Reviews for The autobiography of Martin Van Buren

The average rating for The autobiography of Martin Van Buren based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2020-11-29 00:00:00 Chris Chirillo This book took me an insane amount of time to read. From a very basic perspective that no currently available copy is truly legible, to the fact that it's written in some of the most esoteric, 19th-century brouhaha language out there (complete with enormous paragraph-sentences that make even the one you're reading cry in embarrassing smallness), this book was hard. That in and of itself makes this a less-than-enjoyable read, but it was important to me anyway and I loved it after finishing it. Beyond that, it's woefully incomplete. Besides ignoring some important aspects (I personally thought it glanced far too quickly over Van Buren's role in the Tariff of Abominations), it ended before even Van Buren's presidential nomination. The book mentions the nomination and administration many times, but even in its own largesse, the volume(s) end suddenly because Van Buren died before completing it. It would have been very interesting to read what he intended (explaining his post-presidential actions of never giving up and trying to pull a Grover Cleveland). As it was, you get one of the most one-sided, biased, incredible self-masturbatory pieces of all time.  Van Buren was a politician's politician. If you've seen West Wing, think of him as the OG Josh Lyman AND Toby Ziegler wrapped together in one supergenius slimeball. The book is intended to entirely vindicate Van Buren and his actions, and it's meant to paint himself in the greatest light possible. I think one of my favorites was early in the book, when he was New York attorney General (1815-1819), he sent people he didn't like on fool's errands to keep them out of the way. He schemed his way onto the canal board, screwed over DeWitt Clinton in lovely ways, and "just happened to find himself" nominated and elected to ever higher position. What a coincidence.  He also seems like one of those people who save every scrap of paper ever written on or sent to him in order to screw people over later. He would stuff copies of letters from enemies in envelopes, then send them to third parties who could screw over lives if they wanted. In the autobiography, he would claim he was doing the right thing or that he was forwarding information in the simplest way. It was blatantly obvious it was just him stirring things up.  It was absolutely incredible how the man found papers and letters to twist everything around to vindicate himself and villainize others (especially Daniel Webster, who he seems to have had it out for). He claimed credit where he was due none or little. He was just this absolute Little Magician.

Review # 2 was written on 2012-05-28 00:00:00 Clinton Miller A stunning history book that is the size and weight of the Holy Bible, that appears to contain just as many profound accounts of past events and extraordinary revelations as the good book itself. 'The Arrogance of Power:The Secret World of Richard Nixon' is a startling, incredible, almost unbelievable and frightening political biography, written by the ex BBC correspondent Anthony Summers. In almost five hundred pages of text, one hundred and twenty pages of Notes, a seven page Bibliography and Index that takes the total content to some six hundred and forty pages, this, just like it's subject, is a political monster. As the author acknowledges, more than a thousand people were interviewed by Summers and Swan in the research for this 2000 publication. Having previously read 'Conspiracy' and 'Official and Confidential' by this writer, the high standard of research comes as no surprise. Yet, I have to admit that the alarming content of 'The Secret World of Richard Nixon' has raised my eyebrows so often I may now require medical attention to get my forehead lowered. There are authentic historical scenarios revealed here that could be taken from Kubric's Dr.Strangelove. As Defcon levels rise, the psychotic Chief Exec is incoherent and unable to function, with similarities to Hitler on D.Day. The culmination of Watergate is just the tip of the berg as the ship of state steams on at full speed. For those who are depressed and feeling down, read this book. You are likely to learn how lucky you are to be alive!