THE WEEKLY STANDARD's Philip Terzian's most recent book receives a rave review in today's Wall Street Journal:
Eisenhower, like Roosevelt, saw the projection and expansion of American power as synonymous with good in the world. Because all ages manipulate the past to suit their needs, these two presidents, who governed at the height of American supremacy, have had their legacies to some extent distorted of late, at a time when the elite is apologetic about American dominance and frankly doubts its prospects. In "Architects of Power," a short, elegant and incisive study, Philip Terzian, the literary editor of The Weekly Standard, sets out to write a corrective. Putting Roosevelt and Eisenhower together is itself a deft device: For the generation of the baby boomers, who have no living memory of World War II but do have one of the Cold War, there is a tendency to romanticize Roosevelt and even Harry Truman while treating Eisenhower as a mere mortal. In truth, the Cold War was a tailpiece of World War II in Europe, and thus Eisenhower's labors flowed naturally from Roosevelt's. The heart of Mr. Terzian's thesis is that Roosevelt saw World War II as an opportunity to forge an American empire, or its rough equivalent. Roosevelt had been an "enthusiastic supporter" of the Spanish-American War, which won strategic perches for the U.S. in the Caribbean and western Pacific, and he championed military power as assistant secretary of the Navy. As early as 1937, when America was in a quasi-isolationist mood, Roosevelt said in a Chicago speech that "we cannot have complete protection in a world of disorder in which confidence and security have broken down."