Jeffrey A. Engel

The book doesn't discuss the present (05-2019) situation with Donald Trump, but the authors are aware that this is overhanging their analysis. I can remember both of the cases of Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton, but I have promised myself to limit personal observations and snarky comments.

Jeffrey A. Engel opens with a discussion of the process by which impeachment was included in the Constitution and the haggling over the words that were to describe grounds for impeachment. They saw that it was possible that Congress could use the process to eject a president they disagreed with as well as the need to be able to remove a president who was trying to become a tyrant or run a criminal enterprise. I think he is a touch too kind to Andrew Johnson.

Jon Meachem, Timothy Naftili, and Peter BakerJon Meachem, Timothy Naftili, and Peter Baker cover the cases of Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Bill Clinton, respectively. For the most part, I thought that they did an excellent job.

In the case of Johnson, I always thought the inclusion of Edmund G. Ross in Profiles in Courage was a trifle unfair since his vote wouldn't have mattered if six other Republicans hadn't also broken with their party, and none of them was ever re-elected to office. Johnson is a case in point that the vice-president isn't just a balancing factor on a ticket -- there are serious consequences if the president dies, as Lincoln shortly did. I had to keep reminding myself that the Supreme Court had not yet applied the Fourteenth Amendments to the states to accept that Johnson wasn't convicted. He is one of the few cases of a President who was never elected on his own; Gerald Ford, somewhat coincidentally, is another when he replaced Nixon. Both men, of course, were rejected at the next Presidential election, although Johnson was re-elected to the Senate in 1875, winning, as he did in the case of his impeachment, by one vote.… (mais)

Time will tell. Not our contemporaries will decide on the significance of George H. W. Bush as the 41st President of the United States (1989–1993). Such a judgement will most likely take at least another 50 years to make, when all the dust of contemporary turbulent times has settled, and historians select and describe our times into the chronicles of history. However, most likely, Jeffrey A. Engel's (Ed.) book will play a part in that process, as The China diary of George H. W. Bush. The making of a global President is a primary text. It consists of the transcribed cassette tapes, recorded by George H. W. Bush in lieu of a diary.

Sino-American relations were frozen in a lock-down since the Communist victory in 1949, with the US unwilling to recognize the legitimacy of Communist rule in China. However, in 1971 Henry Kissinger brokered an opening up and paved the way for President Nixon to visit China in 1972. In 1973, Nixon's successor, President Gerald Ford, established the United States Liaison Office (USLO) in Beijing, to which George H. W. Bush was appointed for 14 months from 1974 till 1976, serving as the Chief of the USLO and American Envoy, not actually, but often acting as Ambassador to China. George H. W. Bush personal style is credited for having made the mission a success, and laid the foundations of future diplomatic relations renewal.

When the Bushes arrived in China, in late 1974, China was still submerged in the turmoil of the Cultural Revolution, which still raged although no longer as fiercely as during the first five years. There were very few foreigners in Beijing, and Bush personal style of going out and making contact, going out on his bike and shopping with Barbera won the hearts of some of the Chinese they met and worked with. Jeffrey A. Engel's edition of Bush's diaries also map the extensive contacts Bush built up and maintained within the diplomatic community in Beijing.

At 544 pages, The China diary of George H. W. Bush. The making of a global President is surprisingly readable. There are plenty of daily observations about the life of the Bushes in Beijing during this period, and the style of the diaries is as accessible and interesting as many diaries from numerous other visitors to China during the same period and later on. In fact, The China diary of George H. W. Bush is a lot more readable than some other contemporary diaries because George H. W. Bush does not display any of the anger and prejudice that is often found in other contemporary diarists.

For scholars, Jeffrey A. Engel's edition is a real treasure, as the editor provides footnotes and annotations throughout, mapping all of Bush's contacts he visited and made during his tenure in Beijing. Included in the volume is a 65+-page essay by the editor describing the significance of holding this post to the career development of George H. W. Bush and the development of Sino-American relations.… (mais)