LAS LIBRARY

Robert Remini

New Book Tells Nation’s Story in 384 Pages

Award-winning historian Robert Remini has been teaching and writing about American history for more than 50 years. At 87, he shows no signs of slowing down.

Remini’s latest release, A Short History of the United States, was inspired by his belief that U.S. history doesn’t have to come in multi-volume sets or large tomes. "What American people really need is something they could sit down with—a book of reasonable length—and find out something about their country," says History Professor Emeritus Robert Remini.

In less than 400 pages, Remini provides a narrative history of the discovery, settlement, growth and development of the United States and its institutions.

He considers the War of 1812 as the country’s watershed moment when former colonists—former Europeans—truly became Americans. "Instead of saying ‘I’m a New Yorker’ or ‘I’m a Virginian,’ they would say ‘I’m an American,’ especially after the great victory at New Orleans," he explains.

Remini admits that squeezing a wealth of material into a condensed volume is not an easy task. "You can’t include everything. You have to keep the thing moving," he says. "Where there are themes developing, I tried to show how they changed or developed over a period of time."

Remini has published two other new books this year, in addition to his duties as historian for UIC and the U.S. House of Representatives.

Remini teamed with Terry Golway to produce introductions and commentary for Fellow Citizens: The Penguin Book of U.S. Presidential Inaugural Addresses. Their work provides historical context for all 55 presidential inaugural addresses, which are included in the book.

The best inaugural speeches, he says, have common themes. "They are not talking down to the people. They are not frightening the people. They are upbeat about this country and its many successes," he says.

"Some want to tell you what they are going to do, like Lyndon Johnson. Some tell you what their philosophy of government is, which is a good way to start," he says. "Many of them try to envision the future — where am I going to take this country, where do I think it has to go. In the book I warn future presidents, the one thing you want to be sure of is that this is what you want to say, not what your speechwriter wants."

Remini, dubbed "foremost Jacksonian scholar of our time" by the New York Times, added to his reputation with the September release of Andrew Jackson. The book is the latest contribution to Palgrave Macmillan Publishing’s Great Generals series and features a foreword from General Wesley Clark. It centers on Jackson’s experience as a general in Tennessee and his emergence as an Army leader.

Remini indicates Jackson’s lack of military training was surpassed by his ability to communicate, motivate soldiers, organize disparate troop factions and effectively use spies. "He really took care of his people. He knew how important that was. That’s why they called him ‘Old Hickory.’"

Adapted from a UIC News article by Brian Flood, October 22, 2008.