The Colonel: The Life and Wars of Henry Stimson, 1867-1950

by Godfrey Hodgson

Book by Hodgson, Godfrey

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, History

404 pages, Paperback

First published October 17, 1990

About the author

Godfrey Hodgson was a White House correspondent for a London newspaper with a desk in the Washington Post newsroom during the Kennedy and Johnson years. He has worked as a reporter for print and television throughout the United States and has written sixteen books, most dealing with people and issues in American politics. He taught at Oxford University and lives in Oxfordshire, U.K.

Reviews

[Dave N · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was a little disappointed at first with the scope of this book. It felt like the author spent too much time filling in the reader on a lot of peripheral information regarding the era in which Stimson lived and worked but not directly involving Stimson. The effect was that the book felt more like a general history book than a biography. But slowly the story of Stimson's life came together, particularly in the later chapters involving the use of the atomic bomb and the role of the US in WW2.

Stimson is one of those characters so important to understanding American history, but that you only seem to learn about for the most part at the edges of other people's stories (John Jay, Patrick Henry and William Crawford are just a few of the myriad other examples of this kind of figure). After reading books on Taft, Hoover and both Roosevelts, and seeing Stimson's name come up again and again, I decided to read about him directly, and I'm glad I did. He was a unique individual, adhering to a strict moral code: one that made him question his decisions endlessly but to never regret his actions afterwards (see his defense of the use of the Atomic Bomb in Harper's). That said, that same moral code didn't prevent him from being an unrepentant racist and to see other cultures as inherently inferior. No one can call him a progressive. But to read about Stimson is to read about one of the most formative eras in American history.

[Bob Crawford · Rating 5 out of 5]

A forgotten American icon

I would bet not two in 100 Americans can accurately identify Henry Stimson, yet he served four Presidents, from both parties, in two different cabinet roles, and guided our armed forces throughout WWII. One could argue he was the most important and influential American between 1900 and 1950, with the possible exception of Franklin Roosevelt, for whom he served as Secretary of War.
Like us all, he was flawed, was blind to various social ills, but he stood true to his moral convictions. He fervently believed in something current Americans seem to have forsaken - truth and virtue is to be found “in the middle ground.”
For that lesson alone, this is an important and worthy read.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learned a lot about Henry L. Stimson from this biography written in 1990, but there were definitely some portions of this book where the author went overboard, providing background material that was simply too detailed and more exhaustive than necessary. But the sections on his work as Secretary of State for Herbert Hoover, and especially when he was Secretary of War for FDR, were excellent.

[Ben Rocky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book on an fascinating person. The author had a weird fascination with social class, but as a Brit perhaps that makes sense?

[JerryDeanHalleck · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a bad effort, but a rehash of other Stimson Bio's covering the same ground. The usual areas of emphasis: Pearl Harbor, J. internment, Blacks in the Army, Atomic Bomb, and Stimson's push for an invasion of France. As with other books by liberal/left historians, Stimson's greatest hour, his pushback against the criminal Morganthau plan, is given little ink.

The author rarely talks about Stimson's complete indifference to the loss of life caused by his actions. Stimson lived in the rarified air of the rich and powerful & saw average Americans as pawns to move around on the chessboard. When Stimson considered the best way to win the war, the direct approach via France, or the British way, how many American lives would be lost (100,000 or 300,000) wasn't part of the equation. In fact, he sneered at Churchill's concern over British losses.

The same is true of USA Rationing, conscription, work or fight legislation, or high taxation. The effect on the average American was never a consideration. To Stimson, the public was there to support whatever he, FDR, and JCS wanted, period. And to Stimson all that mattered was destroying Germany. And that also meant he was OK with giving Stalin half of Europe & killing millions of Europeans. Stimson never lost a minute of sleep over it

Sidenote: Felix Frankfurter is almost missing from the book, despite being stimson's life long friend and former advisor. And the one responsible for his getting the Secretary of War Job. How close were they? Well, another book states that Stimson told Frankfurter (who had no need to know) about the Manhatten project over dinner, and directed Ike to give him a top secret briefing about the Darlan Deal.