Washington Goes to War (David Brinkley)

The author begins in summer, 1939, and, before the end of the first chapter, backtracks a few times to 1937, when Roosevelt began serving as president. Brinkley proceeds, for the most part, in chronological order, through the main events that shaped the growth of Washington D.C. during the Roosevelt era. The first chapter ends with an interesting piece of history: Hitler's S.S. began the-war by faking an attack by Poland on Germany (22). Twelve German criminals were given lethal injections, then dressed in Polish uniforms, shot, and then shown to the press who visited the border to view the carnage (23).

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he author calls the socializing "Parties for a Purpose" and, in chapter six, describes one of Washington's leading socialites, Eleanor "Cissy" Patterson (137). Despite the war, one journalist gave an Ohio woman advice on how to attend fancy parties without an invitation. He said that all she had to do was ride along Massachusetts Avenue around 5 in the afternoon until she spotted a party, then approach the door and drop a vague line about Senator Brown (the doorman will not know there is no Senator Brown), and she will be let in (149-50). The woman later wrote that she and her husband attended three wonderful embassy parties (150). Brinkley's point is that there were so many embassies and parties that no one, including the ambassadors themselves, could keep track of everybody in Washington. Washington at War also does a fine job of describing the personalities that ran Washington in the Roosevelt era. It talks about the highest paid journalist in the town, Drew Pearson (187). He was known for keeping his sources confidential, and he specialized in gossip and scandal. There was one person, however, whom he wrote glowing reviews about--Spain's fascist dictator, Francisco Franco (188). But then again, Pearson was selling che
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1987
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)