Georgetown Peabody Library

The true flag, Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain, and the birth of American empire, Stephen Kinzer

eng

Includes bibliographical references and index

illustrationsplates

index present

non fiction

The true flag

bibliography

983562125

Stephen Kinzer

Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain, and the birth of American empire

"How should the United States act in the world? Americans cannot decide. Sometimes we burn with righteous anger, launching foreign wars and deposing governments. Then we retreat -- until the cycle begins again. No matter how often we debate this question, none of what we say is original. Every argument is a pale shadow of the first and greatest debate, which erupted more than a century ago. Its themes resurface every time Americans argue whether to intervene in a foreign country. Stephen Kinzer transports us to the dawn of the twentieth century, when the United States first found itself with the chance to dominate faraway lands. That prospect thrilled some Americans. It horrified others. Their debate gripped the nation. The country's best-known political and intellectual leaders took sides. Theodore Roosevelt, Henry Cabot Lodge, and William Randolph Hearst pushed for imperial expansion; Mark Twain, Booker T. Washington, and Andrew Carnegie preached restraint. Only once before -- in the period when the United States was founded -- have so many brilliant Americans so eloquently debated a question so fraught with meaning for all humanity."--Jacket flap

Introduction -- White and peaceful wings -- There may be an explosion -- The great day of my life -- Islands or canned goods -- If they resist, what shall we do? -- Stinkpot -- I turn green in bed at midnight -- What a choice for a patriotic American! -- The Constitution does not apply -- You will get used to it -- The deep hurt