Thomas Fleming

Thomas Fleming is a longtime contributor to American Heritage and former president of the Society of American Historians. He is the author of dozens of respected books on American history, including Franklin, George Washington: Spymaster Extraordinaire, My Days with Harry Truman, Intimate Lives of the Founding Fathers, The Perils of Peace: America's Struggle for Survival After Yorktown, Now We Are Enemies: The Story of Bunker Hill, The Great Divide: The Conflict between Washington and Jefferson that Defined a Nation, and A Disease in the Public Mind: A New Understanding of Why We Fought the Civil War. Fleming has appeared on C-SPAN, the History Channel, A&E, and PBS. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and graduated with honors from Fordham University.

Articles by

Thomas

Fleming

Articles by this Author

American Politics at Ten Paces, Spring 2011 | Vol. 61, No. 1

Strict codes of conduct marked the relationships of early American politicians, often leading to duels, brawls, and other—sometimes fatal—violence.

The Imperial Congress, Fall 2010 | Vol. 60, No. 3

An impetuous and sometimes corrupt Congress has often hamstrung the efforts of the president since the earliest days of the Republic

Franklin Charms Paris, Spring 2010 | Vol. 60, No. 1

The 70-year-old statesman lived the high life in Paris and pulled off a diplomatic miracle

George Washington In Love, Fall 2009 | Vol. 59, No. 3

The vivacious Sally Fairfax stole the young man’s heart long before he met Martha

Plain, Honest Men: The Making Of The American Constitution, By Richard Beeman , Summer 2009 | Vol. 59, No. 2

Wall Street’s First Collapse, Winter 2009 | Vol. 58, No. 6

Speculators caused a stock market crash in 1792, forcing the federal government to bail out New York bankers— and the nation

Lost At Sea For 24 Days, Fall 2008 | Vol. 58, No. 5

Steely determination enabled Eddie Rickenbacker, the World I ace pilot and president of Eastern Airlines, to survive drifting across the Pacific in a life raft.

The Magnificent Fraud, February/March 2006 | Vol. 57, No. 1

How a lying poseur from Prussia gave America its army

The Revolution From The Bottom, September 2001 | Vol. 52, No. 6

A SOLDIER TELLS HIS TALE OF FIGHTING FOR AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE

Early Warning, July/August 2001 | Vol. 52, No. 5

FEBRUARY 7, 1932, A DATE THAT WOULD LIVE IN… AMNESIA

Colonel McCormick’s War, April 2000 | Vol. 51, No. 2

The newspaper baron Robert McCormick was a passionate isolationist—yet his brief service in France in 1918 shone for him all his life and gave birth to an extraordinary museum

George Washington, Spymaster, February/March 2000 | Vol. 51, No. 1

Without his brilliance at espionage the Revolution could not have been won

The Long, Stormy Marriage Of Money And Politics, November 1998 | Vol. 49, No. 7

… or why in America campaign-finance reform never succeeds

A Short Walk On Guadalcanal, May/June 1993 | Vol. 44, No. 3

J. L. O. Tedder missed the battle, but his peacetime pursuits are heroic enough

Presidents On Presidents, November 1992 | Vol. 43, No. 7

They’ve all had things to say about their fellow Executives. Once in a great while one was even flattering.

Eight Days With Harry Truman, July/August 1992 | Vol. 43, No. 4

The elder statesman sets the record straight on JFK, LBJ, Stalin, the bomb, Charles de Gaulle, Douglas MacArthur—and, most of all, the American Presidency

Visions Of My Father, July/August 1991 | Vol. 42, No. 4

You can rise fast and far in America, but sometimes the cost of the journey is hard to tally

School For Sailors, April 1990 | Vol. 41, No. 3

A novelist and historian takes us on a tour of the Academy at Annapolis, where American history encompasses the history of the world.

The Big Parade, March 1990 | Vol. 41, No. 2

Once the South was beaten, Eastern and Western troops of the Union army resented each other so violently that some feared for the survival of the victorious government. Then the tension disappeared in one happy stroke that gave the United States its grandest pageant—and General Sherman the proudest moment of his life.

Homer Lea & The Decline Of The West, May/June 1988 | Vol. 39, No. 4

Early in the century a young American accurately predicted Japan’s imperialism and China’s and Russia’s rise. Then he set out to become China’s soldier leader.

West Point In Review, April 1988 | Vol. 39, No. 3

The old school is alive with the memory of men like Lee, Grant, Pershing, and Eisenhower

The Big Leak, December 1987 | Vol. 38, No. 8

So big was the leak that it might have caused us to lose World War II. So mysterious is the identity of the leaker that we can’t be sure to this day who it was…or at least not entirely sure.

Bernardo De Gálvez, April/May 1982 | Vol. 33, No. 3

The Revolution might have ended much differently for the Americans if it weren’t for their ally, the Spanish governor of Louisiana, who helped them wrestle the Mississippi valley from the British.

The Green Flag In America, June/July 1979 | Vol. 30, No. 4

For more than a century, Irish-Americans were whipsawed between love for their tormented native land and loyalty to the United States. But no more .

Gentleman Johnny’s Wandering Army, December 1972 | Vol. 24, No. 1

Defeated at Saratoga, Burgoyne’s troops faced nearly five years of enforced exile in a hostile countryside

The Policeman’s Lot, February 1970 | Vol. 21, No. 2

Benevolent father figure? Bloody-handed Cossack? Slow-witted flatfoot? Irish grafter? Brave but underpaid public servant? Check your prejudice against this inquiry into police history

The Political Machine Ii: A Case History “i Am The Law”, June 1969 | Vol. 20, No. 4

Two Argonnes, October 1968 | Vol. 19, No. 6

Half a century later, an American writer in France tries to recapture the unforgettable experience of his father in the greatest battle fought by the doughboys “over there”

Pershing’s Island War, August 1968 | Vol. 19, No. 5

Home-front antiwar sentiment soared as ever more troops were sent to fight a fierce guerilla enemy in the Philippine “Black Jack” was caught in the cross fire

The “Military Crimes” of Charles Lee, April 1968 | Vol. 19, No. 3

Hardly had the dust settled at Monmouth when a major general was court-martialled for misbehavior in action. And something else was at stake: George Washington’s prestige

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