Title

First great triumph : how five Americans made their country a world power

Description

Documents how the United States rose to a significant world power one century ago through the actions of five political figures, including Theodore Roosevelt, naval strategist Alfred T. Mahan, and Senator Henry Cabot Lodge.

Identifier

1055413

374179395

Creator

Zimmermann, Warren

Format

1st ed.

Source

Brian Lamb Booknotes Collection

Gift of Brian Lamb, 2011.

Catalog record

Language

eng

Date

2002

Program air date: January 19, 2003

Publisher

Farrar, Straus and Giroux

George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections & Archives

Text

Transcription of Annotations
Notes on front endpapers and preliminary pages include biographical information on John Hay, Alfred T. Mahan, Theodore Roosevelt, Henry Cabot Lodge, and Elihu Root, their family backgrounds, their education and careers, and the relationships between these five men. Other notes refer to the Spanish-American War - the most popular war in American history -, the American attack on Cuba and Guam, the annexation of Hawaii, and the conquest of the Philippines, as well as American support of the Panamanian revolution. Four examples of American expansionism are given: the War of Independence, the Louisiana Purchase, John Quincy Adams' purchase of Florida from Spain, and the Monroe Doctrine, which authorized American intervention in Latin America. All five men were unfriendly to mass immigration, believed in Social Darwinism and the superiority of people of Anglo-Saxon descent. -- Notes on back endpapers mention the arrival of 9 million immigrants in America which lead to xenophobia. References to the Anti-Imperialist League and the Immigration Restriction League are also included, as is a list of the birth and death dates of these five men and a table of their respective ages in 1898 and 1904, the time frame during which this expansion took place. Their legacy is identified as: 1) Creation of an authentic American imperialism; 2) Preparation of America to become a great power; 3) First assertion of U.S. interests abroad; 4) Establishing of two foreign policy priorities: human rights and stability; 5) Strengthening of the U.S. presidency. -- Annotations by Brian Lamb in the margins and underlining of pertinent phrases throughout the book.

Subject

"Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919."

"Hay, John, 1838-1905."

"Mahan, A. T. (Alfred Thayer), 1840-1914."

"Root, Elihu, 1845-1937."

"Lodge, Henry Cabot, 1850-1924."

"Spanish-American War, 1898."

Relation

Original Booknotes interview

Rights

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