Michael R. Beschloss - Presidents of War: The Epic Story, from 1807 to Modern Times

When I started this book, I did not expect it to take more than a decade to research and write. I soon discovered, however, that coming to understand the leadership of Presidents in times of war required almost the same depth of research as if I were writing an entire book on each of them.

For specific counsel during this books long journey, I thank Jim and Kate Lehrer, Mary Graham, Susan Dunn, David Sanger, and Evan Thomas. Jon Meacham advised me on all aspects of research, writing, and publication. My Williams College teacher, James MacGregor Burns, died in 2014, at the age of ninety-five. For four decades, he helped me to refine the theme and scope of much of what I have written, all the way back to my first book, which started as my college honors thesis, written under his supervision. Any shortcomings in this volume are in spite of Jims wise advice and noble example.

Early in this project, Margaret Shannon and Justin Reynolds helped to locate a number of published materials. Milton Djuric examined an archive from the McKinley period. Michael Hill searched several manuscript collections from the Jefferson-Madison era and, at the end of the process, checked my Source Notes. Jack Bales helped to compile the bibliography. Dani Holtz recommended a number of journal articles and helped with endnotes. Julie Tate fact-checked the entire book.

I have performed research in presidential libraries since the mid-1970s, when John Kennedys aide and friend David Powers kindly showed me through the temporary quarters of the Kennedy Library. For the period I worked on this book, I thank David Ferreiro, Archivist of the United States, Cynthia Koch and Paul Sparrow of the Roosevelt Library, Michael Devine of the Truman Library, and the Johnson Librarys Mark Updegrove, Tina Houston, Claudia Anderson, and the late Harry Middleton, as well as LBJs White House aides Tom Johnson and Larry Temple, both now trustees of the Lyndon B. Johnson Foundation.

I am grateful to historians who generously read chapters of the book in manuscript and proof for errors of fact or interpretation. They include David Mattern, of the University of Virginia, who read the chapters on James Madison; Robert Merry on James Polk and William McKinley; Allen Guelzo, of Gettysburg College, on Abraham Lincoln; John Milton Cooper, of the University of Wisconsin, and Margaret MacMillan, of St. Antonys College, Oxford, on Woodrow Wilson; David Kennedy, of Stanford University, on Franklin Roosevelt; H. W. Brands, of the University of Texas, on Harry Truman; and Fredrik Logevall, of Harvard University, on Lyndon Johnson. John A. Farrell, biographer of Richard Nixon, provided additional advice. Corby Kummer of the Atlantic read and commented upon the final proofs of the entire volume.

At Crown Publishing, I thank Molly Stern for her wisdom and strong support for this project, as well as Maya Mavjee for her leadership. David Drake provided important advice. Tim Duggan has been a superb editor, aided by Will Wolfslau and Aubrey Martinson. Julie Cepler, Becca Putnam, Rachel Rokicki, and Gwyneth Stansfield have been a pleasure to work with. Chris Brand and Songhee Kim ensured the aesthetics of the book, inside and out. Cindy Berman, Heather Williamson, and Maureen Clark guided it through production. For their early support, I thank Tina Constable and Sean Desmond.

Esther Newberg has been my friend and literary adviser for twenty-five years, through six books, and brought to this one her intense attention, judgment, and verve. At ICM, I also benefited from the work of John Delaney, Kari Stuart, Zoe Sandler, and Alexandra Heimann. I am grateful to my lawyer and friend Michael Rudell and his colleagues Neil Rosini and Eric Brown. My assistant Sarah Convissor was helpful in many ways.

When I began working on this book, my son Alex was in the ninth grade and my son Cyrus in the sixth. Eleven years later, Alex is now a medical student at the University of Pennsylvania and Cyrus is a history major at Williams College. They are both great guys and, while (usually) tolerating the distractions of their fathers labors on this volume, gave me advice of a quality that went far beyond their ages. What their mother, Afsaneh Mashayekhi Beschloss, has brought to the life of this author is inexpressible.

Michael Beschloss

Washington, DC

June 2018