Justin Herman
GM & AVP, Global Public Sector Industry @ServiceNow // Nonprofit Board Member // @WEF Expert. Alum: @Twilio; @USGSA; White House NSTC AI; @US_SpaceCom.
3 Book Recommendations by Justin Herman
The Fighting Bunch
Chris DeRose
In The Fighting Bunch: The Battle of Athens and How World War II Veterans Won the Only Successful Armed Rebellion Since the Revolution, New York Times bestselling author Chris DeRose reveals the true, never-before-told story of the men who brought their overseas combat experience to wage war against a corrupt political machine in their Tennessee hometown. For ten long years, the citizens of McMinn County, Tennessee lived under a regime as dictatorial as Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. First elected sheriff in 1936, wealthy industrialist Paul Cantrell rose to political prominence in the Democratic Party through fraudulent means, culminating in becoming a state senator in 1942. High taxes and racketeering funded his schemes. Deputies who served only themselves enforced his laws. Cantrell stole every election that decade through ballot box seizures and secret vote counts that ensured his victory. Anyone who questioned the results were threatened, arrested, and fined. In September of 1945, Bill White returned home to Athens, Tennessee, “The Friendly City,” after more than two years in the Marine Corps, a soldier in the Guadalcanal Campaign that turned the tide of the war. He was one of 3500 men from McMinn County who served in Europe and in the Pacific theater fighting fascist tyranny only to discover their families and friends living under a similar authoritarian rule in the United States. To restore true democracy, McMinn’s veterans formed the nonpartisan GI ticket to oppose Cantrell’s machine in the next election. But Cantrell wasn’t about to let a group of “kids” usurp his control. On Election Day, August 1, 1946, deputies took the ballot box to the jail in Athens, violently assaulting anyone who dared to stop them. White and his fellow GIs, men who fought and survived action in the Bulge and Normandy, armed themselves and laid siege to the prison, demanding the ballot box. For more than six hours, gunfire and dynamite blasts rocked the community until the deputies surrendered. With an official and legitimate vote count, the GIs won the election. For the past seven decades, the participants of the “Battle of Ballots and Bullets” and their families kept silent about that conflict. Now in The Fighting Bunch, after years of research, including exclusive interviews with the remaining witnesses, archival radio broadcast and interview tapes, scrapbooks, letters, and diaries, Chris DeRose has reconstructed one of the seminal—yet untold—events in American election history.This is exciting: my good friend @chrisderose, @nytimes best-selling author and historian, has a new book out “The Fighting Bunch” about WW2 heroes who came home to a corrupt community and... I won’t spoil it, but it launches tonight. Check it out here: https://t.co/bc99Mlwp1s
Star Spangled Scandal
Chris DeRose
A HISTORY BOOK CLUB BESTSELLER "True crime fans will relish this thoughtful look at a murder and its aftermath that riveted a nation." — Publisher's Weekly book review "There may be no two more addicting topics to people right now than politics and true crime. Star Spangled Scandal delves into both of these—with a heavy dose of sex added in." — NPR book review “… and sir I do assure you he has as much the use of your wife as you have.” — From an anonymous note delivered to Congressman Daniel Sickles on February 24, 1859 It is two years before the Civil War, and Congressman Daniel Sickles and his lovely wife Teresa are popular fixtures in Washington, D.C. society. Their house sits on Lafayette Square across from White House grounds, and the president himself is godfather to the Sickles’ six-year-old daughter. Because Congressman Sickles is frequently out of town, he trusts his friend, U.S. Attorney Philip Barton Key—son of Francis Scott Key—to escort the beautiful Mrs. Sickles to parties in his absence. Revelers in D.C. are accustomed to the sight of the congressman’s wife with the tall, Apollo-like Philip Barton Key, who is considered “the handsomest man in all Washington society… foremost among the popular men of the capital.” Then one day an anonymous note sets into motion a tragic course of events that culminates in a shocking murder in broad daylight in Lafayette Square. This is the riveting true story of the murder and trial that sparked a national debate on madness, male honor, female virtue, fidelity, and the rule of law. Bestselling author Chris DeRose (The Presidents’ War) uses diary entries, letters, newspaper accounts, and eyewitness testimonies to bring the characters to thrilling life in this antebellum true crime history.A timely jaunt through history on a picture perfect Sunday accompanying New York Times bestselling author and friend @chrisderose to Gettysburg to discuss his new book 'Star Spangled Scandal' on @cspan BookTV. https://t.co/BL2KCbABJp
The Phoenix Project
Gene Kim
Bill has 90 days to fix a behind-schedule IT project, or his entire department will be outsourced. Fortunately, he has the help of a prospective board member, whose "Three Ways" philosophy might just save the day.So @NoahKunin has me reading "The Phoenix Project" this weekend -- anyone else read it?