As I was reading I felt I inspired by the recitation of American history that I was quite familiar with but have not heard anyone talk about in decades. Citizens from my baby boomer generation are well familiar with the thoughts the author presented and believe them. I am not so sure that young Americans do and I doubt that they would bother with a book written by someone from my generation. I am 60 by the way.
The author's grasp of history is evident as he connects events from Reconstruction and the Civil Rights movement. He showed Lyndon Johnson's knowledge of the need to return to the events at Appotommax, where Gen. Lee surrendered to Gen. Grant, in order to fix the civil right wrongs of the 1960s. He shows how politicians in our past and present have used fear to get elected and how that did not work out well for them or for the country either.
One fact that I was not aware of was that every President from Reconstruction to the beginning of the 20th century had to make deals with the KKK in order to get elected. Warren Harding, who did not like them, made a critical public remark about them and their response was to create a conspiracy theory that he had black blood. This conspiracy theory was backed with false affidavits concerning his birth record. Sound familiar? Another new fact for me was that there was a national debate at the end of the Civil War whether emancipation meant equality. The South got organized and won that political debate.
While it seems that the Trumpian politics of today are a new low for the U. S., Meacham tells us a forgotten history that says otherwise. Our politics have always been nasty with brief interludes of peacefulness. However, there have always been several voices in each generation speaking against the wrongs of the day, voices that succeeding generations followed.
While I have always believed that each generation has improved life in our nation and that this would always continue throughout history, I cannot be as optimistic about the future as the author. The reason is that the young people I know do not acknowledge that there is a shared American past or even a shared creed. This is new. We have never had a generation so unconnected with the past. It's only what can I get for myself from so-and-so in the fastest way possible. What I think is discarded by them because I am old and responsible for all the things they think are wrong with the country. Many of these things are not wrong, it just prevents them from having to work to get ahead.
As I write this review, I have just watched the funeral of Sen. John McCain where the ideals presented in The Soul of America were talked about but only by those whose careers were either over or will be over soon due to their advancing age. Who will take up our American cause and show our true soul? I am anxious about this. I try to be hopeful but it is hard.
The author offers a salve for these feelings in the final chapter with a Harry Truman quote, "The next generation never learns anything from the previous one until its brought home with a hammer." The author ends with "The moral utility of the past should help us prepare to act in the present."
I did not have high expectations when I got this book even though it has had many great reviews and everyone told me I had to read it. I viewed it as a political book, a type of book that I try to avoid. However, I was surprised by how Meacham connected the past with the present. It is a fabulous trip down America's memory lane and Meacham shows all the good, the bad and the ugly parts as well as how it explains where we are now as a nation. I am thrilled that I read the book and highly recommend it.
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