Interview with Forrest Tower, author of Quotes of Consequence
Interviewer: Who would be interested in reading your new book, U.S. Presidents: Quotes of Consequence?
Forrest: Anyone interested in American history will find the book engaging, easy to read, and informative. The book is designed to provide readers with insights into presidential thinking and decision-making as demonstrated through their own words. My readers will explore historical events they may never have heard of or thought about for a long time. The format is a micro-learner's dream come true—quick, concise, and relevant today.
Interviewer: What was the central argument or idea that first sparked your decision to write this book, and how did that initial concept evolve as you conducted your research?
Forrest: First of all, I have been very interested in American history throughout my whole life. Even though I was a science major, I took a number of American history courses in college.
If I had to point to one thing that sparked my interest in writing the American history in a nutshell series, it was a little book by what I call the two Allisons, Alison Rattle and Allison Vale. They wrote a very interesting book called “American History In Bite-Sized Chunks”. In this short book, they summarize the major events in United States history, each on a single page. They wrote each profile in an easy-to-understand way, making the reader comfortable and curious about what’s next.
This led me to write my first book, US Presidents, Decisions of Consequence. As I researched that book, I came across many interesting stories and quotes from American presidents. It occurred to me that there are real consequences when presidents speak. This led me to research quotes from every president.
Interviewer: In a field as vast as history, what gap in the existing literature does your book specifically aim to fill? What new perspective or evidence are you bringing to light?
Forrest: In this book, I try to capture the most important quote from each president. Before each quote, I provide a brief overview of its context. I am not aware of a compendium of quotes from every president. I tried to emulate the style of Rattle and Vale, aiming for each vignette to be short, to the point, and easy to understand.
Every president has made difficult and sometimes momentous decisions, and I thought their remarks would make for interesting research and reading.
Interviewer: To what extent did you have to challenge or completely dismantle conventional wisdom or long-held historical narratives about this subject? Can you give us a concrete example?
Forrest: I don’t think I had to dismantle conventional wisdom, but instead put together a book of interesting and important quotes from each president that tells the story of a significant event. Determining a singular quote from each president was challenging but ultimately worthwhile.
Interviewer: Every historian has a favorite discovery. What was the most surprising or revelatory primary source you uncovered while researching this book?
Forrest: I think the quote from John Adams was the most important for me personally. He said, “There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty.” It made me realize how fragile our democracy is, and that even one powerful person can tear it down unless other, less powerful individuals in government and society use the levers the American Founders gave us to counter that person's actions.
Interviewer: You're dealing with real people from the past. How did you balance the need for rigorous, evidence-based analysis with the human desire to tell a compelling story, especially when sources were scarce or biased?
Forrest: Although I have been reading about American history my entire life and knew many of the quotes cited in the book, I relied heavily on the internet to gather facts about each president. I then used AI tools (Perplexity, Copilot, Meta, Gemini) to determine which of the many quotes each president made were the most consequential. I then conducted additional research on the context leading up to that decision and its impact.
Interviewer: Your book is published today. What connection or lesson do you hope modern readers, who live in a very different world, will draw from the history you've detailed?
Forrest: To a great extent, history repeats itself. There are definitely recurrent themes throughout the history of the United States. Some of these include political polarization, which began long ago with the tremendous animosity between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson after George Washington decided not to run for a second term. American expansionism is another theme in which several presidents, either deliberately or incidentally, expanded the country's reach. For example, following the Spanish-American War, we first became a global power. Another theme is the use of tariffs and tax adjustments to shore up the economy, though they can sometimes harm it.
Interviewer: What is the one major takeaway you hope lingers in the mind of a reader long after they’ve finished the final chapter?
Forrest: I think the biggest takeaway from this book is that each president’s legacy is going to be defined based on what he said and the effect that he or she (eventually) makes. Quotes are based on observations or decisions that a president has made. They affect the lives of every American.
Interviewer: What differentiates your books from other American History textbooks?
Forrest: First, they are written in an easy-to-read style. Second, they are quick reads, so anyone who has five or ten minutes can read a few pages and learn about a couple of presidents. Third, they all come with additional downloadable materials, free of charge, available on my website—things like discussion guides for book clubs and classes, bookmarks, further reading recommendations, and other helpful content.
Interviewer: Now that the book is out, what is the next historical question or era that is calling to you, and might it be the subject of your next project?
Forrest: I’m glad you asked. American History In A Nutshell is a series of books I am writing to entertain and inform anyone interested in learning about the nation’s history, using a quick-read, microlearning format.
U.S. Presidents: Decisions of Consequence is the first of five books that I have written. The first three are about U.S. Presidents and include:
“Decisions of Consequence”
“Successes and Failures”
“Quotes of Consequence”
The fourth is a book that looks at how the United States came to be and which profiles not only the famous founders, which everyone knows about, but also many of the other men and women who had a significant part in the American Revolution and the founding documents, the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, and the U.S. Constitution. The book is titled “The American Founders: Leaders of the Revolution.”
The fifth book takes a fascinating look at the Supreme Court of the United States. My co-author and I looked, in great detail, at each of the seventeen Chief Justices and the Landmark cases that they presided over. We took a different twist by writing in the first person, as if each Chief Justice were telling his own story and then his take on each case.
All of the books use the same quick, easy-to-read style, although “The Supreme Court of the United States: Decisions of Consequence” is a bit more in-depth than the others. I hope that if you like one of my books, you will read the others.
They are available at all major online booksellers, on my website, and in many retail bookstores.