Thibaud:

Military disasters were no easier to cover up in the past then they are now. A young Australian newspaperman named Murdoch blew open the Gallipoli fiasco. Churchill resigned and then went to his regiment in France where commanded a battalion. Americans quickly learned about every Union defeat in the Civil War and the carnage in the Wilderness campaign as it happened. We did not withhold Bataan, MARKET GARDEN or the Ardennes from the public either.

Lincoln was not considered a great wartime leader in 1863. Roosevelt was a father figure beyond reproach. What is interesting about both is that neither had significant military experience. Lincoln, who was a much better Commander in Chief then Davis, spent three weeks on “active” duty during the Blackhawk war with Illinois militia. The closest Roosevelt got to war was Assistant Secretary of the Navy, a job that he was recommended for by a former incumbent who happened to be a relative. I would like to see someone, say Victor Davis Hanson, make a commericial for Bush pointing that out.