It's actually been more than a couple of weeks since I finished listening to the audiobook, but I really liked this book. It details the administrations of each party's first progressive Presidents: Theodore Roosevelt of the Republican Party and Woodrow Wilson of the Democratic Party.
Even though the focus is on these 2 men, the book also describes their administrations' connections to historical events before and after their time period, including the War of 1812, the War Between the States, and recent years (the book was published in 2012).
For instance, Judge Napolitano links Woodrow WIlson's conscription policy during World War 1 with what James Madison and James Monroe's desire for conscription during the War of 1812. The New England members of Congress, including Daniel Webster, were strongly opposed to the idea of conscription as it was unconstitutional and believed it would be a good pretext for secession. However, Judge Napolitano gets the details wrong about Daniel Webster. He calls Daniel Webster the Senator from Massachusetts, but, during the War of 1812, he was representing New Hampshire in the House of Representatives.
Judge Napolitano links Abraham Lincoln's central banking policies with Wilson's signing of the Federal Reserve. During the war, the Union government (as well as the Confederate government) had central banking and money-printing. The Union-printed money bills were called Greenbacks and Judge Napolitano went into a lot of detail about the economic consequences of the Greenbacks after Lincoln's war. Today, when I think about how the Federal Reserve has printed so much money due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I think of the history of central banking in the United States which includes both LIncoln and WIlson's central banking schemes.
Another thing I liked about the book is how Judge Napolitano describes Roosevelt and Wilson's destruction of federalism. He states a big reason why the general government is so big and tries to solve every problem comes down to the great centralizing tendencies of Roosevelt and Wilson. Both of them believed the federal government could do anything it wanted and both supported the progressive constitutional amendments of the day (the 16, 17th, 18th, and 19th Amendments). Judge Napolitano goes into great detail of how the policies of both their administrations grew the power of the general government and their influence on today's general government, which is now more bloated than it ever has been.
In today's COVID-19 world, it is important to fight back against local tyranny. Meanwhile, it has always been much harder to fight against federal tyranny. Thomas Jefferson had said, "The government closest to the people serves the people best." It is much easier to hold local politicians accountable than it is to hold federal politicians accountable as local politicians have a lot less constituents. If you really want to make a difference in your life, it is probably better to try to influence your local politicians, rather than your federal politicians. Even before the pandemic, federal governments (in both the United States and Canada) were spending so much money and increasing their debts. If you think Washington D.C. and Ottawa are lost causes, then you might have the right mentality. It may be better to fight for freedom at the local level.
I'm glad Judge Napolitano highlighted how Theodore and Woodrow destroyed constitutional freedoms at the federal level in the United States. Try not to let your liberty be eroded in your local area. Your local government should defend you against federal tyranny, not add to the tyranny.
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