theodore Roosevelt led the pack and was the favorite to get the Republican nomination. The very ill and very stubborn Woodrow Wilson wanted to run again to save his League of Nations. Also in the mix, eventual winner Warren G. Harding, his vice-president Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover and Teddy’s cousin Franklin Roosevelt.

They aren’t the only players, of course. Many other colorful characters are involved, such as the Democrat nominee James Cox, Socialist Eugene Debs, ex-president William Howard Taft, and various lovers, suffragists and prohibitionists.

It is a colorful tale about a colorful time in the nation’s history, just before the bottom dropped out.

Pietrusza knows how to tell a complicated tale, and does so thoroughly and thoughtfully.

There are a lot of moving parts to this story, and they’re all handled with aplomb and care.

Recommended.

For more of my reviews, go to Ralphsbooks. ( )

5467. 1920 The Year of Six Presidents, by David Pietrusza (read 6 May 2017) I read with much enjoyment this author's book on the 1960 election and his book on the 1948 election. Those were banner years for the Democrats, whereas 1920 was as doleful a year for the Democrats as any year could be. Nevertheless this book is an absorbing and attention-holding book which I thoroughly enjoyed--even though the author says as much bad about FDR (he was the Democratic vice-presidential nominee in 1920) as he could dig up. The author tells very well the political events of the year, including numbers on the ballots at the conventions--11 ballots in the Republican Convention and 26 ballots in the Democratic Convention. This is especially interesting in comparison with the national conventions today, which no longer have the decisive role they had in 1920. I hope Pietrusza does similar books on other election years: I'd love to read books on the election years when FDR won. ( )

This was an incredibly engaging view into the past. I really enjoyed the style as well as the substance of this book. ( )