Politics - Scott J. Pearson’s Book Review

Radical Inclusion: Seven Steps to Help You Create a More Just Workplace, Home & World

By Scott J. Pearson | June 4, 2023August 13, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

David Moinina Sengeh was seemingly at the peak of a great career triumph. Educated in America at Harvard and MIT, he was now a governmental cabinet member of education in his home country Sierra Leone. However, at the very beginning of his president’s term, the president – his boss – said that he would maintain the previous regime’s policy of banning pregnant girls from school. To most, this move seemed to make sense. However, to…

Personal Essays Politics

Tennessee & the Ongoing Struggle for Civil Rights

By Scott J. Pearson | March 9, 2023March 9, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

My adopted home state of Tennessee has made itself a new front in the ongoing struggle for civil, human rights. Historically, like the weather that passes through, it’s been a home to many crosswinds. Slavery was legal in Tennessee. In the era of the Civil War, east Tennessee was significantly anti-slavery and pro-Union, and Tennessee was one of the first states to be reincorporated into the Union. Yet Tennessee was also the birthplace of Nathan…

Politics Religion-Philosophy

How to Be a Patriotic Christian: Love of Country as Love of Neighbor

By Scott J. Pearson | January 28, 2023January 28, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

What does it mean to be simultaneously a devout Christian and an American citizen? Are such dual allegiances even possible? In this book, Mouw – a scholarly, religious expert on the Christian’s place in the (American) public square – offers a case that these domains can be compatible with each other… for the most part. He does so in a way that sides neither with the left nor the right, but instead welcomes warm-hearted debate…

Politics

A Message from Ukraine: Speeches, 2019-2022 by Volodymyr Zelensky

By Scott J. Pearson | January 26, 2023January 26, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine in 2022 sent shockwaves through the democratic world. It reminded many of how precarious open, free societies are. As time unfolded, Ukrainian resistance, led by their President Zelensky, proved more formidable than anyone could predict. Most of the free world united behind Ukraine as they fought back Russian gains kilometer by kilometer. Zelensky’s leadership has been admirable. It’ll likely be studied by generations after his time passes, much like Churchill’s…

Biography-Memoir Politics

Give Me Liberty: The True Story of Oswaldo Payá & His Daring Quest for a Free Cuba

By Scott J. Pearson | June 12, 2022June 12, 2022 by Scott J. Pearson

Though politically informed, I am not particularly interested in political books in general, nor about Cuba in particular. My initial interest in this book stemmed from the accolades of its author. At first, the details of Cuban history confused me; then, it enlightened me; then, it moved me; finally, this book ended with my heart to yearn for the Cuban people. Hoffman weaves together many streams in this biography that centrally tells of one man’s…

Biography-Memoir History Politics

The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, & the Golden Age of Journalism

By Scott J. Pearson | March 11, 2022March 11, 2022 by Scott J. Pearson

Kearns Goodwin sits among the best current American presidential historians, and her book takes an intriguing look at Teddy Roosevelt, his successor and Vice President William Taft, and the role a changing press played in their presidencies. Lifelong friends, they became bitter political enemies. Roosevelt ended up founding his own political party and running against Taft, the Republican nominee, in 1912. Woodrow Wilson ended up winning that election. Kearns Goodwin unpacks this story in award-winning…

Biography-Memoir History Politics

My Life by Bill Clinton

By Scott J. Pearson | January 9, 2022January 9, 2022 by Scott J. Pearson

The name Bill Clinton evokes several reactions among people, each with its own emotional subtext: economic prosperity, partisan conflict, sexual misconduct, and international peacemaking. In a long history of American presidential memoirs, Clinton adds his to the list in this book. It is lengthy, thoughtful, and carefully crafted. He attempts to provide insight into himself and his leadership while advocating for the policies his administration enacted during his presidency. I was a Republican teenager from…

Healthcare History HIV/AIDS Politics

To End a Plague: America’s Fight to Defeat AIDS in Africa

By Scott J. Pearson | November 19, 2021November 19, 2021 by Scott J. Pearson

In the 1990s, scientists made significant advances to limit the impact of HIV upon human lives… in the West. However, HIV continued to flourish in sub-Saharan Africa, and it remained for the new millennium to limit its reach there. Bass’s book tells the story of the American effort in this quest that spanned multiple presidencies across both political parties. She concludes with its impact on the COVID pandemic. The effort to defeat HIV/AIDS is so…

HIV/AIDS Politics Poverty

Race Against Time: Searching for Hope in AIDS-Ravaged Africa

By Scott J. Pearson | October 16, 2021October 16, 2021 by Scott J. Pearson

One of the biggest accolades often put on George W. Bush’s US presidency is addressing the AIDS pandemic in Africa. That required an international effort, and Stephen Lewis, a former Canadian ambassador and UN special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, details how that effort fell short on many fronts. He calls out contradictions between the aims and implementation of US policy. In so doing, he exposes how both the US and the UN become embroiled…