The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Founding Fathers

Politically Incorrect Guides

by Brion T. McClanahan

The truth revealed--and PC myths shattered--about the Founding Fathers.

Tom Brokaw labeled the World War II generation the "Greatest Generation," but he was wrong. That honor belongs to the Founders--the men who pledged their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor for the cause of liberty and independence, and who established the United States. This was a generation without equal, and it deserves to be rescued from the politically correct textbooks, teachers, and professors who want to dismiss the Founders as a cadre of dead, white, sexist, slave-holding males.

Now, a clear-sighted conservative historian, Dr. Brion McClanahan , does just that. In The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Founding Fathers, he profiles Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Franklin, and other important Founders; traces the key issues of the day and shows how they dealt with them; and in the process details the Founders' deep faith, commitment to the cause of independence, impeccable character, and visionary political ideals.

Even better, The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Founding Fathers proves that the Founders had a better understanding of the problems we face today than do our own members of Congress. McClanahan shows that if you want real and relevant insights into the issues of banking, war powers, executive authority, freedom of the press, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, states' rights, gun control, judicial activism, trade, and taxes, you'd be better served reading the Founders than you would be watching congressional debates on C-SPAN or reading the New York Times.

The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Founding Fathers is a vital guide to restoring a sane, sober, Constitutional sense of responsibility to today's public debates.

Genres: History, Politics, Nonfiction, American History, Biography, American, Audiobook

354 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Brion McClanahan received a B.A. in History from Salisbury University in 1997 and an M.A. in History from the University of South Carolina in 1999. He finished his Ph.D. in History at the University of South Carolina in 2006, and had the privilege of being Clyde Wilson's last doctoral student. He is the author or co-author of four books, The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Founding Fathers, (Regnery, 2009), The Founding Fathers Guide to the Constitution (Regnery History, 2012), Forgotten Conservatives in American History (Pelican, 2012), and The Politically Incorrect Guide to Real American Heroes, (Regnery, 2012). He has written for TheDailyCaller.com, LewRockwell.com, TheTenthAmendmentCenter.com, Townhall.com, and HumanEvents.com. McClanahan is a faculty member at Tom Woods' Liberty Classroom, has appeared on dozens of radio talk shows, and has spoken across the Southeast on the Founding Fathers and the founding principles of the United States. If you would like to book Dr. McClanahan for a speaking appearance, please send him an email with all pertinent information.

Reviews

[Nathan Grooms · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brion McClanahan's The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Founding Fathers gives the reader an idea of what our nation's founders believed about freedom and liberty. Some of the issues that defined America at its birth are still prevalent in today's society. Freedom of speech, a free press, the right to private property, a man's right to keep the fruits of his own labor, freedom the tyranny of the state, and the right to bear arms. These are just a few of the core issues that defined our nation. McClanahan's book gives you a glimpse into the lives of some the men who drafted our Constitution and Bill of Rights in order to better see how they defended these basic concepts that became such a part of our heritage. While he covers the famous names of American history like Washington and Jefferson, he also covers some the lesser known but equally important men of the founding era.


A point that McClanahan brings out is that the early protests against the Crown were demands that their rights as Englishmen be restored. They embraced the rights of free Englishmen and later applied the same concepts in crafting their own law. It started out not so much a fight against England but a fight to restore for the colonists what they most cherished about the English law.


As someone who has always loved reading early American history I really enjoyed McClanahan's conservative perspective.

[Ryan · Rating 1 out of 5]

As someone who has studied this period in American history fairly extensively I was insulted! Politically I am barely left of center, and I found this piece to be immensely fallacious. It isn’t that facts are blatantly wrong; it is that many are taken out of context or lack any context at all. A true examination of any one of the subjects contained in this book will find the reader wondering if the writer did any research beyond a few Google searches with his agenda in the search bar.

The worse “sin” this book makes: A fairly articulate argument made utilizing partial information presented as a valid whole. The book misleads, it convinces the unwary and uninformed that it presents a deeper truth and in so doing validates modern political dogmas. This is a piece of propaganda at best.

PLEASE,
Before you read this book look up some information on the publisher’s series
Here is the Wikipedia page for your convenience: The Politically Incorrect Guide

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I saw “Politically Incorrect” I guess I was thinking along the lines of, ironically, the type of writing about our predecessors that Mcclanahan promptly denounces. The introduction begins by setting this up as a similar response to useless history textbooks and the resultant murky knowledge amongst our fellow citizens as covered by, say, James Loewen. Then the author immediately criticizes Loewen and others as examples of the leftist, revisionist scholarship that his book is conceived of as an antidote to. That is, in addition to some decent writing about the various founders, there’s quite the conservative agenda here.

Much of the content is well written and I feel of interest to anyone desiring a primer about the guys behind all those important documents and Mcclanahan’s interpretation of their intentions is likely spot on. Where this deteriorates, however, is with his constant pontifications about how everything that defines the US government these days – mammoth centralized government, welfare state-esque policies, gun control, and other pre-packaged conservative gripes – would prove anathema to our predecessors’ intent if they were exhumed tomorrow. Perhaps he’s correct (he includes any number of well-positioned quotes that came from somewhere though it’s often difficult to determine from what context) but it comes off like so many flippant, incongruous insertions.

Personally I’m not going defend our massive, often dysfunctional federal government and the resultant off-putting tax burdens supplementing behemoth corporations and hardly anyone else. Certainly if a coach-and-four pulls up to 2009 and drops off Jefferson in his best wig, the ex-Pres would be quite bewildered and perturbed with all this dysfunction as well. Obviously President Three would also express little more than complete befuddlement in the face of the innumerable transformations that have taken place since the Industrial Revolution. He would no doubt raise an eyebrow when the President 43 (and 44) ships thousands of troops off to the Middle East, but then he’d see some national embarrassment like Dancing With the Stars and wonder why we’re not exiling all those people to Afghanistan! Perhaps gun control would strike him as unconstitutional, but an hour with You Tube might convince him that some people just shouldn’t pack heat. As intelligent and well read (in Greek Classics, Ye Olde English Law, and the like) as these gentlemen were – and certainly one could argue for a few timeless principals in political theory – the discussions and debates they had back in the day seem a bit quaint don’t they? At the very least, Jefferson’s isolationist, agrarian-gentlemen-farmer-sporting-a-love/hate-relationship-with-slavery ideal for each US citizen would have to be pretty damn elastic in regards to the 294 trillion transformations that have impacted our country since 1826.

In contrast, I recently read the aforementioned Loewen’s Lies My Teacher Told Me and didn’t necessarily think his writing was from some resentful, leftist, anti-patriotic standpoint. It was merely an attempt to position these founders as real people that made occasional mistakes so A) every single real human that reads only the canned textbook crap doesn’t feel eternally inferior to the flawless, epic heroes presented by some of these “histories” and/or B) current students know these founders even existed as many post-sixties texts purge out an Alexander Hamilton completely to make room for three pages on Helen Keller (while then further purging all controversial aspects of her political activism) and/or C) the current student might find some of these histories interesting instead of simply rote, test-prep trash revolving around the memorization of key dates and titles (such as his example of college freshman understanding Keller as an inspirational hero without knowing a damn thing about anything she did post-Radcliffe).

This is Loewen’s agenda and I think it’s much more significant and palatable than the simplistic partisan politics that taint Mcclanahan’s effort. This is unfortunate. Much of this is well written and accessibly organized. If our politically incorrect author had ditched the incessant political preaching he would have a nice, concise contribution to Founding Father history for those of us who didn’t major in US History. Really, I kinda want to bestow three stars on the book, but the obvious predetermined intent of this and, I presume, the rest of the series is simply annoying.

[Forrest · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent book. I learned many new details regarding the founders of the United States and highly recommend this to any interested in this subject.

The author starts off striking down some of the absurd or sensational myths propagated by some on the "progressive" left attempting to demonize or falsely portray the founding fathers, (ie. George Washington was an adulterer, Alexander Hamilton was gay, etc.) He covers other items where fact is met with some amount of fiction, or where the facts are largely inconclusive. Most of the book includes mini biographies of many of the founding fathers selected by the author. He divides these into two lists, 'The Big Six' and 'The Forgotten Fathers'. They are as follows:

"The Big Six"
-George Washington
-Thomas Jefferson
-John Adams
-James Madison
-Alexander Hamilton
-Benjamin Franklin

"The Forgotten Founders"
-Samuel Adams
-Charles Carroll
-George Clinton
-Elbridge Gerry
-John Hancock
-Patrick Henry
-Richard Henry Lee
-Nathaniel Macon
-Francis Marion
-John Marshall
-George Mason
-Roger Sherman
-John Taylor

Other items discussed by the author

-The author provides his analysis of the founding documents, the curtailing of the 10th amendment and state's rights.

-The author argues that James Madison is incorrectly referred to as the "Father of the Constitution". He argues that no single individual is deserving of the moniker as the works of many men, not just Madison, were critical in its founding.

-The U.S. Central Bank, state sponsored capitalism, and the question of constitutionally.

-Foreign wars, standing armies, and the current unconstitutional domestic deployment of federal troops under the guise of "combating terrorism".

-The U.S. Supreme Court, and the unfortunate precedent set by aggressive partisan judges during the founding generation, such as John Marshall and his self appointed principle and power of Judicial Review.

-The ever growing abuse by the U.S. government of the power of taxation.

The end of each chapter is followed by a short list of books selected by the author that he refers to as "books they don't want you to read".

Author's notes on Hamilton:
-Favored centralized government, but recognized states rights
-Most responsible for America's economic system
-Did not believe in a pure democracy, direct taxation, or a large government debt
-Wrote two famous attacks on the king and parliament at the age of 17.

The end of each chapter is followed by a short list of books selected by the author that he refers to as "books they don't want you to read".

Interesting note: President's Day was originally George Washington's birthday until changed by Nixon.

[Mark Geise · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Founding Fathers" is another engaging and quick read in the Politically Incorrect Guide series. Brion McClanahan, one of my favorite historians, focuses on the prevailing thoughts during the founding period and why much of what we learn in history class is misleading or wrong. The American Revolution was not a radical movement; it was instead grounded in the historical tradition of English rights.

McClanahan explores some of the major points of the Revolutionary period and the late 18th century and early 19th century in the American colonies and early United States. Because this is a politically incorrect guide, he makes sure to emphasize that the Founding Fathers generally believed in gun rights, were suspicious of immigrants, and opposed redistributive government. McClanahan spends the second half of the book profiling individual members of the founding generation, including both well-known (George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, etc.) and obscure (John Taylor of Caroline, Nathaniel Macon, etc.). I learned a lot about some more obscure, yet still very important, members of the founding generation.

I enjoy both the writings of Brion McClanahan and the Politically Incorrect series, so I was bound to enjoy "The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Founding Fathers." For those interested in light reading about this period, this book is for you. Like the other Politically Incorrect Guide books, you can find many solid reading recommendations in here as well.

[Roy Helge · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hardly politically incorrect, but factual and interesting in the parts where the author isn't fighting straw men or debunking "myths" of his own creation. Expressing admiration and praise is all well, but the text suffers from over use of swear words such as "liberal" and "democrat".

He does his best to raise the FOUNDING FATHERS to semi-godhood, but fails.

The book has long passages of interesting history of the today lesser known statesmen and thinkers of the early 19th century. But there are no revelations about hiddent truths. This is the same information that you'll find in any serious history book - but then without all this "evil liberals try to defame my gods"-crap.

Without the two first chapters, this book would have gotten a 4-star rating from me. But I am not american, and I do not get teary-eyed whenever the FOUNDING FATHERS are mentioned, or the CONSTITUTION and LIBERTY etc. And I get incredibly fed up with a guy that tries to argue against windmills and deify albeit very smart but normal people.

[C.A. Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was definitely drawn to this one by the title. Political correctness irritates me, as it masquerades as morality and is accepted as such by many, and yet it is merely a set of culturally accepted rules that people abide by out of peer pressure. (Ehem, "virtue signaling.") This Great Courses book is organized by founding father, ranging from most famous to little known. I've studied the Revolutionary War period before, so I knew most of the details about the first four presidents, plus Hamilton and Ben Franklin. I've never actually heard the politically correct version of their histories, though I can guess; to me, this version is just history. It's the only one I've ever known. But at the end of each chapter, the author mentions additional reading, or he specifically counters what are apparently the revisionist ideas being promulgated today. The lesser known men who contributed were very interesting though. Some of them were very influential, and yet I'd never heard of them before.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think any course on American History should include this book as required reading. If you want to know what the founding father's thought about government then you need to read this one. Sadly in the USA we are almost 180 off center from what these great men fought for and envisioned for our country.

The great men highlighted in this book are: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and Benjamin Franklin.

I will take the time to list the following patriots who have been lost to the history of time and LIBERAL educators. These Forgotten founders (who all have their own chapter in the book) are: Samuel Adams, Charles Carroll, George Clinton, John Dickinson, Elbridge Gerry, John Hancock, Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee, Nathaniel Macon, John Marshall, George Mason, Roger Sherman and John Taylor.

[Bryce · Rating 1 out of 5]

A mere two pages in, not even past the introduction, after reading about "feminists," "liberals," "women," and the "left-leaning" written about in incredibly condescending, derogatory terms, I realized I stumbled across a book Not Intended For Me. And like that time in 8th grade when I wandered into the boys' room by accident, I wanted to back my way out as quickly as possible and hope no one noticed my brief presence.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

THE P.I.G. GUIDE TO THE FOUNDING FATHERS makes for especially good reading during a new presidential election cycle (today is the long-awaited showdown between Obama and Romney), but it is perhaps the most lackluster of all the P.I.G. books. Each chapter is a sort of "mini-biography" of each of the men whom the author views as being critical to the initial founding of the United States. With twenty such bios to pour over, it's a bit of a slog, and, by the end, you will probably have trouble keeping straight who did what. It also gets pretty repetitious, as the author keeps treading and re-treading over the same historical ground, albeit from different perspectives. Lastly, the book--as other reviewers on this sight have pointed out--is not really all that politically incorrect. The author simply holds the Founding Fathers in higher regard than do most modern academics, and he is willing to give them the benefit of the doubt in instances where others are prone to assume the worst. The most useful thing to take away from this book is how far America has strayed from its Constitutional roots...and how prescient many of the Fathers were in predicting just such an outcome, which was why many of them despised the Constitution and fought to retain ultimate authority with state and local governments, rather than a new federal one.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worthwhile book to read!

In my view, the book is heavily biased, but the title should be the biggest clue of that; on the other hand, the author, Brion McClanahan, appears to be very well informed and writes well. Plus, he offers suggestions for further reading, and these tend to be books by good authors as well. This book is not difficult to read, and his arguements aren't difficult to understand, so I wouldn't label it as challenging unless you're really stuck in some modern interpretation of our government. As with the Magna Carta of England, our Federal Constitution evolves with the times. I do recommend this book, but anything that involves interpretation of government or law should be read with some measure of care because a large civilization will have numerous points of view based on economic class, or simply, the topography of home address. It does qualify as a "Good Read".

[Kevin Hanks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written and enjoyable. I understand there is a whole series of these "politically incorrect" books on various topics. It read like a series of mini-biographies about the founding fathers of our nation, most of whom I had at least heard about, and several I'd never heard of at all. I spent much of the time trying to figure out why the author would include what he did. It seemed the author was trying to be a historical mythbuster and talk about what these men were really like. Some he built up, others he brought down, but he had a profound respect for all of them and the energy they brought to their various fights.

I myself gained a great respect for these men as individuals. I really feel that in many ways these are men I could look up to and seek to emulate. They weren't perfect by any means, but they were good men and I believe guided by a divine hand in what they did.

[Monica Willyard Moen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book, and it is a very timely one. Modern public schools barely acknowledge most of our founding fathers, and they teach about them in a cut and paste way. This book helps to fill in a lot of the gaps and discusses who these people were and what they believed. In specific, I have read several history books from public school over the past 20 years that remove any references of God that were made in speeches by our founding fathers. They use an… Or cut out sentences from speeches, thereby changing the meaning of the speech. When I went to school, we read the unedited speeches from several of the founding fathers, and I’m grateful for that. This book is refreshing because it restores the language properly, and it helps us understand the beliefs, shortcomings, and intentions of many of the founding fathers. I would definitely say this is worth reading.

[Stan Sorensen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent overview of those who debated and shaped our country. No wonder this nation is exceptional. Never has a country had so many geniuses together at its beginning to form the basis of its government. The woes we are currently facing are all due to straying from the ideas of a representative republic and moving toward a democracy. Thankfully we have the electoral college and some vestiges of states rights. The conclusion of the book lists all the changes needed to get back to vision of the founding fathers.

[Mirjam · Rating 1 out of 5]

So the American "Founding Fathers" apparently (according to Brion here) "deserves to be rescued from the politically correct textbooks, teachers, and professors who want to dismiss [them] as a cadre of dead, white, sexist, slave-holding males"? Cool story bro, but if you're trying to DENY that the Founding Fathers are all of the above, then you're a fucking chump. They were definitely white, and sexist, and slaveowners, and also male. And moreover, they're all dead, buddy, they're not going to fuck you.

[Ken Yakovac · Rating 5 out of 5]

Presents exactly what the title proclaims in a concise manner. What I really liked was that the author followed up on topics and anecdotes mentioned in books by Ellison, McCollough and other contemporary authors that had left me speculating about whether or not these writers avoided admitting that the founders held certain views as well as the consquences of certain actions. Mcclanahan proved my suspicions were warranted. Great debate ammunition for conservatives and constitutionalists.

[SheLove2Read · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's hard to read about the Founding Fathers and not become teary with a sense of pride and admiration in what they accomplished. Truly they were a generation of "men's men" willing to (and some did) put all on the line for their belief that America had earned the right of Independence.

[Luke · Rating 4 out of 5]

McClanahan succeeds in setting the record straight about our founding fathers, but if you want to know more about them, consult McClanahan's "books you're not supposed to read" to go more in depth.

[Wendi Lau · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really important book to read when studying American History. Citizens need to understand what the United States was meant to be and how unlike that vision it has become.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding study of the founding fathers. Debunks a lot of the myths that have developed over the years. Should be required reading in all schools.

[Nathan Albright · Rating 3 out of 5]

When the writer of a book on the Founding Fathers sounds like he could pen the preface to a new version of the Anti-Federalist Papers without batting an eyelash or even a moment's hesitation, it is fair to question the sort of perspective that a book provides.  While in general I could be considered a moderate nationalist in the vein of 17th century politics [1], I find the Constitution a great improvement over the Articles of Confederation.  The issue is that any government that is powerful enough to defend and protect its people and its territory and its interests is going to be powerful enough to oppress those people, and being under a government that is obviously oppressive of human rights and interested too much in interfering with natural justice has made quite a few people (including the author) long for more anarchical times.  This is certainly understandable, but lamentable.  When it comes to government there is a fatal dilemma and no amount of structural designs can relax the need for eternal vigilance on the part of the governed, which makes this book a bit disappointing shrill given the author's obvious bias.

This book is divided into two parts and twenty-three chapters.  The first part of the book examines the myths, realities, and issues faced by the founding generation, at least in the author's skewed perspective.  First, the author looks at various myths, attempting to debunk what is said critically about the founding fathers and slavery (1).  After that the author views the American Revolution as a conservative one (2) and discusses the issues at stake in the Revolution concerning representation and the executive, in which he is partly right but partly wrong (3).  The second part of the book consists of the remainder of the book's chapters, with one chapter focused on each of twenty founders (II).  The author first spends his time talking about the big six founders:  George Washington (4), Thomas Jefferson (5), John Adams, whom the author does not like nor respect (6), James Madison (7), Alexander Hamilton (8), and Benjamin Franklin (9).  The rest of the book allows the author to wax eloquent and in his biased fashion about fourteen forgotten founders, namely:  Samuel Adams, brewer extraordinaire (10), Charles Carroll of Carrollton (11), George Clinton (12), John Dickinson (13), Elbridge Gerry (14), John Hancock (15), Patrick Henry (16), Richard Henry Lee (17), Nathaniel Macon (18), Francis Marion (19), John Marshall, whom the author really dislikes (20), George Mason (21), Roger Sherman (22), and John Taylor of Caroline, whose secessionist ways the author deeply approves of, to the hurt of his credibility (23).

Overall, there are quite a few problems with this work.  For one, the author appears not to understand that while political incorrectness can be a very good thing that incorrectness from the point of view of historical reality is not ever a good thing.  Likewise, this book suffers a great deal because the author views the founding generation not on its own terms, but with at least two layers of historical hindsight, namely his unreasonable and lamentable regret for the defeat of the rebels during the Civil War on the one hand and his understandable and sensible lament for the corruption of contemporary activist government.  If the author had at least attempted to let the people of the past stand for themselves and not stand in for two centuries of political drift and decadence in our own society, he might have been charitable even to those with whom he disagreed.  Instead, the author shows a lamentable bias that is so outrageous that this book will likely only be fully enjoyed by those who share it, which does not include me.

[1] See, for example:

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2018...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2018...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2013...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2012...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2011...

[Alisi ☆ wants to read too many books ☆ · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is okay and the writing style is almost fun to read. The information shared within is hardly "politically incorrect", however. I give it two stars because I find it a bit hypocritical.

The information isn't new. It's the basic sort of stuff you give if you, say, do a tiny bit of reading on your own. The stance the author took is what set me off, however. His whole foundation is "everyone is dissing the founding fathers and I think that's crap and they're so great and wonderful." He goes into detail into trying to disprove the various indiscretions, trying to tout the founding fathers as ideals.

You know, like "there is no hard 'evidence' that these descendants of slaves were fathered by the president -- even though it was genetically proven they are related -- they *could've* been fathered by his brother so I refuse to believe it" or "yes, I know he WAS a slave holder but he didn't break up families cause he was just such a great, moral guy."

This slant on history is just as bad as believing they are the lowest of the low. Why is it that people can't just accept that they were men of their time? We don't need to read histories about Washington that say he was a vile horrible person because he had slaves or that Washington was the caring, loving founding father who hated slavery (even though he had slaves), refused to break up families, and freed the slaves on his death.

He had slaves. Most people with a bit of money did at the time. It was a terrible thing but it happened. It's our history. Don't candy coat it. Hell, don't tell our history as a way to promote your agenda.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

With only rare exception, I have generally enjoyed reading books in "The Politically Incorrect Guide to..." series as they confirmed what I already knew or provided new facts and surprises for me. The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Founding Fathers by Brion T. McClanahan is yet another interesting read about perhaps our original Greatest Generation. It was a refreshing departure from the more recent sport of finding fault with our Founders as judged by today's standards including rewriting history books to downplay their contributions or leaving them out altogether, tearing down statues, trying to change traditional holidays, etc. It was great to have the political correctness pushed back and have the Founders explained with all their strengths and weaknesses and to understand their characters and backgrounds and how that contributed to their discussions and development of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and Bill of Rights. There were plenty of disagreements and arguments and various sides of issues were vetted until agreement was reached. In addition to the most well known of the Founders, the author includes details on many of the lesser-known but equally important Founders and their contributions. Highly recommended.

[Mari · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm known to be into history. wish this book had some. Maybe later it did, but I doubt it. I suspect this is just someone's manifesto - ranting against political correctness - instead of presenting the facts they think are glossed over. I would've liked the later, it's what I hoped for, but I couldn't get past the rant.

[Julie Robichaux · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn't get through the second chapter due to the author including personal political beliefs. I want to read facts about the past , not one person's interpretation with snide political comments. Not having all footnotes included seems a bit sketchy as well.

[G.A.Monster · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent primer or a refreshing on the Founders. Some great information packed in here. And an outstanding bibliography.

[Joshua Chipchase · Rating 4 out of 5]

The beginning of the book was a bit awkwardly polemical, but the majority of the book was mini biographies of twenty of the most important founding fathers, and those stories were very fascinating. Many of the men I had never heard before. It showed the truth that the majority of the founding fathers were very conservative in their beliefs about government, and that even the more moderate ones would have been appalled at the massive amount of power that our federal government now has. It also showed how some of the founding fathers thought of their state as their home country and America as more of a loose collection of unified countries (kind of like the modern day E.U.).

It was interesting to see the disagreements between the early U.S. politicians and the rancor that often occurred (modern day mud slinging is worse, but not new). Jefferson seemed to be the best of the bunch as he was the poster-boy for small government (the man eliminated or reduced every single tax in the U.S. during his time in office!).

[AttackGirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun book, good insight but very limited information. Who determines what is incorrect or not? Why is always the main focus slavery.
How about accepting slavery is a very common option in history of the world and a plan that works, then give us information about the founding fathers outside of the limited perspective of the latest fad of those against slavery. So stop the redefining the word slavery and calling it things like human trafficking since we have more slaves and movement of human capital world wide than any time in the history of the world as far as we know so how about a book that tells us real secrets and their impact, like Jefferson being Gay … or more about all of their Masonic rituals.. about the women hiding the strokes and running things, the mistresses,

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

4-
Brion McClanahan presents the Founding Fathers from the perspective of a political conservative which I should have known from the title. The information appears correct although slanted in a way which is unfamiliar to me, but that is a good thing in order to better understand more of the diversity of opinion we value (or should) in this country. Many times I disagreed with this author's conclusions, but it helped me learn and think with a more open mind.

McClanahan's style is less engaging than many popular political history books I've encountered, but it isn't actually dry. He presents his interpretation of the Constitution with supporting evidence as seen through his lens. It's worthwhile to learn the same information from different vantage points.

[Brett's Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exactly as billed would recommend to anyone who wants to know about our deeply flawed and amazing American Founders (especially when they are considered as a group). This book makes no bones about the history of the Founders and asks us to celebrate them despite their flawed characters. Kind of a quick survey course of the founders, the type of book that whets the appetite for more. Greatly enjoyed this quick read.