The Governor And The Colonel

William P. “Will” Hobby Sr. and Oveta Culp Hobby were one of the most influential couples in Texas history. Both were major public figures, with Will serving as governor of Texas and Oveta as the first commander of the Women’s Army Corps and later as the second woman to serve in a presidential cabinet. Together, they built a pioneering media empire centered on the Houston Post and their broadcast properties, and they played a significant role in the transformation of Houston into the fourth largest city in the United States. Don Carleton’s dual biography details their personal and professional relationship—defined by a shared dedication to public service—and the important roles they each played in local, state, and national events throughout the twentieth century. This deeply researched book not only details this historically significant partnership, but also explores the close relationships between the Hobbys and key figures in twentieth-century history, from Texas legends such as LBJ, Sam Rayburn, and Jesse Jones, to national icons, including the Roosevelts, President Eisenhower, and the Rockefellers. Carleton's chronicle reveals the undeniable impact of the Hobbys on journalistic and political history in the United States.

This young adult biography introduces middle school readers to a remarkable woman who founded the Women’s Army Corps, served as Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, and ran a media empire that included the Houston Post newspaper and radio and TV stations. Winner, Gold Medal for Biography, Military Writers Society of America, 2015 Oveta Culp Hobby (1905–1995) had a lifetime of stellar achievement. During World War II, she was asked to build a women’s army from scratch—and did. Hobby became Director of the Women’s Army Corps and the first Army woman to earn the rank of colonel. President Eisenhower chose her as Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, making her the second woman in history to be appointed to a president’s cabinet. When she wasn’t serving in the government, Hobby worked with her husband, former Texas governor William P. Hobby, to lead a media empire that included the Houston Post newspaper and radio and TV stations. She also supported the Houston community in many ways, from advocating for civil rights for African Americans to donating generously to the Houston Symphony and the Museum of Fine Arts. Oveta Culp Hobby is the first biography of this important woman. Written for middle school readers, it traces her life from her childhood in Killeen to her remarkable achievements in Washington, DC, and Houston. Debra Winegarten provides the background to help young adult readers understand the times in which Hobby lived and the challenges she faced as a woman in nontraditional jobs. She shows how Hobby opened doors for women to serve in the military and in other professions that still benefit women today. Most of all, Oveta Culp Hobby will inspire young adults to follow their own dreams and turn them into tangible reality.

A man who lived his life mostly in the shadows, Edward M. House is little known or remembered today; yet he was one of the most influential figures of the Wilson presidency. Wilson's chief political advisor, House played a key role in international diplomacy, and had a significant hand in crafting the Fourteen Points at the Paris Peace Conference. Though the intimate friendship between the president and his advisor ultimately unraveled in the wake of these negotiations, House's role in the Wilson administration had a lasting impact on 20th century international politics. In this seminal biography, Charles E. Neu details the life of "Colonel" House, a Texas landowner who rose to become one of the century's greatest political operators. Ambitious and persuasive, House worked largely behind the scenes, developing ties of loyalty and using patronage to rally party workers behind his candidates. In 1911 he met Woodrow Wilson, and almost immediately the two formed what would become one of the most famous friendships in American political history. House became a high-level political intermediary in the Wilson administration, proving particularly adept at managing the intangible realm of human relations. After World War I erupted, House, realizing the complexity of the struggle and the dangers and opportunities it posed for the United States, began traveling to and from Europe as the president's personal representative. Eventually he helped Wilson recognize the need to devise a way to end the war that would place the United States at the center of a new world order. In this balanced account, Neu shows that while House was a resourceful and imaginative diplomat, his analysis of wartime politics was erratic. He relied too heavily on personal contacts, often exaggerating his accomplishments and missing the larger historical forces that shaped the policies of the warring powers. Ultimately, as the Paris Peace Conference unfolded, differences appeared between Wilson and his counselor. Their divergent views on the negotiations led to a bitter split, and after the president left France in June of 1919, he would never see House again. Despite this break, Neu refutes the idea that Wilson and House were antagonists. They shared the same beliefs and aspirations and were, Neu shows, part of an unusual partnership. As an organizer, tactician, and confidant, House helped to make possible Wilson's achievements, and this impressive biography restores the enigmatic counselor to his place at the center of that presidency.

Edward Ephraim Cross (1832-1863) accomplished more in his short lifetime years than most men who live to be 100. By the eve of the Civil War, he had traveled from Cincinnati to Arizona working as a political reporter, travel writer, editor, trail hand, silver mine supervisor, and Indian fighter. In the summer of 1861, he became colonel of the Fighting Fifth New Hampshire Volunteers and gained fame as a fearless battlefield commander during action at Fair Oaks, Antietam, Fredricksburg, and Chancellorsville before being mortally wounded at Gettysburg. However, behind this great soldier lay a flawed man, an alcoholic with a short temper who fought a constant battle with words against immigrants, abolitionists, and others with whom he disagreed. This detailed biography presents a full portrait of this controversial and little-known figure, filling a critical gap in the literature of the northern Civil War experience.

Henry Stimson’s life story parallels America’s rise to international power in the 20th century. Godfrey Hodgson shows how this remarkable statesman helped define and carry out his country’s new responsibilities as America became the most powerful nation on earth. After Yale and Harvard Law School in the 1880s, Stimson helped found a law firm that is still a major force on Wall Street. He served as US Attorney for New York, and ran for governor of the state on the Republican ticket. After World War I and renewed legal work, Stimson rejoined public life as special emissary to Nicaragua for Calvin Coolidge, and then as Governor General of the Philippines. He served as William Howard Taft’s Secretary of War, and as Herbert Hoover’s Secretary of State. At age 72, Stimson accepted to become FDR’s Secretary of War, and he organized American victory in World War II and oversaw the birth of American military and political hegemony in the nuclear age. Stimson’s career spanned Teddy Roosevelt’s imperialist expansionism to the world of Truman, Eisenhower, and Kennedy. He dealt with the role of corporations and how to control them, civil war in Central America (Stimson negotiated the first truce between Somoza and Sandino in Nicaragua in 1927), the US position in the Philippines, the rise of Japan (which he dealt with before World War I), America’s commitment to helping Europe achieve stability, the terrors of the nuclear age (Stimson chaired the meetings that decided to drop the bomb on Hiroshima, and shortly before his death, wrote the earliest and most profound reassessment and repudiation of nuclear weaponry). In his many positions, Stimson mentored some of the best and brightest in American public service — Acheson, Lovett, Harriman, Bundy, and Marshall. “Henry L. Stimson was Secretary of War under Taft, Governor-General of the Philippines under Coolidge, Secretary of State under Hoover, and Secretary of War under FDR. The atom bombs were built and dropped under Stimson’s supervision and authority... The public figure as well as the private man are richly delineated in this elegant, learned biography, which offers deep insight into the process by which the U.S. emerged from the periphery of world events to the center of global power.” — Publishers Weekly “After Dean Acheson, in many ways [Stimson’s] spiritual heir, Stimson was the most impressive statesman in the American century. To understand [him] is to understand how the United States was able to establish a Pax Americana over much of the globe. This lucid and penetrating biography of ‘Colonel Stimson’... is written with deft clarity... Hodgson... has shown himself to be one of the keenest observers of American politics.” — James Chace, The New York Times “Hodgson raises troubling questions about Stimson’s understanding of what we now call the third world, discusses Stimson’s racial and ethnic prejudices... and pays particular attention to [his] central role in the decision to use atomic weapons against Japan. What most clearly distinguishes this book... is Hodgson’s continuing interest in the idea of the American establishment and his effort to define its values.” — Alan Brinkley, The New York Review of Books “Hodgson’s first-rate biography of the old statesman and warrior, who died 40 years ago, has a particular relevance to the events gripping the world today. It is as good a guide as any to understanding what George Bush is up to in the Middle East... [Hodgson’s] concluding chapter... is the best essay I have ever read in a genre that could be loosely termed ‘establishment studies.’ [He] writes with a sure hand and lively touch about the private man as well as the public one.” — Evan Thomas, Washington Post “Meticulously researched and masterfully written, Godfrey Hodgson’s biography of Henry L. Stimson breathes life into one of America’s most formidable public figures. In the process, Hodgson provides fresh information and insights into the management of the United States during the first half of the twentieth century.” — Stanley Karnow “A lucid and meticulous account that measures up to its monumental subject and will hasten Henry Stimson’s passage into legend.” — John Newhouse