Howard Fineman

This was a book I had to read for school but it was not a pleasant surprise. I found this book to have some interesting political and historical facts and stories in it, but overall I found it incredibly dry and boring. It was hard to push myself through this book and I just found the experience of reading it very unpleasant. This book is not that long but every time I thought about picking it up and reading it I internally groaned and dreaded the experience. I have heard Howard Fineman speak on TV many times and I absolutely think he is a much better speaker than he is a writer. There were some interesting parts of this book but I think you could find a book that covers most of the same material that is more interesting to read. Definitely not one of my favorite books.… (meer)

Fineman, a journalist and political commentator, believes that the things we argue about as a society, and our First Amendment right to do so, are what make our country resilient. In looking at the major areas of disagreement which have motivated opponents and political movements throughout American history, he encourages us to see such patterns as essential to our future and as a source for hope, even when the arguments swing to one extreme or another, which they have done many times in the last 500 years.

Very interesting and, indeed, reassuring, especially as I make my way through the US Presidents Challenge.… (meer)

In a few weeks most of us will enter the privacy of a voting booth and cast a vote that simultaneously reveals our hopes and expresses our concerns about the direction those who want to lead us will chart for the next four years. The issues that dominate the campaign --- the war in Iraq, the crisis in the mortgage lending business, global climate change --- weren’t the subject of cocktail party conversation (or, for that matter, serious debate) even a decade ago. But as journalist and television commentator Howard Fineman describes in his informative new book, each of these issues is merely the latest iteration of some aspect of an enduring American “argument” that’s likely to continue long after the final ballot has been counted.

In this, his first book, Fineman sets for himself the task of sketching out a “comprehensible and nonpartisan overview of our public life and how it works.” For his intellectual scaffold he’s identified thirteen “American Arguments;” what he defines as “a clash between at least two people (or regions, political parties, candidates, or economic interests) over facts and ideas in the search for answers…to questions about the future and fate of America.” And although the facts underlying each argument take a different form each time they arise (the definition of a “person” in the debate over slavery in the nineteenth century or abortion today, to cite but one example) these passionate and enduring arguments have shaped the history of this country from its founding to the present.

In each chapter, Fineman focuses on one argument, from the role of faith in public life, to the power of the judicial branch, to the circumstances under which our leaders will make the decision to go to war. Blending historical analysis and contemporary journalism, and supported by extensive research and interviews with more than 60 prominent Americans, he offers an intelligent and lively summary of the clashing views on each issue.

Walk into any bookstore today and you’ll see the front tables stacked high with polemics from ideologues of the right (Ann Coulter) and left (Michael Moore). It seems most people pick up these books solely to reinforce their prejudices. Fineman plays it pretty much down the middle, although more conservative readers can be forgiven if they detect an ever so slight leftward tilt, especially when it comes to discussing the growth of executive power under the Bush Administration or the conservative leaning of the Supreme Court illustrated in decisions like Bush v. Gore. Still, someone seeking an objective presentation of decidedly hot button issues like freedom of speech or the conflict between economic growth and environmental preservation would be hard pressed to find a more objective place to start.

Apart from length and cost of our presidential campaigns, what’s most troubling is that in the end they somehow devolve into contests in which we’re asked to make judgments about the candidates’ “character,” by choosing between images carefully burnished by skilled public relations professionals. In sketching the boundaries of the debates that have raged over more than two centuries, Fineman reminds us that our country will be shaped less by shallow and highly subjective choices based on the perceived personas of the candidates (“Which candidate would you prefer to have a beer with?” one of the most pathetic) than by their approach to these persisting clashes. “Our best presidents are those who embrace and embody the contradictions and paradoxes of our country,” he writes. “Fate and fortitude allow them to see and even feel both (all) sides of the Thirteen American Arguments. The gift enables them to assemble pieces of enduring ideas and traditions in new ways to meet new challenges.”

By offering this book on the eve of a critical national election, Fineman reveals his essentially optimistic take on our current predicament, even as we face issues like Social Security and Medicare seemingly so intractable as to defy solution: “We need to calm down, get engaged, and look for leadership. We have been here before: the seeming gridlock; the sudden, uncharacteristic loss of faith in the future; the sense that we cannot produce leaders capable of dealing with real problems.” In the end, he observes, “History is hope, the evidence shows.” So do yourself and your country a favor between now and November 4: turn off the television for a couple of evenings, power down the computer and pick up Fineman’s book. If you do, you’ll be a more informed citizen, a wiser voter, and a better American.… (meer)

This book makes we want to go to law school! It is organized and written in such a way to all the reader to understand the issues, but does not talk down to the reader. The ideas presented are often alluded to in our daily lives, but this is a joy to have the opportunity to consider the history of the concept, who was a protagonist and who was against, and how over the years, the country's reactions to these philosophies, theories, and policies has shaped who we are as a people. If we'd had more reading and discussion like this in our history classes, we would be a more informed nation today.… (meer)