173
In discussing the development of inter-
state compact agencies, the authors point
out that these agencies have been used to
any extent during the past forty years
only, more particularly since World War II,
that they now provide &dquo;a new dimension
for state power,&dquo; and that &dquo;they permit the
states to take continuing cooperative action
in fields where they cannot act effectively
or do not wish to act alone, fields which
might fall by default to the federal power
if not occupied through the initiative of the
states.&dquo; Of more than sixty interstate
compact agencies established in recent
years, thirty have set up administrative
facilities to carry on their work and con-
sequently are the ones which the authors
have chosen to discuss. In all cases, these
compact agencies are identified adminis-
tratively with the states they represent
rather than with the federal government.
While the idea of interstate compacts is
as old as the federal constitution, the au-
thors observe that the use of such com-
pacts is still too new for any well-defined
relationship to have developed between the
states involved and the compact agencies
themselves. But they think that the point
has been reached where it is apparent now
that the compact agencies can do new kinds
of work hitherto inhibited to the states on
account of &dquo;their adventitious physical and
administrative boundaries.&dquo; And the suc-
cess of such agencies, they find, depends
directly upon the ability and continuity of
the staffs recruited by these agencies to
carry on their work.
Sparked by the general attitude of the
Eisenhower administration and the findings
of the Kestnbaum Commission, there is
currently renewed emphasis on the position
and powers of the states in the federal
union. So the authors conclude that &dquo;inter-
state compact agencies can play a tremen-
dous role in the states’ resumption of
power.&dquo;
A. E. BUCK
Norwalk, Connecticut
MRS. THEODORE ROOSEVELT, JR. Day Be-
f ore Yesterday: The Reminiscences of
Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. Pp. 478.
Garden City, N. Y.: Doubleday & Com-
pany, 1959. $5.95.
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Although Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.,
nee Eleanor Alexander, has previously been
largely unknown to students of the Ameri-
can scene, she should now gain her richly
deserved place as one of America’s great
ladies of the twentieth century. This book,
which is, first of all, a generous, unselfish
autobiography, approaches the status of a
biography of Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., the
author’s distinguished husband. Here for
the first time are revealed many interesting
anecdotes of the &dquo;off season&dquo; Roosevelts,
as they are termed.
Theodore Roosevelt is mentioned, but
this is not a book about him. Nor does it
treat to any appreciable degree the life of
Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt or of the au-
thor’s well-known sister-in-law, Alice Roose-
velt. Indeed, when the author ushers her
in-laws into her fascinating narrative, it is
the brothers of her husband who are intro-
duced. Most of the information about
Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.’s brothers is con-
nected with their gallant records in military
service during World War I. From her
position as an employee of the Young
Men’s Christian Association (Y.M.C.A.)
in France in 1917-1918, Mrs. Theodore
Roosevelt, Jr. has told of a most unusual
segment of her life.
This book gives the American public an
excellent example of how partisan politics
sometimes intervenes in war activity.
Woodrow Wilson refused to permit Theo-
dore Roosevelt to lead a division to France
during World War I. That fact has been
widely known but not so well known was
the order issued during World War II,
apparently by the Commander-in-Chief,
Franklin Roosevelt, that in all reports of
heroic feats performed by Theodore Roose-
velt, Jr. or by his son, Quentin, the name
of the Roosevelt in charge was to be de-
leted from all information sent to the
United States. Although both father and
son were recognized by foreign govern-
ments for meritorious service, not one
word of this heroic military action was
known in America. Only after Theodore
Roosevelt died in France in July, 1944, was
publicity given by his country to his dis-
tinguished military career during World
War II. He was awarded the Congressional
Medal of Honor posthumously.
 174
Not all of the author’s life, nor that of
her husband, was consumed in military
action. For several years Theodore was
Governor of Puerto Rico and following that
he was Governor General of the Philippine
Islands. In both areas, the author reports
the career of her husband as an efficient
colonial administrator. She also weaves
into her story much interesting material
about herself and her children.
Another significant phase of Mrs. Roose-
velt’s life was spent in accompanying her
husband to Asia on hunting trips for the
Field Museum of Natural History. This
accomplished lady proved herself to be an
excellent rifle shot and a good companion
on a safari.
From helping to organize the American
Legion in 1919, Theodore entered politics.
As Assistant Secretary of the Navy in 1921,
he played a significant role in the Wash-
ington Disarmament Conference. Although
Roosevelt was almost brushed by the Tea
Pot Dome Scandal, he emerged without
stain to run for governor of New York
in 1924. Defeated by Al Smith, Theodore,
assisted by his devoted wife, found another
outlet for his boundless energy.
This well-written and informative book
will be read with delight by many people.
It records the life of a warm and wonder-
ful family. At the same time, it evokes
the history of the last half-century with
great grace and charm.
GEORGE C. OSBORN
Professor of Social Sciences
University of Florida
HARRY V. JAFFA. Crisis of the House
Divided: An Interpretation of the Issues
in the Lincoln-Douglas Debates. Pp. 451.
Garden City, N. Y.: Doubleday & Com-
pany, 1959. $6.50.
Professor Harry Jaffa, a political scien-
tist,has written an important book about
one of the great episodes in the history
of the sectional controversy, the Lincoln-
Douglas debates. To evaluate or even to
discuss the book is a difhcult task. It is
a deeply thoughtful work and at times a
tedious one. It is at once profoundly
philosophical and ponderously pretentious.
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It is also a very angry book. The author
lashes out constantly against the views of
such writers as Avery Craven, Richard
Hofstadter, George Fort Milton, Allan
Nevins, Charles W. Ramsdell, J. G. Ran-
dall, and T. Harry Williams. This is a
distinguished list, but Professor Jaffa has
every right to differ with these scholars;
indeed, on many scores his criticisms are
justified. But like so many writers who
want to prove that everybody else is wrong,
he sometimes gets carried away by the
exuberance of his opinions and voices too
extreme statements.
The principal targets of Professor Jaffa’s
thrusts the so-called &dquo;revisionists&dquo; and
are
particularly the leader of that school, J. G.
Randall. In brief, the revisionist view was
that the Civil War was not the product of
slavery or of any fundamental cause, that
it was artificial and brought about by a
fanaticism, mainly Northern in origin, that
ignored realities, and that it could have
been avoided if the politicians had acted
more responsibly. It so happens that I
agree with many of Professor Jaffa’s stric-
tures on the revisionists. He has per-
formed a service by calling attention, even
if too bitterly, to their errors. But he
does not see that the revisionists were in-
fluenced by the intellectual currents of
their time, as all historians are, as he him-
self is influenced by certain concepts of
our own day. He rightly finds more prin-
ciple, more idealism, more consistency in
the antislavery movement than previous
writers-but he finds too much.
Professor Jaffa’s thesis is too complex
to explain in a short space. Briefly, he
examines Lincoln’s early thought, especially
as expressed in the Lyceum and Temper-
ance addresses, and finds therein a depth
and duality not previously appreciated. In
expounding Lincoln’s arguments in the
famous debates, he properly emphasizes
Lincoln’s devotion to the principle of equal-
ity, and he has some sensible things to
say about the meaning of equality in the
American ethic. This part of the book is
excellent and should be read and pondered
by every serious student, regardless of
whether he agrees with the author’s argu-
ment. It breaks new ground and opens a