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The Virtues of Vidal
February 5, 2003 — 7:32 pm

Eric recently asked me “What about Gore Vidal do you find so compelling?”.

Hmmm. I have to admit, I am uncomfortable answering questions like this for fear of doing both myself and the author/person in question a disservice. Besides, I’m not a sucking book reviewer. In my opinion, reviews are for movies. Books are just harder to pin down.

But, I will endeavor to express my views on Vidal. First, Vidal deals with historical literature. He has written books dealing with Aaron Burr, Abraham Lincoln, Rutherford B. Hayes, General Grant, Theodore Roosevelt, and Franklin D. Roosevelt. Now, I’m the first to admit, this kind of subject matter would put many people to sleep but, I find it fascinating.

Vidal pulls no punches. He tells history as it was, rough and dirty; full of scoundrels and dirty tricks. I find this refreshing after reading countless biographies obviously written by doting admirers careful not to reveal even the slightest hint of real humanity. Oh, they will extol their virtues, but will do little to shed light on their vices. Some biographies of President Grant skim right over the shameful scandals he was involved in, or they will excuse it buy exclaiming that of course President Grant knew nothing of these matters. He was in the dark the whole time! This, of course, insults any thinking person’s intelligence as it is obvious that President Grant had the gift of excellent intellect. The truth is probably much more simple. President Grant either knew about the scandals of his administration and looked the other way, or he himself was immeasurably corrupt.

Now that is a great debate for history and one that could probably be argued convincingly either way. However, since Grant was, after all, the savior of the union, he could do no wrong. History has long forgotten the extraordinary events of his administration, including his hand in fixing the presidential election of 1876.

I believe Mr. Vidal had done a wonderful thing with his books. He analyzes each of these events, and he does such a good job of it that you are sucked right into the story. President Grant and others are no less human after Vidal’s revelations. Indeed, they all-the-more human. They are people we can all relate to; not saints on high wrapped in myth and splendor.

Demagoguery is dangerous business and Vidal will have none of it. History students should have none of it. Most importantly, American citizens should have none of it. We have a terrible habit in this country of building our public figures up to hero status. If a true recounting of history were to be made, we would raze half the monuments in this nation. We would sandblast the faces of Roosevelt and Lincoln right off of Mount Rushmore. But, I suppose people do need their heroes, misplaced as that need may be.

— Justin M. StoddardComments (0)

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